Chapter 3 Assessing Types of Attacks and Threats with Data Sources

The types of attacks and data sources that will be considered include external physical assaults, incidents, and accidents. We will start with the type of external physical assaults and attacks.

Weapons

One of the difficulties of protecting a facility from standoff weapons is the range of modern weapons and the damage they can do. The following is generally acknowledged as ranges of the various weapons commonly in use.

AK-47

Among the most popular weapons in use worldwide are the AK-47 (Kalashnikov) and its upgraded versions. The weapon is a 7.62 assault rifle that was in wide use in the Warsaw Pact and many African and Asian countries. It has the advantage of being rugged, and relatively cheap. The rifle files a 7.62 × 39 mm cartridge and is capable of selective fire, either single or automatic fire at a rate of 600 rounds/min with a muzzle velocity of around 715 m/s. The maximum range is 1000 m, but the effective range is practical at about 400 m unless it is equipped with telescopic sights. It has a feed system of 10–40-round box magazines. It also comes equipped with a folding stock. A later variant is the AK-74, which is currently used in the Russian Army. The weapon can be mounted with a rifle-prepared grenade that has a range of about 150 m. Most of the grenades are slightly over 1 lb (0.454 kg).

M16

The M16 is a US military-derived weapon. It uses a 5.56 × 45 mm NATO round, with a muzzle ...

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