"MANPADS" sound like incontinence product exclusively marketed for men.
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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You'll get my manpad from my cold wet crotch!
To quote a great leader “Why is it not pointy on the end?”
Michael Scott really said that?
I was quoting Sacha Baron Cohen in “The Dictator”.
Regulators are gonna have a feast with this.
Lawmakers “ban 3d printers!”
Us “we’ll just something else then”
Lawmakers ban owning things!
No you see, if arms companies own all the rights regarding distribution of 3D printer tech then it is a constitutional right to produce guns with printers, if not then it is terrorism.
GOP: “everything I don’t like terrorism” Us: “wasn’t it woke last year?” GOP: “this is completely different because I said so”
They’ll probably be cool with it if you have to subscribe to owning things
Great... can't wait for politicians to use this as a way to pass "common sense" legislation banning 3D printers.
Aren't they already doing that due to their hysteria over "ghost" guns?
But what about real guns?
Oh, those ate okay.
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3D printers are even less useful here though. The rocket bit can be replaced with a cardboard tube and some balsa fins. The important parts are the active control and circuitry.
But I guess logic doesn't really enter into the conversation anyway.
They can try, but the parts that make up a printer are used in tons of other applications. It isn't hard to build one from scratch.
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It's vibe coded lol.
There's an anecdote that comes up in software about people working on missile software not caring about memory leaks because it's going to explode anyway before that becomes an issue.
Who cares about bugs in your software if it's a hobby project that's going to blow up anyway.
Also, including Claude doesn't inherently mean vibe coded, it can be for writing tests, small components, or debugging.
Tests should be written from requirements. Using LLMs to write tests after the code is written (probably also by LLMs) is a huge anti-pattern:
The model looks at what the code is doing and writes tests that pass (or fail because they bungle the setup). What the model does not do, is understand what the code needs to do and write tests that ensure that functionality is present and correct.
Tests are the thing that should get the most human investment because they anchor the project to its real-world requirements. You will have tons more confidence in your vibe coded appslop if you at least thought through the test cases and built those out first. Then, whatever the shortcomings of the AI codebase, if the tests pass you can know it is doing something right.
Honestly, never been on a team that stuck to TDD. As you test your stuff, and understand whatever libraries and apis you're calling you modify your implementation as you go.
For public facing methods, especially ones called by customers, having pre agreed upon tests matter more but usually that's at the integration test and system test level. I usually use AI for unit testing and read what was written. Tests end up being a lot of writing harnesses and setting up mocks that you delegate to the model and if there's gaps or incorrect requirements, you change them.
I would never let the agent define the code structure. It doesn't understand business processes or what might need to be extended or we're instead about.
I've been doing software for a while, I know how to review code. I don't vibe code, I let the model implement boilerplate and mapping functions while I do other stuff, like manual testing or talking with product. If done correctly, you can incorporate generative models into your workflows without fully handing over all control.
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Well, it is supposed to go boom
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Violence is only the last resort, but Americans should learn to make DIY weapons in case another civil war breaks out, because it is unlikely that Donald will concede power when the time comes.
Let's just remember the great lessons of history: Never cavalry charge a formed infantry, if the war involves Vietnam in ANY way, join the Vietnamese side, and halberds are the pinnacle of melee weapons.
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Notably absent... the explosives.
But sure, if you are wondering how folks out in Yemen or Gaza managed to retaliate against their oppressors for so long, this is a textbook example of how and why. What's being proposed is collection of technology we've had since at least the 1960s that's slowly made its way into civilian circulation.
Also...
Khojayev's just-launched prototype has no effectiveness track record
I mean, we're seeing what "just-launched prototypes with no effective track record" have accomplished on the Ukraine-Russia front-lines and it's a decidedly mixed bag.
I think a harder question to answer is "Who would be interested in putting one of these into practical use?" And that gets to the real value-add of a Stinger MANPAD. Namely, the humans willing and practiced enough to use it.
Also - and again, this cannot be overstated - the model above has no explosives installed. Idk how confident I'd be around one of these things if it was actually armed.
It's not a MANPAD really.
The sensor package has no IR sensor (or radar unit) and no way to proximity fuse.
It has GPS, accelerometer and barometric pressure. It's more like a rocket powered artillery shell than an anti-air weapon.
Or, given the lack of payload, it's more like a high speed burrito delivery device.
it’s more like a high speed burrito delivery device.
See, now you've got my interest.
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This is the same kind of thing the local Airsofters were building with an arduino and a few hats a decade ago. It's not a functional "weapon" it's just a hobby rocket with fins (that admittedly looks real fun to shoot)
What a time to be alive... For now
If I'm understanding this correctly, this is more valuable to underfunded military forces but not for the 3d printed ghost gun types. This doesn't include propellent or explosives, which are the controlled parts. That's awesome though.
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Can't wait for the next Luigi to use one of these on an Epstein CEO. Polymarket, please let me make that bet.
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