Is Ukraine about to have a war?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Russian TV calling for strikes on German, and presumably UK, bases training Ukrainian troops…
Might be useful to ask the US to deploy a Patriot battery on a training exercise…
Might be useful to ask the US to deploy a Patriot battery on a training exercise…
Come on, I can't believe that Ukraine won't be able to destroy the pontoon bridge when they are ready to. No point hitting it too early. Maybe wait until it is in use!
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Take the Helicopter, would we have needed Chinooks if the Rotordyne hadn't been curtailed, a second generation Rotodyne may have been a world beater, fast, capable of heavy lifting, and troop carrying, but alas we will never know.
But once you go down the path of buying in, your own industry suffers and becomes a shadow of its former self.
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What does it matter which it is ? A pontoon bridge is only going to have a capacity of 5 %(?) of a major road-bridge, so drastically under-performing. Maybe the UKr want the Russkis to keep enough soldiers on the west bank so their capture will be a greater propaganda success.
Last edited by NutLoose; 26th Aug 2022 at 14:00.
The problem with US equipment started many moons ago, buying the likes of the Phantom while an excellent aircraft meant a lack of work for our own indigenous aircraft manufactures who either shut up shop or were merged together, they also lost the techniclal know how and advances as they skipped a generation of development and the teams went their own way. Without that generation of jet and weapon manufacturing, factories were shut down and suppliers also suffered as no orders were forthcoming, hence the next round of aircraft purchases America or Europe were again looked at.
Take the Helicopter, would we have needed Chinooks if the Rotordyne hadn't been curtailed, a second generation Rotodyne may have been a world beater, fast, capable of heavy lifting, and troop carrying, but alas we will never know.
But once you go down the path of buying in, your own industry suffers and becomes a shadow of its former self.
Take the Helicopter, would we have needed Chinooks if the Rotordyne hadn't been curtailed, a second generation Rotodyne may have been a world beater, fast, capable of heavy lifting, and troop carrying, but alas we will never know.
But once you go down the path of buying in, your own industry suffers and becomes a shadow of its former self.
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The Rotordyne as a military transport would also have debilitated all of the unsuspecting team on the receiving end, that thing was designed to upset pilots who flew the thunderscreech. Great concept, but golly, OH&S would have a field day, and it probably would have gone down as an attack against the civil population, on both sides. It was pretty loud. It was and is however a good concept, that had poor timing. The acoustic signature would always be challenging unless they came up with some magic for the tip jets.
Westland finally abandoned the project in February 1962 and the Rotodyne Z was never completed. Although lack of faith in the aircraft was the main cause of its demise, a contributory factor was the disproportionate publicity given to the noise made by the Rotodyne's tip-jets, which it was said would inhibit its use in city centres. In fact, well before the aircraft was abandoned this noise had been successfully decreased to less than that made by a London Underground train, which millions of people accept every day; and there was every indication that it would have been reduced even further.
Ah, another invisible link that I didn't check for.
Sure, but we all ( ? ) recall the billions sunk in the Nimrod MRA4 debacle and we now have the continuing and unresolved problem of Ajax IFV which is also about £ 7 Bn down the road with no acceptable system . I see the benefits and the problems and have no answers.
Sure, but we all ( ? ) recall the billions sunk in the Nimrod MRA4 debacle and we now have the continuing and unresolved problem of Ajax IFV which is also about £ 7 Bn down the road with no acceptable system . I see the benefits and the problems and have no answers.
The MOD is utterly incompetent at (a) negotiating a contract and (b) managing a project development. From the other side of the fence, they are an almost bottomless money pit, but it makes at least some ex-RAF people in industry have guilty feelings for those serving, and for taxpayers.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
God, it makes me so proud to be British and still one of the most Machiavellian nations on earth…
I mean, what if it’s true….
Today's headline in RIA Novosti. Due to the Britain-Poland-Ukraine trilateral pact, Britain is seen as the agent behind Poland's integration with Ukraine….
I mean, what if it’s true….
Today's headline in RIA Novosti. Due to the Britain-Poland-Ukraine trilateral pact, Britain is seen as the agent behind Poland's integration with Ukraine….
Today, the civilian market has exploded, and vendors simply can't be bothered with manufacturing MIL Spec in the thousands when they can produce civilian in the millions. As a result, most aviation and military applications use COTS electronics (commercial off the shelf). Yes, they are tested and screened to a higher standard than what's in your laptop or phone (especially the environmental envelope), but they come out of the same factory.
If there is a bright side to the whole COVID mess, it's that the resultant supply chain issues exposed just how vulnerable our industrial bases is when entire sections of the industry can be shut down by the non-availability of chips made in another country (especially when that country isn't exactly your best friend). US Congress recently passed a bill, dedicating hundreds of billions to restoring high-tech chip manufacturing capability onshore. Given the track record of our government, I suspect a large share of that will be wasted or lost to corruption, but at least it's a start.
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It appears Russia takes the wording Ammunition dump literally.
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They hit the NOVA KAKHOVKA DAM+LOCK when there was a column crossing it, the road surface on the bridge looks seriously damaged, it’s on the Kherson Cats thread, but I will not post it as it is covered with a lot of Russian soldier body parts.