Drone defys the Laws of Physics?

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Hi All,

Currently watching Season 2 of Vigil with Suranne Jones as the lead.

The plot involves an MOD drone project and said drones are shown giving superb video; dropping small mortar type bombs and releasing missiles which ignite when away from the drone.

All pretty much what is happening in Ukraine and quite believable.

However they are also shown firing their “on board” machine gun/cannon with great accuracy.

Surely this is not physically possible as the small mass of the drone would be overcome by the recoil of gun firing, let alone maintain its aim?

Or am I missing something here?

Cheers, Martin

[Martin King 2]

On 12 December 2023 at 14:36 Martin King 2 Said:

[…]

However they are also shown firing their “on board” machine gun/cannon with great accuracy.

Surely this is not physically possible as the small mass of the drone would be overcome by the recoil of gun firing, let alone maintain its aim?

Or am I missing something here?

Cheers, Martin

I haven’t seen it, so obviously cannot judge … but does the weapon recoil ?

… have a look at anti-tank weapons like LAW 80 … which have an open tube.

MichaelG.

[JAParticipant @ja]

I see that Vigil is a TV drama. Therefore anything is possible.

JA

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

Wikipedia Recoilless rifle has some info Recoilless rifle – Wikipedia

[peak4Participant @peak4]

One of the terms to search for is “Sniper Drone”; I’m loathe to provide any links, as many are likely to be related to  current conflicts.
Perhaps one to read about, rather than discuss too much here.

Bill

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Ah!

Clearly, I am wrong in my assumption, that image says it all.

Martin

[JAParticipant @ja]

I note that the print with the “Sniper Drone” picture has the word ‘claims’.

The recoiless gun was only ever a single shot device (I stand to be corrected). Many years ago I saw a photograph of one in use in one of the battles of 1918 by American forces which surprised me since I thought they were a post WW2 development. It stood on a very flimsy light weight tripod.

JA

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

The Bren Gun was multy shot and had very little recoil

Roy

[Rod RenshawParticipant @rodrenshaw28584]

The Bren Gun was an automatic weapon and it fired standard British .303 rifle ammunition. It was quite a heavy weapon and this weight would have reduced the recoil somewhat but it was still regarded as difficult to use “freehand” and it was generally used on it’s bipod and sometimes on it’s tripod.

 

 

 

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

This problem boils down to physics. The recoil will be inversely proportional to the weight of the gun (drone), and since you need to keep the drone light recoil will be an issue. Then again it’s predictable, so some sort of thrust compensation could be feasible.

What a wonderful world we live in.

[Rod Renshaw]

On Rod Renshaw Said:

The Bren Gun was an automatic weapon and it fired standard British .303 rifle ammunition. It was quite a heavy weapon and this weight would have reduced the recoil somewhat but it was still regarded as difficult to use “freehand” and it was generally used on it’s bipod and sometimes on it’s tripod.

 

 

 

Exactly so.  Whether or not something like a Bren gun can be fired from a drone depends on how heavy the drone is.  I see a Bren gun weighs 9kg, so the drone has to be big enough to lift at least that weight.   Rule of thumb, a drone can lift twice it’s own weight, but whilst a 5kg drone could lift the gun, the drone would be unable to absorb the recoil, with no chance of accurate shooting.

For accuacy, we know a fully grown man can fire a Bren gun, and his weight is about 80kg, so the drone would need to be at least that weight too.  Ideally more.

The biggest drone on this site can lift 400kg, and I guess it could aim and fire two or three Bren guns accurately.  Serious bit of kit, not the sort of machine sold on ebay!

Friend of mine was in his Public School’s OTC.  On manoeuvrers, the boys were issued with Lee Enfields and full infantry equipage.  Aged 14 he fought another boy for the privilege of carrying the Bren.  Said he soon realised he’d made a huge mistake.  No joke running through the woods with a full backpack, heavy boots, tin hat, whilst carrying a heavy gun and 6 magazines full of blanks.

How big was the TV drone? Something massive I hope!

Dave

 

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Dave,

The TV drone was a smallish unit, looked about 3 feet diameter, carried an “internal machine gun”.

As stated above TV dramatic licence I suppose! Some CGI used I expect. Quite well done though.

Cheers, Martin

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

I don’t think it is appropriate to discuss detailed solutions or systems performance on a public forum.

However it is woth noting that there are many ways to reduce or eliminate recoil from an automatic weapon and even the most basic UAV has automatic stabilisation.

[Glyn DaviesParticipant @glyndavies49417]

Some stills from the programme:

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

I gave up watching after that point as it was too unbelievable. I watched Castlevania instead – much more plausible.

Did it get any better? Should I give it another chance?

[Author]

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