Anti-terrorist drill reveals Segway attack plan, legions of embarrassed patrolmen
By Darren Murph 
posted Jul 3rd 2008 10:21PM
posted Jul 3rd 2008 10:21PM
[Via CNET]
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
How do they deal with recoil?
That's why they have small guns duders.
kinda brings new meaning to "drive by" huh?
Tiny guns.
asians... speak softly and carry a big schti.. oh, wait...
One guy has a Chinese AK-47, it makes tons of recoil.
I'm probably the best segway rider posting here (I've taken a couple dozen trips via segway), and I can tell you that trying to fire a gun while riding one would make me fear for my life. Just a terrible idea all around.
The guy in the back has an awp!!! Imagine awping on a segway...good times
i see no AWP.
wahaha viewers in the olympics are not gonna watch the atlethes anymore cause all eyes are on this goofy chinese swat if i were the maker of this segway i rather put an optional attachtment to the handlebars so you can just plug the guns or whatever riple chinese people have...
ps: jet li and jackie chan can use some of this wahhahah
I bet it's really hard to strafe...
I wonder how good of a shot that one guy with the scope is. . .
So if they use led in all the kids toys, what do they make the bullets with?
Probably better than thou ...
It's spelled lead, just saying so people don't pick up the wrong spelling.
The Mobile Sniper's mantra: It's easier to hit a moving target if you're moving as well.
Yeah i read LEDs and was thiking wtf.. Gw.
They look like they have to go pee really badly.
I GOT TO GO I GOT TO GO NOW!!!
- Me
This is from the Onion right?
No, see the thing that says "Via CNET" ?
That means...they got the information .....via CNET!
link?
link? See that thing that says "Via CNET".....click on that....or the "Read" item below that.
great! a new equipment for counter-strike.
OMG... somebody go make that mod right now!
Can't wait for it! (You read my mind)
Oh man I can see it already...you can play as a Navy SEAL, French GIGN, UK SAS, German GSG9...and now...as a Chinese SWAT team member on a Segway. That...would be super awesome.
If you chose the Chinese SWAT team member, you'd be able to move equally fast no matter which gun you have out, but you'd be unable to strafe, lol.
At least you won't have to worry about snipers. Crates are not handicap accessible.
sounds good and all until you try and strafe left or right
But will you roll faster with the knife?
This happened to me once...I was riding my skateboard on state property. *sigh* the good ol' days.
On another note, is that dude in the back carrying a sniper rifle? I don't think he is going to get a three inch spread while riding a Segway...
It looks more like similar to an AK
Of course, we all know that the AK is great for walling.
No--the dude in the background--with the greenish rifle...
yeah, i see it, it has a scope.
from the guy nearest to the corner, over to guys to the right..
really weird.
That looks like a SKS to me. Not the most accurate rifle in the world.
Call in the frogs! I mean the Segway.Wok.Attack.Team
Lawl. Just plain lawl.
OK lets see, would i take a officer seriously if they were on one of these, i think not. But as soon as i get shot from a projectile you better belieave i would
But as soon as saw him lying on the ground as a result of the recoil, you'd immediately lose all that respect you gained seconds earlier.
...not if he just headshotted you.
Who has the guts to attack the chinese anyway?
I'd laugh until I arrived at a Chinese prison. All of which make Gitmo look like club freakin' med.
The only ones they can intimidate with that display is the French, all the other Countries are laughing at China right now.
Nice Type 79 SMG's.
What happens when those terrorists discover a set of steps will neutralise the chinese swat teams.
As a Chinese person, I should be patriotic, but...words escape me...
The American ones looks so much more professional
So they're going to be patrolling around on these, and crushing peoples toes that don't get out of the way, and they're fully rested until the battery dies.
How many hours before the battery dies anyways?
I love them steering with their knees.
I can just hear them going "piw piw piw" with their tiny toy guns
Totally laughing my ass off at this comment...thanks.
piw piw...bwahahahaaa
ROFL
Is there an armed version?? Because that would be some pretty easy kills right there and the yellow badges on the helmets, just help with headshots.
Seriously... Why don't they just mount guns onto these segways? It makes so much more sense. You're not going to have a whole lot of range of motion anyway, so that isn't much of a detriment.
mobile turret idea seconded thirded.
Forget the recoil, what happens when the terrorist goes up a fleight of stairs?!!??
That's what the guy with the scope is for....
These are new-gen *Dalek* Segways - they levitate. :-)
Is that on AWP all the way in the back?
Is that an AWP in the back?
Stupid comment system.
Now the 3rd image would of been good to use.
Toasty :D
I say the fourth would've been controversial fun.
You have apparently not ridden one of these "things." They are incredibly stable and virtually impossible to tip over. Given these are police models, they probaby do not have the usual speed governor.
Um. It's pretty easy to laugh but I'm fairly certain most people would be incredibly freaked out by an army of wheeled soldiers coming toward them.
Someone asked about recoil. The Segway i2 has five gyroscopes that measure one's center of gravity 100 times per second. Any recoil would be almost instantaneously adjusted for by the machine.
The irrational hatred of this technology by otherwise rational Engadget readers continues to escape me. Factories, police, the military are all finding novel and fascinating uses for the Segway and yet all you people can do is mock, just because it looks a little Different.
*scratches head*
ok, lets see. if i am a cop i have 2 choices.
1: get on a segway. the police models are said to go 12.5 mph.
i always have to be in a vertical 4 foot column
i always have to stand.
i cannot lean forward or backward
i always have a pole in front of my body with handle bars.
or option 2:
I can run at around 15-20 mph
i can roll
i can easily duck
i can get on the ground in a normal shooting position (with one knee up, one knee down)
i am not confined to a surface 2 feet across to stand on
i can straff
i can GO UP STAIRS
i have full range of motion without a bar in front of my face.
a segway makes sense for patrolling. but if you have an actual terrorist threat, these are totally impractical. you cannot easily chase anybody. you cannot easily shoot your weapon (they just look downright uncomfortable). you cannot go up stairs. you cannot catch up to a running person. you cannot get down on 1 knee to better shoot your weapon. your chances of dying in a gunfight go up drastically.
they should have spent the resources to have more swat like things like helicopters, snipers, just about anything.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/03/content_8479901_2.htm
is it just me, or does having a flame thrower really really inhumane. I know that the USA needed them in nam because of the really really thick brush, but we banned them and destroyed them for a really good reason, it is possibly one of the worst ways to die on the battle field.
that is actually down right horrible that they have implemented a flame thrower as a mechanism of crowd control. damn. i dont know.
I have no idea why they picked the worst polluted city on earth to be the center of the olympic games. it honestly makes no sense to me at all.
sure....for patrol use, especially in an area where you want to easily see above the crowd, segways are awesome. County fairs, concerts, parks, all are a fabulous use for the segway. For SWAT work? are you F-ing kidding me? I have several friends who are SWAT officers in addition to their regular patrol duties. They laughed and laughed at this. For plenty of good reasons. I do tactical EMS work as part of my duties. The only way you'd catch me on one of these on a raid is if I were suicidal.
Recoil is first taken up by the user....then the segway. Even with the machine actively stabilizing, you've got a chance of getting dumped. I'd say the segway is less stable than the earth when moving and shooting. Going after the bad guys, I would rather eliminate as many potential failure points as possible - the segway has to go.
The segway as a tool is awesome - in the right place. You don't hammer with a screwdriver, you don't serve a high risk warrant on a segway.
@jason
I don't disagree with most of what you said, but what cops do you know that can run at 15-20mph? You've been playing too much GTA or something. Considering the WORLD RECORD for the 100m (not very far) is a little over 21 mph, how far is the average cop going to run at that speed? The record for the mile is around 16 mph (3:40 min/mile)
I'd be willing to bet that >99% population can't out run a 12.5 mph Segway for more than a few hundred feet -- especially if they had to carry a rifle. Obviously you could run up a flight of stairs, but at that point the officer is also going to give chase on foot, and he'll have fresh legs.
Jason, you're on crack if you think you can run 20mph for more than about 5 seconds, let alone 20mph while wearing a bulletproof vest, and carrying an assault rifle and wearing a helmet, all while trying to kill a terrorist.
And also, someone mentioned the flame thrower for crowd control. It's not for crowd control...the photo just says it's part of an anti-terrorist drill. Also? It's very unlikely they'd actually use the flame thrower for straight killing, even in that scenario. It's probably much more useful for getting terrorists and whatnot to freak out, since a giant wall of flames has quite a bit of psychological impact, so it's good for distractions while the rest of the team does their job. Also, you can actually set them on fire if needed and they'll be unable to focus and return fire, etc. Presumably your team can then shoot the crap out of them.
Jason, do you even think before you post? Most of the problems you cite can be solved by them getting off the Segway if needed (ex: to walk up stairs). It's not as if they're freaking glued to the Segways. These are probably just used for chases and seeing over a crowd of people more easily. I'd like to see you sprinting at 15 mph for a significant time (ex: in a chase) while carrying a gun, bullet proof vest, and other gear.
It's funny because they're not even the first, second, or even third police force (400+ police/security organizations use it) to adopt Segways.
Yes, make fun of them because they do look silly on it, but stop with the idiotic reasoning on why they won't work.
You think engadget readers are rational? I always thought the comments section was for flame wars...
average fit people can sprint the 100m in about 11 seconds so that is over 20mph (you did your calculations wrong the world record speed is actually around 23 mph that is a significant difference).
i would imagine that if you were a terrorist that you would work out and be in peak physical condition, and be able to sustain around a 17 mph run for 400mph. granted they may be exhausted by the end of it, but by that time, they will have dodged and gone over a lot of uneven terrain and probably be in a nearby vehicle waiting for them.
being about 2x as fast as a person (even for 100m ) in a very busy place like china, you can loose someone very fast, especially if that person can jump fences easily, and like i said earlier, they probably have cars nearby
so i think my estimate is totally realistic. unless you are fat or something. :p
The average fit person does NOT run the 100m in 11 seconds, in fact you will find that even at the Olympics, the best women sprinters in full gear, spikes, aerodynamic glasses and aerodynamic earrings will not be significantly faster.
Average would be more like 13 secs.
Not sustained and not while steadily aiming and firing a subsubsub assault rifle.
Equally 17mph over 400m in under the same conditions would land you on any Olympics team.
I should think that the advantage here is that you can advance rapidly while having a steady platform to aim and fire from. Any retreating terrorist trying to fire at you while running away (presumably that would be the scenario under which you employ this thing) would have a very hard time hitting you while running, while you can give chase, aim and fire at the same time.
HAHA this is great... first question... how do they deal with riots?? They could get pushed off so easily... Second question. How do they retreat? At a whole 4 miles per hour??
You... dismount to deal with riots?
Simple... they turn around in the Segway, steer with their butts, and continue retreating while shooting.
Umm ... cool.
Blah blah blah escape me.
I'd like to see them fire one of those. See how the Segway reacts.
This does look really, REALLY stupid... But I wouldn't insult it just yet....
China isn't a stupid country, in fact stereotypes point the other direction lol. Theres gotta be a good reason for this, and it seems like Matt listed some o_O
I really wanna see how this turns out lmao.
Wouldn't they have the same problem as Daleks?
"The terrorists have run up some stairs... damn."
They might as well be wearing dalek armor, the way they're gonna get shot on those segways...
This just isn't right. They should just freaken walk already. Walking while shooting has turned out fine so far.
Why isn't there a Segway racing game for the Wii balance board? Do I get a commission?
damn..they should attach a shield to the front.
How many corrupt Chinese bureaucrat did they bribe to sell those segways?
Seriously Segway really needs a handle-less version. Then it will be cool.
you're all dumb for criticizing this... Its very effecient.. Being able to move and shoot without having to run or walk, stop and aim...
They have 2 hands steadying on target and those guns aren't wimpy little handguns they are machine guns... Try shooting while running or walking compared to rolling, then you'll see the logic...
try being 6 feet tall as someone is shooting at you, and unable to croutch
You have two hands steadying the gun anyways, segway or no segway.
I haven't the slightest what you do when you fire a weapon... don't think I want to know really.
@jason
Umm, dude, this is China... it's not like their entire police force is made out of dudes like Yao Ming... but I'm just saying...
They should make shooting from segways an olympic event.
Definitely looks dumb, but these things are actually pretty fast and versatile if you've seen an expert use them. It's definitely more mobile and effective than running around guns blazing.
Still, it looks dumb.
@Jason
"I can run at around 15-20 mph"
Who are you - robocop? You realize that 15mph is a 4 minute mile. Don't think you'll find any cops that can run that fast.
Even 12 mph is a 5 minute mile - no cop's gonna do that either.
And I didnt notice that any of those cops were chained to their segways; if they come to some stairs, I think they could figure out how to get off the thing.
I'm with Matt. How are these things any different than a motorcycle or a horse? Cops ride those all the time. And a seqway a little more maneuverable in crowded areas (and doesnt need a diaper or a muffler).
When I saw the picture, I just figured they were remaking another godzilla movie.... those were the best as a kid, over dubbed with english and amazing special effects.
hahahaha...
this is the funniest shit i have ever seen...
They have their tails tucked in, poor fellows!
They look odd, but they can get around faster ...and what do you mean "what's with the tiny guns?" They get the job done all the same, and look at the men in the back, those guns are certainly not "tiny".
Give China a break, it's starting to develop into an technologically advanced place, but, the idea of using Segways as a mean to track down terrorists is plain weird. Wouldn't the massive recoil actually make the shooter lean back therefore reversing into other Segway users, like an Domino effect. Knocking down all of the squad. It can be possible. Even with a small gun, the recoil is still gargantuan. But, what do I know, I'm just a thirteen year old commenting on a post.
Oh my! Those guys could be shooting at each other if they lose control of their Segways.
I think the guns should be fixed on the Segways (maybe even laser guns Star Wars style).
you called them "patrolmen" in the title but then you called them the "S.W.A.T team." What are they exactly? You dont conduct a rescue mission with patrolmen nor you put S.W.A.T team on patrol.
You can put a SWAT team on patrol at the olympics, why not eh, keeps the 'enemy' surprised and they would be near any event.
SWAT does mean "Special Weapons and Tactics Unit " after all, so you got to keep special.
Quote from wiki: "Typically expected of a SWAT-type unit from any country will be the role of a tactical response team to handle hostage-rescue, high-risk warrants, VIP or dangerous criminal escort duties and sometimes counter-terrorism duties. The Beijing SWAT unit is no exception, however they are also in charge of riot control as well as other duties."
more infor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_SWAT
People talking out of their arse.
Unless someone here is a SWAT officer no one knows how they will use it for full effectiveness. That is why they have drills for that. People are just mocking because: 1) It's a segway 2) They think outside of the box, something that people here can't do.