• Raltoid@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Grenades are mostly used at closer and more hectic ranges, so it’s often much faster to just throw it instead of having to prepare some sort of implement to increase range.

    There have been instances of things being used, like slings, slingshots and even devices similar to those things you use to throw tennis balls for dogs. But at the end of the day, the increased range is rarely worth the extra time needed. You would only get an advantage as an opening attack from a longer distance. And for that we already have under-barrel grenade launchers that can reach ten times further than thrown ones, or mortars that could be a hundred times further away from the target.

      • Raltoid@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Oh yeah, that is by far the best device in which they’re used these days. Although that has little to do with grenades per se, since they can use all kinds of different explosive devices. And it still suffers from the main concern with hand grenades: Time to prepare. It’s a lot faster and cheaper to throw one 20-30m than it is to take out, power up and send a drone that distance.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      3 days ago

      Grenades are mostly used at closer and more hectic ranges, so it’s often much faster to just throw it instead of having to prepare some sort of implement to increase range.

      Hand grenades, sure. There’s a reason we have grenade launchers though. They can fire several hundred meters. With that said, is there really a need for a sling? I could see gorilla forces making good use of them, as they’d be silent, cheap, portable, and a lot easier to hide. Conventional forces have no need though because either you’re close enough for a hand grenade (there are different types, some are thrown further and some not), or you have grenade launchers available to hit the further away.