Tech questions for story

[Rod]

OK, 70 million in mixed small denomination bills will not fit into an E-350 van. When we were getting ready for deployment on USS Saratoga they bring in all the money that they calculate they will need to pay the crew for the entire cruise and put it on the ship before leaving. On my last trip, it was 17 million. It came in a semi trailer on several pallets along with a hefty contingent of marines in full combat gear. If I remember correctly though, it was mostly $20.00 bills to keep the atm's filled. So think if even half of that 70 mill is in smaller denominations, you're going to need a bigger truck. If it's mostly $100.00's, then you're probably OK.

Three trucks, and the amount can vary up or down. Yogi, the inflatable raft is a decent idea but I see two problems. One, it's not fast enough unless you've got an explosive inflation like a car air bag; two, an armored F350 weighs about 8 to 9 1/2 tons. You'd have to have the bags specially made to work on that much weight, which means more people in on the heist. I'm trying to keep it at 5 or 6 people. Thanks guys, good ideas that are forcing me to think. Another good idea Justin, just don't know how well that'd work either but....

[randy]

Just throwing this out, haven't done any research or calculations... Conventional (i.e. non-nuke) EMP device set up so that the affected area includes the the computers, EFI etc on the vehicles? Added benefit of messing with cell phones and radios that could be used to call in back up.

Red Team could have shielded comm equipment for use after the event, and classic cars/trucks (i.e. standard carburetors not susceptible to EMP) ready for E&E.

I've seen some theoretical stuff in open sources many moons ago about using directional microwave bursts to emulate an EMP. Don't know how far along it ever came along.

ETA: This is what I was thinking of

[BDK]

Actually, although they're meant to deflate rapidly, cobbling together a bunch of junker airbags might work - certainly might be enough to say, get in front, remotely release a chain of them from inside the vehicle, and pop them just under one side, to topple it over.

A simple, relatively low-speed roll shouldn't really kill anyone/barring load shifting, but be enough to disorient and stop.

Now, if you're trying to stop three... Small remote charges on the front of the drive shafts? Again, if not going too fast, no real disaster, but should pole vault the truck over. Don't think it would actually be that easy to get access to the front of a drive shaft of an armored truck, but might be OK for fiction.

[PawPaw]

It's fiction, right? Make it up as you go along. Just try to make it believable. It's your story, tell it.

Bill Kinsella (Field of Dreams, Th Iowa Baseball Confederacy) was once asked how he knew so many baseball facts. "Simple", he replied. "I'm a fiction writer. I make them up."

[Precision]

Three custom built R/C vehicles with low clearance designed to drive under the vans. Electrically powered, driven by remote video link, and could be dropped from a nondescript vehicle following, then driven underneath the vans from behind.

Each R/C car has four (directional?) thermite charges on poles for each wheel. Melty goodness ensues.

[/missionimpossible]

same idea, but have them do a very short range emp pulse. that will stop any car with an ecm.

Looks like I was beaten to the idea. oh well.

[Kommander]

How armored are the vans? Standard bank trucks and vans engine compartments are not armored. If you want to stop them just take out the engine. Getting inside after that will be a bit harder.

[JAG2955]

With the prevalence of "drones", read r/c quadcopters, one for each van carrying a load of thermite. Lands on the hood and ignites itself. If the vans are close together, hit the front and rear. Middle is stuck. Alternatively, just box them in with a large truck.

[Netpackrat]

Yogi, the inflatable raft is a decent idea but I see two problems. One, it's not fast enough unless you've got an explosive inflation like a car air bag; two, an armored F350 weighs about 8 to 9 1/2 tons. You'd have to have the bags specially made to work on that much weight, which means more people in on the heist. I'm trying to keep it at 5 or 6 people. Thanks guys, good ideas that are forcing me to think. Another good idea Justin, just don't know how well that'd work either but....

Airline escape slides are fast enough, but I don't know that they would have enough power to lift an armored van off the ground. I'm inclined to go with Yogi's idea. If the engine compartments are armored, maybe go with the shaped charge/RPG idea but against the engine compartment. That may not cause the whole truck to light up right away.

[Yogimus]

Place an EMP circuit under the roadway in a chokepoint might work, but would require a bit of voltage.

the inflatable bag could lift 10 tons, http://www.petersenproducts.com/161-0_FF_Lift_Bag.aspx without missing a beat, and could be placed into the roadway a few days prior, with a steel plate on top of them with a 1/2 inch of blacktop over the plate. (plate being smaller than wheelbase) You could use a powder burn (gunpowder/oxidizer) in a pressure chamber, with a bleedoff into the airbag.

I am figuring a 12 second OODA loop would be acceptable to the driver.

opposite could be to create a drop pit that can be triggered remotely and cause an impact.

[evan price]

Getting an armored car to stop is easy. They stop all the time. Traffic, business, etc. watch Heat or LA Takedown for how to immobilize a truck. Your issue is time to crack it open and get your loot and get away. Armored cars are not intended to be impregnable. They are to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. How do you plan to shift that $70 million from the armored car to the getaway vehicle? You would need a vehicle like a moving van, a forklift or skid steer loader, and some way of dealing with witnesses and the guards.
Modern armored trucks are satellite linked to the home office, gps, cameras, status monitors, engine performance, etc. loss of signal also starts an alarm.
Stopping a moving armored truck is dramatic and shows good on the screen. A normal armored truck is a medium duty, class VI truck chassis with a single rear drive axle. Modern trucks are heavy 1ton E350 with added suspension minimum, these are used for small routes like atm service, all the way up to F650 sized, but they keep the gross weight under 26000lbs so a commercial driver license is not needed. There are big.class VIII armored trucks but those are not common and are used for serious stuff .
Drive wheels are a full floating bearing design so if the axle shaft breaks the hub is still supported by the bearing, which is supported by the axle housing tube itself.
From personal experience, a Barret 50 even if it is AP will blow straight through a road wheel be it steel or forged aluminum. An impact on the wheel hub may destroy the bearing but it won't immobiizee the truck. I've seen those bearings lose oil and completely melt...the wheel/hub assembly eventually departs with the brake drum. If it's a Class VIII with tandem axles it won't stop it.
Even your 50 AP through the engine block may not stop the truck, but it would be hurting.
In terms of a one shot instant incapacitate, it's like shooting a person. Very few ways to do it, and those specific targets are hard to hit.
If we are talking an older truck with mechanical diesel engine, emp does nothing to the drivetrain. Electricity is used to start the motor and charge the battery and run accessories. Period. Only way to shut it down would be to interuptr the fuel supply or air intake.
If it's a newer truck it has high pressure common rail fuel injection with piezo injectors. Computer driven. Electronics intense.