Futuristic flamethrower idea

[Zixinus]

I've been thinking.

If the application is close-quarter combat or to use something demorolising, why not go into a bit different direction?

Chains, spinning, as fast as fucking possible, possibly driven by electromagnetic motors.

Make them spiked, make them linked, make them electric. What matters is that if a chain is fast enough, it can cause a serious dent in almost anything. Make it go around the same path again and again, or with multiple chains, it can tear a person open.

Of course, you can forget about it on the level of infantry. It would work well for tanks and other armoured vehicles, able to tear down not only human beings but also low-grade cover, like wooden house.

[Sidewinder]

I've been thinking.

If the application is close-quarter combat or to use something demorolising, why not go into a bit different direction?

Chains, spinning, as fast as fucking possible, possibly driven by electromagnetic motors.

Make them spiked, make them linked, make them electric. What matters is that if a chain is fast enough, it can cause a serious dent in almost anything. Make it go around the same path again and again, or with multiple chains, it can tear a person open.

Of course, you can forget about it on the level of infantry. It would work well for tanks and other armoured vehicles, able to tear down not only human beings but also low-grade cover, like wooden house.

That is a VERY BAD idea because the range of such a weapon would be VERY SHORT, giving enemy units plenty of time to throw whatever anti-armor weapons they have in the chain-spinner's direction.

If you're curious, yes, such machines do exist, but they're minesweepers. As for low-grade cover, mounting a plow on an armored vehicle should work just as well; see the hedgerow devices fitted to WWII Allied tanks.

[Peptuck]

I keep thinking of flamethrowers as a weapon that might be effective against small drones or gray goo nanotech (though with nanotech, you wouldn't need much energy in the first place to wipe them out) You know, the kind of futuretech-wank where lots of little drones attack their targets like locusts or ants with claws or saws and tear them apart.

To counter nanobots/micromachines, something that pumps out high levels of electromagnetic energy (microwave-based directed energy weapons, EM bombs, radar set to HIGH, and as a last resort, nukes) would probably be more effective.

That would work too. In the short story, the claws had developed some kind of EM/concussion bomb to destroy other claws as well.

[Zixinus]

Question: say we have a nitrogen/oxyghen atmosphere like on Earth. Would it be possible to via supertech, to cool down a certain amount of oxygen and possibly nitrogen to liquid form and later use the two together to create a flame-thrower?

[Teleros]

Nitrogen isn't exactly reactive, although I suppose you could use liquid nitrogen to freeze people / machines up (depending on how good the weapon is and how sensitive the target is etc). The oxygen however would surely have to have something else to react with in order to burn*? It would also evaporate fairly quickly, which is another problem.

* You can use liquid oxygen in "oxyliquit" explosives, but these aren't all that safe to use. Obligatory Wiki link.