re: #17 Shiplord Kirel

I was just looking at one of the shelves where I keep model aircraft and my model of the German FI-103R Reichenberg caught my eye. This was a piloted version of the notorious V-1 buzzbomb. Unlike the Japanese Okha, it wasn’t supposed to be a suicide weapon but the pilot’s alleged method of escape was so unlikely that it might as well have been. The pilot was supposed to aim the fiendish device at its target in a terminal dive, then bail out over the side to captivity. Quite a few people, mostly fanatical Nazis, volunteered for these missions but the machines were never actually used.

This set in motion a brief thought experiment dovetailing with recent events in Israel. My conclusion: The next step could be suicide attacks with piloted rocket weapons. Obviously Israel would have no trouble intercepting a V-1 type device but there are other ways. Without going into too much detail (on the off chance they haven’t thought of it), this is actually possible with the rockets Hamas has now, with the addition of a few airframe and control items the Iranians are known to manufacture. Indeed, the airframe could be quite crude and could be made in Gaza itself.

Thank goudness that the Germans didn’t implement the plan. As for the Iranis and Hamas, it’s ridiculous to assume that any existing rocket system could launch without killing a human pilot. The acceleration is lethal.