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Asked by anon-73941 to Kirstin on 25 Apr 2020.
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Kirstin Rouse answered on 25 Apr 2020:
Hi Niall, I don’t design weapons but there are people out there who do. This takes all kinds of engineers and scientists to make sure that what they design works how it’s supposed to.
They might need to be able to make something which can fly (think rockets and wings to change direction) or maybe it does something clever once it has left the plane/helicopter (it might have a camera to take pictures or be able to measure things such as speed or temperature).
Planes and helicopters can carry all sorts of things, not just weapons. For example they might drop sonar devices into the sea to find out what’s in there.
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Comments
Tom commented on :
Many modern weapons are ‘smart’, which means they use technoloy that makes them as accurate as possible so that they hit the right target. In many cases the weapons have fins at the back that direct the weapon towards a laser that has been pointed at the target. Other weapons use satelittles to work out where they are (like your phone does) and some even use things called accelerometers and gyroscopes to work out where they are without having to communicate with other systems.
Emma commented on :
Hi Niall,
I don’t design weapons either, but my job in the Royal Navy was to keep the weapons systems safe. I used to work in a Type 23 Frigate which had a Merlin Helicopter. The ship had Sea Wolf and Harpoon Missile Systems and a 4.5inch Gun on the front as well as lots of other smaller weapons systems.
The ship’s main job was to find Submarines, so the helicopter was the most important way of finding a submarine, however the ship was fitted with an Active Towed Array sonar system which was very good at tracking submarines after the helicopter had found them
Amber commented on :
Hiya,
I don’t design weapons systems however…..in my career I have checked and provided power systems for various military installations and even to some places even 007 wouldn’t be allowed in!
Now days most weapons systems, scanning equipment and satellite surveillance rely heavily on Data Centers to ensure the server processing “brain” power is ALWAYS available to house and analyse information. I now check for single points of failure in these Data Centers, although one of my awesome colleagues was previously a Royal Navy Engineer and if you are interested in the military then engineering is a great way to learn some super transferable skills.