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Comment by jzellis | Hacker News Reader

Because you're trying to shoot something flying at 500 miles an hour, piloted by a tiny lunatic who actually thought this sort of thing was a good career move and is probably on military-issued meth, with a projectile the size of your thumb, while also being the exact same sort of lunatic? :-D

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But if your missiles are effective enough, they take care of the bit about finding and hitting the target for you. The article explains it as enemy forces not having anyone loony enough to think actually getting within range is going to advance their career.

I blame Joseph Heller.

Well concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind.

The issue with the missiles is that the other side also has them, and is quite keen to use theirs without being hit by yours. Combatants have a way of learning to neutralize each other’s advantages, and claims of weapon system capabilities are almost always overstated.

> ... with a projectile the size of your thumb

I have a dummy shell from an A10 at my desk. Here's an image (not mine) (the nearly 12" shell on the far left):

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-23308fca719553f998cbc4...

Now, the A10 is air to ground, and these shells are made for killing tanks and not aircraft and you're not wrong in that the projectile isn't that much larger than a thumb, but just seeing the dang thing. I mean, it's crazy what we come up with to destroy.

Aircraft in WW2 used even bigger caliber rounds as well. The advancement over the war from firing machine guns to cannons is pretty bonkers.

Is that a HEAT round?

Blue is generally training [0], but the standard loadout for the A-10 was a 5:1 mix of depleted uranium API and HEI rounds. (per wiki [1]) I think there was a move to change that ratio given that they were much more likely to be shooting unarmored technicals than T-69s, though. (And you wouldn't put HEAT in a 30mm projectile anyways, far too small diameter)

0: https://fbcinc.com/source/Northrop_Resources/30_x_173mm_Full...

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger

That picture isn't of mine. Mine is a dummy round to test and calibrate the auto loader.

Have been watching videos of DCS World (which btw, seem to do a pretty good job as a simulator) and it’s just precisely like you described.

I’d say that a simulator is marginally less “lunatic” but still :)

The "Grim Reapers" videos are great fun. Love watching them occasionally with my sons.

Check out Hellreign82. I love his stuff. I'm sure you've already seen Growling Sidewinder as well!

https://www.youtube.com/c/Hellreign82

Ace Combat is the superior simulator.

<< This is what V2 is for. >>

But does Ace Combat have a dog fight a near an active volcano?

Checkmate Aceist.

Project Wingman is the superior game /s

Both games are great and crazy in their own right.

Can definitely recommend IL2 for WW2 flavored dogfighting. It's easily one of the best VR games despite pre-dating the latest round of VR.

Shooting up (well trying to) some 110s in a P39 in multiplayer: https://twitter.com/meheleventyone/status/141347312227197337...

They used to do that, but now they issue modafinil I believe. Much safer.

And Dex

Missiles and 20mm are a lil bigger than than your thumb, but your point still stands lol

> probably on military-issued meth

The US military issues meth? Source?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drugs_used_by_milita...

Cousin of meth.

Iirc comparing modafinil and meth is like comparing budweiser and everclear.

So basically the same drug at different douses?

I think that's a fair evaluation, if not technically correct. But don't discount how different the effects can be: low-dose benadryl makes you sleepy. High dose benadryl makes you hallucinate people, spiders, and other things that aren't really there.

No, OP(s) premise is also deeply flawed. I'm not an expert, but while there's similarities, these are profoundly different substances. Whereas alcohol only differs by concentration (maybe the release is slightly different, especially if it's eaten, instead of liquid), these stimulants are fundamentally very different.

On the other hand while Amphetamine can be compared to substances like meth or coke (it might actually be closer to cocaine as far as user experience goes), it's also has key differences. Cocaine is generally taken all at once, and the methyl family of amphetamine has specific, more drastic effects. Basically, meth's special, and shoots through barriers in the brain, that normally slow down other substances.

Amphetamine, on the other hand, has a more medium potential for abuse. Also, it's thought that people can generally keep up with therapeutic doses. In other words, while there may be some effect on the brain, you'll eventually reach a point where you're not constantly being drained of neurochemicals. This isn't possible with meth/coke, which is why they prescribe adderall fairly readily, but not meth.

I researched this recently after being prescribed adderall. I've heard that slow release cocaine is a better metaphor than meth, but I think there's probably issues with that too.

It included Dexedrine and other amphetamines up until a few years ago, which might be what OP was thinking of.

This is very strange to me considering that Adderall was a disqualifying factor when I joined the service. Very interesting, I had no idea this was used today.

Appears that Amphetamine is no longer used but Modafinil is not even close to being "meth"

> Modafinil is not considered to be a classical psychostimulant, but rather is classified as a eugeroic (wakefulness-promoting drug) and is used primarily for treatment of narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea.

These are only assumptions from what I've read and heard.

But from what I know, this also comes from the logistics standpoint. If you need a prescription of any kind to "function normal", they would need to supply that prescription anywhere anytime. I would assume the same with wisdom teeth. The risk of getting any problems during service are not worth taking.

So yeah, there is a difference between "I need this for functioning normally" versus "Take this in case of an emergency"

The US military has no requirement to preemptively remove wisdom teeth.

Anecdata and certainly wasn't officially sanctioned but the battalion medics made adderrall quite available to us in Afghanistan in 2012.

There's a huge difference between making something available to someone in a prolonged combat situation, or where a drop in situational awareness could get them and others killed, and needing that substance during comparatively "easy" civilian life.

Not defending that viewpoint or assertion but that's very likely the justification that would be used. Needing it for HS or college is disqualifying while choosing to use it for a particular operation is not.

Modafinil especially with coffee absolutely feels like a clasic stimulant IF I've taken a long enough tollerance break.

I see only benefits -- maybe I'm a little bit too talkative and too many things seem interesting/worth exploring/doing, but for a pilot, that would he detrimental, I'd think.

It's disqualifying by the FAA for general aviation as well, the argument being that you need to be able to quickly react to changes and not get "locked in" to monitoring/doing one thing.

I've never taken Modafinil so I have no idea how much that jives with the actual effects, but there have been some people who have gotten waivers if the usage was long enough in the past. Personally I don't see why it can't be like alcohol (if you haven't had it in the last n hours/days, you're good to go).

No but it is common knowledge amongst pilots that Dexedrine is for shizzle...

According to https://goflightmedicine.com/stimulants-sleep-aids/

> in 1960 the United States Air Force sanctioned use of Amphetamine as a counter-fatigue measure in flight operations. The medication was used widely by USAF and Army aircrew during the Vietnam Conflict. [...] > In the USAF, three sleep aids (temazepam aka Restoril, zolpidem aka Ambien, & zaleplon aka Sonata)and two stimulants (dextroamphetamine aka Dexedrine & modafanil aka Provigil) are approved for use by certain aircrew in particular operational situations.

I don't know whether this is done for basic 3-4 hour missions as a matter of course, or whether they're reserved for unusual, 24-hour-plus missions

The Nazis issued meth ("pervitin") to all branches of their armed forces, including the Luftwaffe. So this is definitely true in a historical context.

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