The Combat 75 Military Surplus Thread. Past, present and future.

[HAL9000]

(Darkstar from the movie, rather than the real Darkstar UAV)

Edwards Air Force Base’s First Open House In 13 Years Seen From Space

We offer a different perspective on the long-awaited Edwards Air Force Base open house that is underway this weekend.

www.thedrive.com

 

[A380]

 

[StoneRoad]

lets' see ...

"one, two, three, ..f.f.f.four, what was that?
go away, you've made me lose count I'll have to start again"

said no missile inspector, ever

 

[T & P]

That's a lot of washing machines. Then again, I'd imagine spending three months in a sealed cramped tube might create a mountain of laundry.

 

[spitfire]

Well, blimey!

Spoiler: Can't share the original tweet as it is protected but here's a link to the account

https://twitter.com/McCainJack

 

[A380]

Second World War dog fight contrails over London.

 

[spitfire]

 

[HAL9000]

Long video, Russian air force is in a bad way, one pilot flew 9 hours

 

[HAL9000]

 

[T & P]

I say, this looks a bit of alright…

Northrop Grumman unveils B-21 nuclear bomber for U.S. Air Force

Northrop Grumman Corp on Friday rolled out its new B-21 "Raider" jet, the first of a new fleet of long-range stealth nuclear bombers for the United States Air Force.

www.reuters.com

 

[HAL9000]

I say, this looks a bit of alright…

Northrop Grumman unveils B-21 nuclear bomber for U.S. Air Force

Northrop Grumman Corp on Friday rolled out its new B-21 "Raider" jet, the first of a new fleet of long-range stealth nuclear bombers for the United States Air Force.

www.reuters.com

This aritcle

The B-21's Three Decade Old Shape Hints At New High Altitude Capabilities

Northrop Grumman seems to have gone "back to the future" with their next generation stealth bomber design, and that's actually really exciting.

www.thedrive.com

stated that..

The call to add low-level flying capability came out of fears that Russia would field increasingly more advanced radars that would neutralize the B-2's low observable attributes. As such, being able to sneak in below radar via flying nap of the earth flight profiles like its B-1 brethren became a requirement for what was a high-flying strategic bomber that relied primarily on its stealthy design and careful mission planning for survival.



Not only did this useless addition make the B-2 less stealthy from certain aspects and against certain radar bandwidths (most notably from behind against longer wavelengths), but it also added weight and dropped the aircraft's altitude ceiling substantially, from roughly 60,000 feet to under 50,000 feet. The change also impacted the design's range and most of all it added substantially to the cost and complexity of the already very high-end and expensive aircraft.

So this B-21 is likely to fly higher than the existing B-2. Even with this high altitude capability, I do wonder if it could be detected optically, a whole lot of drones with camera's and image recognition software.

 

[spitfire]

It's not all cheap beer and running around the Wicklow mountains shouting bang.

Two soldiers who received ‘minor injuries’ in Lebanon attack released from hospital

A team of eight Defence Forces personnel is on its way to Lebanon to help determine how Pte Seán Rooney died

www.irishtimes.com

 

[ska invita]

I say, this looks a bit of alright…

in what way?

 

[Spymaster]

I say, this looks a bit of alright…

Northrop Grumman unveils B-21 nuclear bomber for U.S. Air Force

Northrop Grumman Corp on Friday rolled out its new B-21 "Raider" jet, the first of a new fleet of long-range stealth nuclear bombers for the United States Air Force.

www.reuters.com

$750 million each

 

[ska invita]

dont worry always enough tax payers money to buy more weapons

 

[ska invita]

wow look at this beaut
love the sky camo

 

[8ball]

wow look at this beaut
love the sky camo
View attachment 356095

That camo probably confuses a lot of people when they see a nose cone and two red stars streaking through the sky.

 

[T & P]

in what way?

As in it looks like a super advanced next-gen aircraft (as it should be of course), and also far more mission-capable than the B-2 it replaces.

 

[T & P]

$750 million each

And that’s because they have a fair amount on order. IIRC the the cost of the B-2 (or perhaps it was the F-117?) ended up being well over a billion bucks per unit because the USSR collapsed and the USAF ended up needing far fewer frames than initially planned.

 

[ska invita]

As in it looks like a super advanced next-gen aircraft (as it should be of course), and also far more mission-capable than the B-2 it replaces.

you do realise its not flown by luke skywalker and the US military arent the Rebel Alliance?

 

[A380]

you do realise its not flown by luke skywalker and the US military arent the Rebel Alliance?

Really? gosh, thanks for more of the fantastic level of knowledge and analysis at the level we have come to expect...

 

[A380]

Poor fuckers. Hope they find more but seems unlikely now.

Thailand warship capsizes leaving 31 sailors missing

The navy is searching for survivors after the HTMS Sukhothai, carrying 106 crew, sank in a storm.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[A380]

Christmas is a time to avoid controversy on here.

 

[T & P]

So what military surveillance advantage could a nation with spy satellite technology like China hope to gain from a spy balloon?

US secretary of state postpones China visit after spy balloon flies over Montana

Antony Blinken delays trip, as China claims balloon was for ‘meteorological’ purposes and was blown off course

www.theguardian.com

Various experts are quoted across media articles stating China is unlikely to gain any intelligence from a balloon that one of their satellites could not already provide. So they’re basically trolling the Americans?

 

[A380]

So what military surveillance advantage could a nation with spy satellite technology like China hope to gain from a spy balloon?

US secretary of state postpones China visit after spy balloon flies over Montana

Antony Blinken delays trip, as China claims balloon was for ‘meteorological’ purposes and was blown off course

www.theguardian.com

Various experts are quoted across media articles stating China is unlikely to gain any intelligence from a balloon that one of their satellites could not already provide. So they’re basically trolling the Americans?

It’s a gas. It’s a load of hot air. It’s been blown up out of all proportion. Etc etc etc.

 

[T & P]

It’s a gas. It’s a load of hot air. It’s been blown up out of all proportion. Etc etc etc.

You might think it’s funny, but this is only going to inflate tensions.

 

[kebabking]

I think they are probably doing lots of things all at the same time - I think they are effectively throwing shit at the walk to see what sticks.

Don't underestimate how keen they are on learning, and how willing they have been to spend both money and resources on trying stuff to see what they can learn from it.

I think they want to see if there's a tangible difference between what a satellite can see, and what a camera at 80,000ft can see - remember that the U-2 is still flying along Russia's borders 60+ years after the first photo satellites went into orbit...

I think they want to learn about US detection and intercept capabilities, US domestic politics, US response times/approaches, and presumably their ability to recover, and the US's ability to interfere with that recovery, of the int/control package on the balloon.

It's also quite possible that it is just a weather balloon, and they are poking the US, sending them up the wall, causing huge political aggro for Biden, and then making them look stupid when they shoot down a weather balloon - or indeed can't shoot down a weather balloon...

 

[T & P]

Assuming China is lying and this was a deliberate incursion, how are such balloons steered towards their target? They must have some small directional propellers built in, surely?

 

[A380]

Assuming China is lying and this was a deliberate incursion, how are such balloons steered towards their target? They must have some small directional propellers built in, surely?

No, they just go with the winds. Crewed balloons can sort of choose where they go ( a bit) by ascending and descending as the wind directions tend to differ ( a bit) at different altitudes. Not sure if this would be possibly with this kind?


These things are huge at altitude, like block of flats huge, and made out of stuff like dry cleaners’ bags. I read somewhere ( Yeager’s autobiography?) that in the Cold War shooting at them didn’t work, given the huge size and low relative pressure difference, meant bullets didn’t do much. So the Americans took to flying planes right through them as the really thin plastic didn’t harm the engines.

The Japanese used long range incendiary balloons across the pacific in the Second World War to try to start forest fires in America.

That just about sums up my balloon knowledge…

 

[T & P]

No, they just go with the winds. Crewed balloons can sort of choose where they go ( a bit) by ascending and descending as the wind directions tend to differ ( a bit) at different altitudes. Not sure if this would be possibly with this kind?


These things are huge at altitude, like block of flats huge, and made out of stuff like dry cleaners’ bags. I read somewhere ( Yeager’s autobiography?) that in the Cold War shooting at them didn’t work, given the huge size and low relative pressure difference, meant bullets didn’t do much. So the Americans took to flying planes right through them as the really thin plastic didn’t harm the engines.

The Japanese used long range incendiary balloons across the pacific in the Second World War to try to start forest fires in America.

That just about sums up my balloon knowledge…

I read in one of the articles today that you can send such unmanned balloons in the direction you want by using the prevailing winds around it. Which I guess is possible by making it ascend or descend until you reach a useful wind stream, and then move on to the next one, etc. But that sounds like a very complex and time consuming meteorological game of chess.

And whereas I’d imagine using altitude changes alone would be enough to steer a balloon towards the country you wish to spy on, I find more difficult to believe you can narrow the art down to make the balloon to fly over (or near enough) a specific very small target area in the vast expanse that is the USA. I am sure the Japanese were more than happy for their balloons to fly over any part of the continental US. Getting a ballon to fly over a silo site is quite a different proposition.