A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
What’s that little loop on the way out? Did the navigator think ‘I’ve left my sandwiches in the crew room, oh no there they are’...
The Combat 75 Military Surplus Thread. Past, present and future.
- Thread starter spitfire
- Start date
What’s that little loop on the way out? Did the navigator think ‘I’ve left my sandwiches in the crew room, oh no there they are’...
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
Pies for the AT fleet mate...
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Maneuvering to get in position for the refuelling bracket at the right time/altitude.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Nice holding pattern when she's doing her refuelling ...
Had the Apache mob over here again a few weeks back, and we have seen more C-130s recently - the latter are far more regular visitors, even see some of their replacements ...
[I know where they are going to play ...]
Had the Apache mob over here again a few weeks back, and we have seen more C-130s recently - the latter are far more regular visitors, even see some of their replacements ...
[I know where they are going to play ...]
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
All done on AP these days. A330MRTT has a modified system as the civvie version can't guarantee bank angles or do roll corrections.
not-bono-ever
meh
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Interesting choice of hull colour for a warship as well. I don’t remember ever seeing pics of any other modern warship painted in anything other than the usual grey. I guess there’s no point to try to make it blend in the background if there’s a humongous plume of black smoke floating above it and visible for many miles.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Paint it all black so it looks like a heavy rain cloud in the horizon.
nick
Pleomorphic Adenomas R us
Then it'd look like a herd of zebras under a storm cloud. Perfect camouflage!
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
Belfast picked to be site for new drone manufacture, of a "wingman" drone apparently:
www.irishtimes.com
Not sure how this will fit into the coming united Ireland, but anyway. . . This is the image used in today's dead tree versh of that IT story:
Like something out of Luftwaffe 1946, tbh.
DownwardDog - what's your expert opinion on this sort of thing? This story mentions that it will mesh with the proposed Tempest plane, which I seem to recall you snorting derisively at:
www.defensenews.com
Former Bombardier plant in NI to be used to build military drones
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings awarded a £30m design contract by UK government
Not sure how this will fit into the coming united Ireland, but anyway. . . This is the image used in today's dead tree versh of that IT story:
Like something out of Luftwaffe 1946, tbh.
DownwardDog - what's your expert opinion on this sort of thing? This story mentions that it will mesh with the proposed Tempest plane, which I seem to recall you snorting derisively at:
British shell out seed funding for ‘loyal wingman’ combat drone
If the project is successful, the "Mosquito" loyal wingman platform could eventually become the first drone in British service able to target and shoot down enemy aircraft.
www.defensenews.com
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
The Aussies have already ordered something akin to this (iirc) - if this does end up in production (10/15 years?) I doubt any post-unification govt is going to want to ditch however many jobs are in the production/supply chain in the name of whatever definition of neutrality they are using that week...
A lot will depend on whether it (or a successor project) is to be used for Typhoon or F-35 - if it's for Typhoon it will morph into a European/ME project with (probably) the other Typhoon operators, but if it's for F-35 it will be an R&D project that be used to buy into a US programme. Personally I think that's what will happen with Tempest - I simply don't see the European buy of a (any) 6th Gen aircraft being large enough to cover the development costs and Germany will end up flying the Tornado into its centenary of service....
A lot will depend on whether it (or a successor project) is to be used for Typhoon or F-35 - if it's for Typhoon it will morph into a European/ME project with (probably) the other Typhoon operators, but if it's for F-35 it will be an R&D project that be used to buy into a US programme. Personally I think that's what will happen with Tempest - I simply don't see the European buy of a (any) 6th Gen aircraft being large enough to cover the development costs and Germany will end up flying the Tornado into its centenary of service....
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
"Prods we love you, please come home" will have to involve rejoining the Commonwealth, at least.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Wiki: "Unlike other forms of camouflage, the intention of dazzle is not to conceal but to make it difficult to estimate a target's range, speed, and heading. Norman Wilkinson explained in 1919 that he had intended dazzle primarily to mislead the enemy about a ship's course and so cause them to take up a poor firing position"
Yeah, but how do you estimate the course and speed of a herd of zebras that is being followed by a big black cloud?
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Point taken
Autobiography is easier than novels.
the next stage of the journey on the oldest, most dilapidated Opel bus between Plovdiv and Sofia was very intriguing. Especially with our Bulgarian government unofficial official watching the four of us. The driver popped some tape in, Chris Rea, Road to Hell. We arrived in Sofia with a riot taking place. The official saying, ‘these people are gypsies and not citizens’.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
On the general subject of camouflage, I keep thinking that as technology governing detection of hardware targets, and the range and guidance of missiles continues to evolve, soon camouflage will likely be rendered superfluous to requirements in most situations? I mean, if/when an aircraft carrier is detected by the enemy approaching its territorial waters, it surely will be through radar, sonar, satellite or other such technology, rather than some bloke with binoculars.
Troops on the ground fighting each other, and perhaps land vehicles at risk from shoulder-launched weapons by fighters within visual range will always benefit from it I guess. But if a jet or warship is to be detected by a hostile, it’s surely unlikely to be because of an eagle-eyed pilot or sailor spotting them in the horizon, much less so shot down by a weapon dependant on human visual detection?
In some cases camouflage is so inefficient as to seem counterproductive. Many years ago we flew to Goa, which at the time seemed to be a dual civilian/ military airport, and I remember seeing clearly from the air the hangars designated for military aircraft, thanks to their perfectly visible and even distinctive camouflage coating. Handy for an enemy ground strike pilot to identify military targets and not waste weaponry on the civilian hangars
Troops on the ground fighting each other, and perhaps land vehicles at risk from shoulder-launched weapons by fighters within visual range will always benefit from it I guess. But if a jet or warship is to be detected by a hostile, it’s surely unlikely to be because of an eagle-eyed pilot or sailor spotting them in the horizon, much less so shot down by a weapon dependant on human visual detection?
In some cases camouflage is so inefficient as to seem counterproductive. Many years ago we flew to Goa, which at the time seemed to be a dual civilian/ military airport, and I remember seeing clearly from the air the hangars designated for military aircraft, thanks to their perfectly visible and even distinctive camouflage coating. Handy for an enemy ground strike pilot to identify military targets and not waste weaponry on the civilian hangars
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
The concept of "Teaming Systems" with a crewed and uncrewed mix is perceived to be the future. However the UK's LANCA program is way behind US XQ-58 and Australian ATS both in terms of schedule and committed funding.
The UK government is also trying to balance the demands of producing a weapons system that actually works and political expediency. Getting Spirit Aero in Belfast (used to be part of Bombardier before they got fucked by Airbus) to build the structure of the prototype is a job creation scheme and an attempt to hold the disintegrating union together. They've also rebranded it as 'Mosquito' because, for the English, WW2 will NEVER be over.
Ultimately there cannot be two European 6th gen combat air projects so Tempest/Mosquito (UK, Italy, Sweden) will have to fold into FCAS (France, Germany, Spain) or vice versa. Getting the first flying prototype will generate a lot of momentum in the direction of one program or another so I suspect there is massive pressure to get anything that can be call Tempest flying. Even if it's a Typhoon with a body kit.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Ok, now I’ll take an option on the film rights...
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
The Royal Navy had some interesting names - not least the Flower Class Corvettes used for convoy/anti-submarine duties in WW2 - Which included HMS Chrysanthemum and HMS Mimosa.
And of course the WW1-era HMS Cockchafer
Also HMS Spanker...!
ferrelhadley
There is no love between us anymore.
Once these loyal wingman drones become operational, I predict there will be one or several action/ thriller films that will use the plot device of a devious hacker who manages to hack into the drone and makes it shoot down the very aircraft it's supposed to be guarding
Stealth (film) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The visible wavelengths are the once with the strongest natural radiation on Earth. They also pass through the atmosphere with minimal interruption unlike IR or millimetric wavelengths . Its the best wavelength for passive detection. The problem with active detection is that your emissions can be tracked and interfered with.
Still the best and perhaps only way to make sure what you are shooting at is what you think it is in a crowded airspace.
kebabking
Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
Camouflage on the battlefield isn't really about not being seen, it's about introducing a moment's indecision and confusion to the enemy's see-think-shoot chain. It's about who can get a firing solution first: he who shoots first usually gets the kill.
spitfire
Walty McWaltface
How Soldiers Are Made. 1946 Passing Out Parade for recruits into the glorious army of the Free State.
No. 1 Army Band get a mention, my grandad was in that, not sure what years though, will have to find out.
From:
No. 1 Army Band get a mention, my grandad was in that, not sure what years though, will have to find out.
From:
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spitfire
Walty McWaltface
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
It was the Cork Examiner back then of course. "down south de Cork Examiner is de one dey call "de pay-purr", 'tis news, reviews and biggest circulation".
spitfire
Walty McWaltface
Oh yeah. I remember the Cork examiner, changed a couple of years before I left for London according to the web. My dad is an IT man.
ferrelhadley
There is no love between us anymore.
Death of the Luftwaffe. In October 43 the US heavy bomber offensive was stopped. They were taking up to 26% losses on the Sweinfurt\Regensburg mission.
In February the US 8th Air Force opened with the "Big Week" missions. They stopped close escort of the bombers and instead stuck a wall of fighters in front of them. The idea was to destroy as many Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe as possible rather than interrupt their attack runs on the bombers. If you got through the wall you had a free run at the bombers, but far more were shot down before they reached the bombers so the net result was the complete attrition of the fighter crews. The bombers would take losses but the plan was to rip the spine out of the Jagdwaffe (fighter squadrons). They tee'd up the most vital parts of the Nazi war economy and forced the Germans to meet them. It was a slaughter.
By May 44 the US heavies were flying to Berlin unacosted by the Luftwaffe as they had not the planes or the pilots. Over Normandy and Bagration (June 44) the Luftwaffe was a near absent bystander.
Then the US heavies zoned in on the oil production plants and pretty much ended the war.
It was like decades of history happening in months. The Mustang was not a great fighter, lots of draggy surface area and a not so great high altitude engine. But the US built Merlin's were added to it and gave it the power at altitude and all that draggy internal volume was filled with fuel and suddenly you had the ultimate bomber escort.
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