News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:New US Army Tech Instantly Destroys Enemy Fire by LeifCarrotson on Thursday May 12, 2016 @11:39AM (#11684191)
The problem is that a thrown hand grenade is detectable by the system, but well under the limit.

One publicized case of a soldier in a vehicle "protected" by this system but killed by a tossed hand grenade or hit by a grenade launcher from long range (ordinary 40mm grenades are only fired at about 75 m/s at the muzzle), and there will be calls for this value to be adjusted.

Re:New US Army Tech Instantly Destroys Enemy Fire by PeterisP on Thursday May 12, 2016 @08:39PM (#11687842)
The system rightly should not react to tossed hand grenades or ordinary 40mm grenades, just as it shouldn't react to rifle rounds or thrown rocks - those grenades have no chance of penetrating the tank's armor anyway.

If soldiers are exposed, then such a system reacting is a greater threat to their lives than a hand grenade; triggering the system is quite likely to harm nearby troops.

Re:New US Army Tech Instantly Destroys Enemy Fire by vonmoltke on Thursday May 12, 2016 @01:31PM (#11685218)
The system is also capable of detecting firearm projectiles, but is specifically tuned not to react. Regardless of what calls may come, there won't be a change because the designers and the customers have already considered that possibility and specifically excluded it as not being worth the risk. This is not a case of being too cheap or short-sighted to do something.