I've seen the show. I remember that they always fired missiles in pairs.

Thanks for the response! Again, I am no battery expert but I imagine that if you reacted something with the lithium so it's some other compound it would probably stop the flow of electrons/charge?

I'm not talking about destroying energy. I'm not ignorant to the laws of conservation of matter, energy, momentum, etc. Energy can be converted from one state to another. Be it electrical, potential, mechanical, or in this hypothetical case, chemical.

Based on my limited knowledge of motorsport politics it seems to have things to do with "standardization" for more even performance levels across the various competitors, keeping cars slower for safety reasons, and keeping costs down so that less wealthy competitors can stay, well, competitive with the teams with…

I don't even understand why non mechanically assisted movable aero is banned. It's ridiculous and inhibits technological progress. It's still a field we haven't even come close to fully exploring and yet it's banned in pretty much all forms of racing as if it was like an unlimited bottle of nitrous.

Is the rear wing technically against the rules? If not, how is it cheaty? I'd call that brilliant engineering.

Well, then question answered. As I say, I'm no battery or chemistry expert.

I am in agreement with you on this. I simply think we need to remember that our technology doesn't always perform exactly as well as we had hoped for all situations. As I said, in all likelihood the systems on the F-35 will be completely capable of handling almost any air combat situation that arises, short of large…

I never said it was an easy to answer question. :) It's probably only possible in an extremely complicated and expensive way, if at all. Maybe I'm ignorant or naive, but I like to think that with enough money and effort, many things like this are possible, if to a limited extent. Being realistically and…

So two 200 lb occupants leaves 19 lbs for cargo? That can't be right. It just can't.

Can't unsee.

I want to clarify my original question/statement. What I am suggesting is not a dissipation off energy. That would likely result in heat/fire/an explosion, as others have mentioned. I'm talking about a conversion of chemical energy into more stable chemical bonds/forms. I know this is a loose example, but…

Indeed. But what I am imagining is not a dissipation of energy, as that would result in heat/fire/explosions as you and others have pointed out. What I am imagining is a chemical reaction that converts the energy into more stable chemical bonds. Avoiding endo and exothermic reactions would be a problem for sure. …

I am no expert on batteries or chemical reactions, which is why I asked. I still wonder if a similar kind of solution could be feasible. It wouldn't be possible with the current designs of lithium batteries, yes. I was thinking something that would be inherently built into the design of the battery which could be…

Batteries are a medium of conversion from chemical energy to electrical potential energy. I'm certainly no expert, but it's likely possible to use new chemicals/agents to react with what's already in the battery. You would merely be changing the form of energy, not destroying or losing it. I think a big problem…

Is that a ground wire?

I'm wondering if there's a way to develop an emergency system that could somehow completely extinguish all electrical charge stored within the battery system. Some kind of chemical additive that can be released inside the batteries in the event of a fault/an emergency or crash that would react with the charge medium…

I agree that the situations aren't perfectly comparable. Missile technology back in the 1960's and 1970's was still somewhat rudimentary and combined with a mindset that believed the future of air warfare could be boiled down to hit and run tactics. The technology leap in air combat systems from WWII and Vietnam…

Indeed, the capabilities of this new AIM-9X are really remarkable, and definitely game changing. It reminds me of those Hollywood movie missiles that seem to endlessly follow its target at extreme measures. We also have to consider the kind of warfare our planes will be engaged with in the future. Massive aerial…

A truly excellent breakdown and rebuttal of Pierre's comments on the F-35. However, there is one comment you made which I hesitate to fully agree with: