3 ms·
Most accurate military weaponry aimed at coordinates in space / on the ground (as opposed to at an object eg. optically) has accuracy around 3m, from memory (as
by rich_sasha 2y ago
Most accurate military weaponry aimed at coordinates in space / on the ground (as opposed to at an object eg. optically) has accuracy around 3m, from memory (as far as these things are published). I wonder if eventually the continental drift becomes meaningful to that. From memory GPS, and so maybe also US military, use WGS84.
I guess maybe not. Whatever aims the rocket is subject to the same drift, if the measurement and the firing are contemporaneous then the drift doesn't matter. Still, it's funny to imagine an angry general being told his missile missed because of continental drift.
I once heard an apocryphal story about US generals being told GPS needs relativistic corrections to the clocks, and finding it ridiculous. For a few initial weeks, the correction was thus disabled. Only when they saw the measurements drift predictably by multiple meters per day did they relent.
- solardev 2y agoDo they ever aim anything at just a coordinate and let loose? For guided weapons, I thought there's usually a variety of sensors on board (GPS, inertial nav, terrain following, and then of course radar or IR seekers or some sort of visual camera)? Edit: Self-correction: Yes, there are. Common JDAM munitions use GPS and inertial guidance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munition?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Direct_Attack_Munition?w...