Who says old folks arent tech savvy?

LOL

I tried, bro... embedding disabled by request

But man, the F-14 was a damn good looking bird in its own right, how cool were those folding wings!

I think it's time for some Tomcat videos...

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Boys will be boys...

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Swept wings lol my buddy used to work on the electronics on them naval air station patuxent river in the early 80's when he was in the navy. That was a bad ass plane. And huge for a fighter.

The invention of the proximity fuse during WWII

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_fuze

Holy shit, it looks like that pilot bailed out and floated right into the explosion :(

He and the RIO survived with only minor injuries, IIRC.

Unique, at the time, and was the first of all "assault rifles."

The Sturmgewehr:

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/w...44-525x660.png

"The Germans always build good stuff."

Probably already been mentioned, but the "Cherry Blossom" was pretty unique, in a horrible way:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY7_Ohka

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...cket_plane.jpg

Didnt Kalashnikov kind of copy the design of the Sturmgeweher to make the ak-47?

Some of the innovations the Germans had for back then were incredible.

The ME-262 the worlds first Jet fighter

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...ZvgX2Ko9wjsVj6

How can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheese?

LMAO

Another innovation was the US Navy pumping carbon dioxide into their airplane fuel on their carriers during WWII. Thats why the Yorktown survived. the Japanese? not so lucky. No C02 for them.

Its easy to imagine Allied pilots shitting their pants when first encountering these things... great pic, this late model version on wiki is pretty sweet too, its incredibly sleek looking for that era

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_262

The managed to down 550+ planes from 1942 to the end...

Thank God they didnt have THAT program underway sooner or we would all be speaking German

http://weaponscollector.com/images/1...054c_small.jpg

Misericorde dagger. A long thin dagger used to euthanize people who were too wounded to survive but whose wounds were not immediately fatal giving them a quick death instead of a lingering one. The name comes from the latin for 'act of mercy' and was used extensively in the Middle Ages and into the 17th century. The mercy kill was usually done by thrusting down between the neck and collarbone and piercing the heart. Another was was to thrust through visor into the eye socket and brain.

These daggers could also be used in close hand to hand combat.

Everytime someone mentions the ME 262 I also think of the Horton 229. It was the precursor of stealth and a flying wing. Think small fighter version of the B-2. One can only imagine the what ifs if the Nazis could have figured out the dynamics of a making it work and producing it.

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And Kalashnikov claims he didn't copy it with AK-47. Maybe he didn't but there sure is a likeness :hmmm:

The 262 was developed in time to do significantly more damage than it did, Hittler in a syphilis rage forced it to turn into a light bomber instead of the air to air role it was designed for.

They are restoring one at the Steven F Udvar Hazy center in northern va. It's a place that's a bit out of the way but WELL with the trip.

The Horten is the grandaddy of the flying wing, the Germans were truly onto something revolutionary

Its scary how modern it looks even now, two engines aligned along the fuselage for a compact and aerodynamic profile... I've seen that design before, somewhere

Ahh. The Horton 229. If only they had fly by wire back in the day.

It technically wasn't "the first jet fighter" but it was the first operational one.

As you may know, Galland and others wanted it to be a fighter immediately, but Hitler demanded that it be employed as a bomber for a long time. When it reverted back to the fighter role, it was already too late.

The most dangerous weapon known to man.

http://zerotobeast.com/wp-content/up...-hot-women.jpg

This weapon is equipped with a number of weapons that render the opposition helpless.

I actually didnt know that about Hitler insisting on making it a bomber until I read that wiki last night... glad ol, Adolph was stubborn, they would've shot the allies out of the sky faster than we could build them

I surrender ! Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I surrender right now.

Surrender my ass, I'm gonna launch everything I got at her

Ah the voodoo punani secret weapon :drool:

Not unique at all. But to me there is nothing more thrilling than throwing live hand grenades. Seeing that spoon flipping in the air like a ballerina is nothing but pure beauty.

We used M231's to clear trenches. Which were always a blast to shoot. You would run through a 30rnd mag in about 2 or 3 seconds.

There are always unique things to do with 1 1/4lb. sticks of C4.

Colored smoke grenades like green, yellow and purple were always fun and unique to add a little cayenne pepper under the bottom of the tape. Wait a minute, colored smoke isn't supposed to burn like CS. Heh.

And the way this thread is turning now is proof positive of the power of voodoo punani :D

Along the lines of grenades, I give you The Punisher..

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Wonder how much that thing weighs.

My cousin told me in weighs in around to a hefty 14 to 15 pounds. He also said that there has been some problems with misfires and range at this point but that all those problems are currently being remedied. He thinks it has promise as a squad based weapon.

The Brits are using it in Libya

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/sas-use-pro...-libya-1574767

Of course. Right after I fire my Incredible Heat Seeking Moisture Missle.

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The BAE stealth tank at #2 is totally badass, Poland is going to be the first nation to field them

When is this guys inner circle finally going to turn on him and kill him?

Kim Jong Un has assembled a battalion sized unit of soldiers wearing backpacks that act like flamethrowers, except they dont throw flames... they throw spray out radioactive material onto the enemy

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/31...g-uranium.html

Real life isn't supposed to be like Red Alert 2:

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/...20090123225329

Why don't we just drop one GIGANTIC bomb the next time they hold one of those major military parades where Kim Jong-Un, all his top military people and advisers are sitting next to him, all the weapons are on display and about 1,000,000 people are gathered.

Seems real efficient and effective. Wipe out all the top dogs

It would all depend on how hard China takes it, on one hand NK is their annoying little guard dog/bulwark against our presence in the south

On the other, you just know Kim is a major headache for them

I like the idea, and you can bet the people of NK would rejoice

Stupid **** is going to kill his own troops.

Batman is pretty much a reality, all of these technologies are being successfully tested in the field

Regenerative load bearing/energy assist

Liquid cooled body temperature

Electromagnetic liquid filled body armor that instantly turns to metal with an electric charge

Heads up helmet display with asset fusion capabilities similar to an F-35

Built in wound sealant foam, vital systems monitoring, all kinds of endless potential... TALOS is here

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2015/05...e-soldier.html

I would have gone with "Incredible Moisture Seeking Heat Missile" myself.

:D
Either way my hardware would have unloaded.

Time for an up-close look at a piece of Russian hardware, they make some real beauties, like the legendary Su-30 and its variants

https://battlemachines.wordpress.com...amous-flanker/

I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, but I'm digging it nonetheless... it bears further exploration, found it worth sharing

http://greatsatansgirlfriend.blogspo...1_archive.html

The M-728-Combat Engineer Vehicle has always been a favorite of mine.

The M-60 AVLB was another piece of equipment in my fathers motor pool that I got play around with as a child.

Pretty surprising to me that my HQ/HQC 6th Engineer unit never had 728s or M-60s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M728_c...gineer_vehicle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_AVLB

Chuck Yeager is immortal, the man is 93 years old and still sharper than most men half his age

If you're a Tweeter, follow someone who puts the Legend in living legend

https://twitter.com/GenChuckYeager

Actually not that surprising lol, we were an infantry post, not heavy... memory has gotten foggy and sotted

USS Zumwalt is finally ready to join the fleet, the name of its commander... wait for it, hang on... James Kirk

Beautiful shot of this austere but absolutely menacing beast in the link

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nations-l...205205893.html

Here it is in sea trials

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Hillary will have it melted down and sell it for a few votes.

As a Navy man you better love it

https://news.usni.org/2016/05/23/zumwalt_mix_challgnges

Under a real POTUS it would be awesome, under a Dem, it's lucky to float. They'll pour trillions into hating the home-based cops, and ****-over the military and their mission.

So yes, I love it, but it'll be useless given the cowards who will be running the country and those cowards who vote them into office.

It wasn't the earliest form, and they weren't Americans. That happened one time, in what is now Pittsburgh, and it was the British that did it.

And yes, I am replying to a post from 2013.

Meanwhile, we were researching nukes. That's a pretty good illustration of the difference in tech levels between the two warring nations.

The six deaths were a pregnant schoolteacher and a bunch of kids on a nature hike. When they went over to see what it was, it went off. Tragic beyond belief.

http://www.historynuggets.com/nugget...floating-bombs

Yeah, don't count on Lars Anderson for a lot of historical accuracy. He's a stunt archer - a good one - but his 'theories' are not rooted in any kind of reliable history.

Very interesting read about the fire balloon deaths, Aries

Longbows certainly took out horses, but I wouldn't say that was their intention; they existed long before cavalry was even used to great effect, and the Welsh and English used them to great effect against both cavalry and infantry. They rose to prominence because they were easy to make and allowed a ridiculous range and rate of fire. What's more, its power and the development of the bodkin arrowhead made it absolutely devastating against all but the heaviest armor - one case had a long bow arrow penetrate mail armor, the wearer's leg, the other side of the mail armor, the leather saddle, the wooden saddle frame, and well into the horse. This was from several hundred yards away.

Of course, super-wealthy knights clad in the heaviest plate could sustain many shots (imagine wearing a trash can and getting hit with a ball-peen hammer; it'll hurt, but you'll live), so yeah, it worked out nicely that it killed the horses. Agincourt, with its huge slop of mud that the French knights were nice enough to thunder right into, was particularly ripe for this. A lot of the French nobles were quite surprised to find out that the usual expectations of mercy and a quick ransom were not being followed by the English any more.

Thanks. I really need to get back to writing more articles.

There it is! That's the one a lot of the (especially English) yeomanry would use against a knight. Once they got that 'mercy/ransom/have a nice day' thing out of their heads, they figured the best way to take down a knight was by swarming him. Then, the misericordes they each carried would stick in the weak points - as you said, the collarbone, but also through the armpit or - gulp - up the groin.

I saw a Misericorde School, I think in Massachusetts. It made me chuckle a little.

Ah of course, I didnt make the connection, had kinda forgot that History Nuggets is your baby

So Aries, you wrote "Run For Your Life, John Colter"... ?

http://www.historynuggets.com/nugget...fe-john-colter

I've read more about the wild west than anything else by a huge margin, its my favorite subject of all time... the first book I ever read of my own will was a huge, totally for adults tome about Lewis and Clark

It inspired my lifelong fascination with the Old West

And of all the untold number of stories I've ever read on the subject, this tale of John Colter is quite possibly the most well written saga of badassery I've ever heard of... absolutely fascinating

I dont doubt his story, even if he was the only one to tell it... crazed derring do by rugged figures like himself is what made the west what it was

Excellent work Aries, could feel my heart racing just thinking about his scared shitless flight from the Blackfoot... he is so lucky one of the cooler heads prevailed to give him a head start

Thank you! As soon as I heard the skeleton of his story, I knew I had to write it. And yes, it might have been embellished or telephone-gamed, but I did my best to omit the parts of the story except those which appeared in multiple tellings, and then included the disclaimer. Sometimes that's the best historians can do.

I also did my best to describe the terrain; I've never been to Montana, but I really should go. My family is related to Meriwether Lewis (my sister's middle name is Meriwether), and I really should get out there one of these days to see the land personally.

I very much appreciate the compliment! I have some ideas for what's next, and as long as work and/or taking care of my Dad don't hamper my trajectory, I should be able to get going with it again, so watch this space.

I will definitely be adding more of your work to this thread, thanks for reminding me about your site by posting the fire balloon story

What is going on with the Brits main battle rifle, Donger?

It really is an awkward looking weapon, it appears to have the ergonomics of a brick to go along with other problems

https://warisboring.com/maybe-this-u...ff7#.drpu558m5

As much as everyone hates the F-35 because of the lifetime sticker cost...

How big of an advantage will it be to have considering the plane + the augmented reality helmet the pilot wears + a duo or trio of autonomous drones that are under the pilot's command?

The more I read, the clearer it becomes that costs will fall as they refine their production methods

And oh yeah, imagine each pilot commanding a swarm of armed stealth drones like this, able to send them into the worst danger areas or use them as decoys

https://www.google.com/search?q=stea...NyRVUOm_WlM%3A

Its an idea they've been working on for years, so it will be a reality in short order no doubt

http://www.defensetech.org/2015/05/2...flying-drones/

Watch the USS Jackson undergo a shock trial by cruising past a 10,000 pound explosive blast

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We need to stop building manned planes.

AI is already kicking the teeth in on highly trained fighter pilots.

Aircraft are already limited by what the human body can withstand. If they could design an aircraft that doesn't have to protect a human body, you'll get a lighter, faster, and way more nimble air combat platform. The article states that the AI ALPHA can already map out optimal combat tactics for 4 aircraft 250 times faster than the blink of a human eye.

http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks...res/alpha.html

Yeah, no. The fewer AI we equip with thousands of pounds of ammunition, the better.

Fish posted an article about this exact thing in the Science is Cool thread the other day, I read the article and have to admit... it sounds extremely impressive

That top gun Colonel went home beaten, sweaty and spent

Maybe its arrogance or hubris, but it still seems to me that nothing quite replicates a human being... as good as AI might be in a simulator, I still prefer to not only have a "man in the loop", but a man controlling/overseeing things from a high, nearby perch

The purely technical aspects, the AI matching him move for move, anticipating everything he did sounded genuinely awe inspiring... yet the battlespace is more complicated than ever, just cant help feeling that AI must ultimately be controlled by a man... or else it will control us

But ultimately you're right, like it or not... robots are the future

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a5383/4347306/

Our new B-21 stealth bomber now has a name

http://www.scout.com/military/warrio...er-b-21-raider

Just a hunch, but I'm willing to bet the wings arent going to be so pronounced... the flight control technology is surely in place by now to enable clipping them quite a bit to reduce the rcs

Cant wait to see the real deal and not just an artists rendering, it will be an awesome sight... no doubt

How about that Zumwalt class destroyer? badass

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumwalt-class_destroyer

I think thats the new rail gun

Post 214 last page :D

But many thanks for chiming in, railguns are definitely the future

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I have a lot of knowledge of military hardware, but I have never heard of the Soviet Type 279 Tank

http://www.diseno-art.com/news_conte...avy-tank-8.jpg

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the...-failure-17995

Why Russia's Cold War Monster Tank Was 60 Tons of Total Failure


Robert Beckhusen

October 10, 2016


In a war that never happened, formations of heavy and rather odd-looking Soviet tanks would have powered through atomic explosions in breakthrough attacks into West Germany.

Enter the Object 279 tank, a curious oddity from the late 1950s which was obsolete — despite its design principles deliberately reflecting the fear of a nuclear battlefield — by the time it was produced.

It was certainly not a success, as the Soviet Union only manufactured a handful of prototypes.

But the fact that it appeared at all is indicative of an obsession among a small number of Red Army military planners dating back to World War II. As the Nazis and Soviets battled for hegemony, both sides fielded increasingly heavier tanks — with bigger guns — which could absorb fire while destroying their heavily-armored enemies at long range.

Medium tanks, such as the legendary T-34, would ultimately pioneer the main battle tanks which armies deploy today. However, the Kremlin continued building thousands of heavy tanks into the 1960s until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev effectively put a stop to it.

The Object 279 was part of this tradition.

The Object 279’s most visible features include the sharp, saucer-shaped chassis and four distinct, enormous tracks. The latter was to give the 60-ton tank more traction in difficult or soft terrain, always a problem for heavier tanks prone to bogging down. A 1,000-horsepower engine powered the beast.

The design’s obvious downside? One could only imagine the difficulty repairing the two inner tracks running underneath the chassis’ belly, let alone the complex transmission. Equally bizarre is the shape of the chassis to protect the vehicle and its four crew members from shock waves generated by an exploding nuclear bomb.

The Object 279 came with serious armor — 319 millimeters thick in the turret and 269 millimeters at the thickest point in the hull, significantly greater than the far more widespread T-72 which entered service in the 1970s.

An impressive, stabilized 130-millimeter rifled cannon and 14.5 millimeter machine gun rounded out the turret.

But the quad-tracked juggernaut’s technical specifications are somewhat moot, as the prototypes came at the worst possible time.

Back up. During World War II, the Soviets refined their heavy tank designs, culminating in the IS-2 — an intimidating and impressive vehicle which entered service in 1944. IS-2s most notably spearheaded the Red Army assault into Berlin, blasting German Tiger tanks and reducing fortified positions into rubble.

The success of the IS-2 was never replicated again in a Soviet heavy tank. A follow-up, the IS-3, was a nightmare to maintain and underwent near constant upgrades to resolve numerous design problems in the welding and wheel bearings.

“Even in 1946 a committee was formed to fix the problems of what had become the flagship Soviet tank, and to prevent Western intelligence agencies from finding out how bad the tank really was,” Stephen Sewell wrote in a 2002 edition of Armor magazine.

“Militarily the IS-3 offered little more than propaganda value, as it was an embarrassment and seldom offered to Soviet allies.”

When the IS-3 did find itself outside the USSR, it rarely saw combat. Protesters during the 1956 Hungarian uprising destroyed a few, and the Israelis annihilated dozens of them in Egyptian service in 1967.

The IS-4 hardly fared better, and another tank called the T-10 endured a torturous development period as capable medium tanks such as the T-55 and the soon-to-come T-64 competed for budget dollars.

In reality, classic heavy tanks stopped making sense by the mid-1950s. Speedy, maneuverable and reliable tanks — with new high-powered guns — would win the wars of the future. Devastating guided missiles capable of punching through heavy armor had also begun entering service.

Khrushchev, who loved missiles, had enough of the Soviet army’s penchant for heavy tanks.

“If tanks were going to remain, they must fire missiles and use a drum-canister inside the tank for storage. [Tank designer L.N.] Kartsev argued that this was a dumb idea, and that the USSR was more likely to need gun tanks than missiles,” Sewell wrote, referencing a 1960 conversation between the two men.

“While he and Khrushchev argued, it was apparent that Khrushchev was listening to him. But after seeing the old-fashioned T-10, Khrushchev was adamant: no more heavy tanks.”

The Object 279 died with them. But in an irony which its designers would have appreciated, today’s main battle tanks — what were once medium tanks — have grown a lot heavier.

http://www.diseno-art.com/news_conte...avy-tank-4.jpg
http://www.twilighthistories.com/wp-...bject-279.jpeg