# Hunting bad guys over bait! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187 "2013-02-23T19:26:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/1 "2013-02-23T19:26:21Z")
You know how your conversations with your friends go - you start with one thing, and it merges into another and another. So. We’re talking about heavy lift airships. One [company](http://news.discovery.com/autos/military-vehicles/massive-airship-flying-start-130205.htm)has been in the news lately, testing a new heavy lift [blimp](http://news.discovery.com/autos/military-vehicles/massive-airship-flying-start-130205.htm)that may have some operational advantages over planes and helos. Cool. Should be interesting. Which leads to the Airship Ventures [Zeppelin](http://www.lushbling.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/airshipventure2.bmp)that recently stopped touring California for financial reasons. And being a pilot who has seen more than a couple of bullet holes in GA planes as well as a visitor to a couple of lighthouses whose lenses have been shot by some asshat redneck, we got to thinking how to protect your blimp from small arms fire as you float over say, Compton or Kabul. It seems the answer is a [ShotSpotter](http://www.shotspotter.com/)system. It’s one of a handful of companies with similar technology. Basically, it triangulates a gunshot using numerous sensors covering a city-sized area. Just as putting out some corn for deer and pigs, or some meat and scraps for black bear will bring them running, I bet if you floated a blimp slowly through Taliban Trails, Muslim Meadows, Hijab Heights or any given area where American enemies are hiding among the population, the bad guys couldn’t resist popping a few caps in its direction. Now, using SS technology either on the blimp or on the ground, we can tell just what shots came from where, and presumably return fire, or direct an attack on a very specific area, or even an individual. Drones can do it, or perhaps the blimp itself could be armed to give back a little message from our Uncle Sam. So, military guys: what 's wrong with my plan? Instead of putting men in places like Outpost Keating and taking a beating, why not bait the fuckers, and reverse some fire on their ass? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/2 "2013-02-23T20:03:32Z")
Subscribing, if only for the place names. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/3 "2013-02-23T20:12:33Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Subscribing, if only for the place names. I’m responding similarly.😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/4 "2013-02-24T00:12:04Z")
Well, it wouldn’t protect your lenses. It would just allow prosecution (extreme or not) after the fact. IANA expert, but if ShotSpotter what I remember it being, I don’t think it would work too well in Mogadishu. You’d want multiple sensors all over the city to triangulate (dodecagramate?) the location. And these would require previous occupation, and susceptible to tampering. I’d wager it wouldn’t wouldn’t work well with a fast moving object, but the blimp might be okay. So, this system would have a limited utility, but there are other methods that would work in other situations, like sound ranging. It’s also met with some [controversy](http://peninsulapress.com/2010/04/01/east-palo-alto-gunshot-detection-technology-triggers-controversy/), e.g. is the price worth it? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/5 "2013-02-24T00:29:32Z")
Minneapolis has gunfire detectors set up all over town to speed response and triangulate where it took place. [http://www.shotspotter.com/news-and-events/news/minneapolis-minn-shotspotter-system-gets-first-murder-conviction](http://www.shotspotter.com/news-and-events/news/minneapolis-minn-shotspotter-system-gets-first-murder-conviction) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/6 "2013-02-25T15:13:04Z")
The one flaw I can think of is that you would be spending a lot of money and would most likely only take out idiots stupid enough to shoot at a military survailance airship. Not to mention, Count von Zeppelin, you are probably going to blow us all to hell with your Hindenberg 2.0! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-bad-guys-over-bait/651187/7 "2013-02-25T15:16:39Z")
After shooting one backfired on them, I’m sure they would see the cost to benefit ratio and stop doing it.