Military Photos

tac foley

Ah, right. Thanks for that. It was a matter of great embarrassment for my Argentinian host, made worse when one of my companions asked if the Royal Navy had done it.

tac

Reggie.

tac foley wrote: »

Ah, right. Thanks for that. It was a matter of great embarrassment for my Argentinian host, made worse when one of my companions asked if the Royal Navy had done it.

tac

Oh I'd say that went down like a lead balloon

sparky42

tac foley wrote: »

Ah, right. Thanks for that. It was a matter of great embarrassment for my Argentinian host, made worse when one of my companions asked if the Royal Navy had done it.

tac

Yeah, I can imagine how that went down, though given the state of the Argentinian military funding it's not really surprising.

gallag

Ship porn warning!

BMT venator-110

Stars and Stripes

WOW, no one makes a tank like a German tank as the Leopard demonstrates how anti tank ditches are useless in it's path -

AbusesToilets

Might a touch different if another team was playing too.

Stars and Stripes

gallag wrote: »

Ship porn warning!

BMT venator-110

Here's the US's latest carrier, the navy say it has a " significant number of new, advanced systems that don't exist anywhere else in the world ". Amazing craft eh ?



" It's the first new designed aircraft carrier in 40 years.There are a significant number of new, advanced systems that don't exist anywhere else in the world, Sean Stackley Navy assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition. It's not until you bring them all together on the aircraft carrier that you get to test the fully integrated system, and so with all first-of-class ships we have been in a bit of a test-and-fix mode as we go through the test program.

https://news.usni.org/2017/04/03/navsea-carrier-gerald-r-ford-set-start-sea-wee

Stars and Stripes

Is this Italian vet the fastest shot in the world :eek: Former Instructor 5th with the Folgore Parachute Brigade.

Stars and Stripes

Cast in 1586 in Moscows Cannon Court by the famed Russian bronze master Andrey Chokhov on the orders of Tsar Feodor Ioannovich, the sovereign ruler of All Great Russia, the Tsar Cannon is recognized as the largest bombard by caliber in the world.



https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/04/14/the-tsar-cannon-the-largest-bombard-by-caliber-in-the-world/

Tabnabs

Avro Vulcan XH535 and B-52 Stratofortress, rare to see these two flying together.

Stars and Stripes

One of the most unusual operations I've heard of in warfare - when cavalry and infantry captured a naval fleet !!

Watercolor of the capture of the Dutch fleet.


The French army of the Napoleonic era are renowned as one of the most daring and brave of all time, but this must be near the top !! The Netherlands which along with Prussia, Britain, Spain, Austria etc had declared war on revolutionary France. During the particularly harsh winter of 1795, 15 of it's warships off Holland got entrapped by ice. French Captain Louis Lahure getting word of it decided to check it's vulnerability and approached with Hussars and Infantry of about 2,000 men. Ordering his men to spread out and arranged themselves in several lines to distribute their weight in case one unit broke through the ice, the others would still be operational. The Dutch understandably caught completely by surprise and no escape route at this audacious attack after negotiations surrendered.


https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/french-cavalry-captured-dutch-fleet_sea-xx.html/2

BeardySi

Not quite in flight together, but a fantastic sight at RIAT '09

sparky42

It's a shame the last Vulcan has been grounded would have loved to have seen her flying.

Stars and Stripes

sparky42 wrote: »

It's a shame the last Vulcan has been grounded would have loved to have seen her flying.

Amazing looking aircraft but am I right that it's only offensive use came for it in the Falklands in 1982 ?

Tabnabs

Filmed in 1960 - The Four Horsemen were the world's only four engine per aircraft demonstration team. Flying four C-130As in close formation, the team would perform a number of maneuvers over a twenty-three minute airshow that closed with a bomb burst -- or as the team called it, Horseman Burst. The show was performed at an altitude of 500 to 1,000 feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjZMWI77b84

Capt'n Midnight

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

One of the most unusual operations I've heard of in warfare - when cavalry and infantry captured a naval fleet !!

How about the one between Turkish cavalry and a British Submarine ? :P

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

Amazing looking aircraft but am I right that it's only offensive use came for it in the Falklands in 1982 ?

Yes. They put one bomb on the runway. But still by far the longest bombing raid away from a friendly air base.
Because of it's shape the Vulcan had a very low radar signature from some angles too.

The other UK V-Bombers were the Victor and the Valiant.
Some people say the Victor was evil looking. They were used as tankers later on.





The Valiant was a boring stop-gap but it did drop a nuke.



The Shorts Sperrin was an ever more pedestrian backup plan.

sparky42

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How about the one between Turkish cavalry and a British Submarine ? :P

Yes. They put one bomb on the runway. But still by far the longest bombing raid away from a friendly air base.
Because of it's shape the Vulcan had a very low radar signature from some angles too.

Think the record stood until B2's out of the US bombed Iraq in GW2. Course the list of issues that the Vulcan's had to get over just to get that one bomb to hit was equally epic.

The other UK V-Bombers were the Victor and the Valiant.
Some people say the Victor was evil looking. They were used as tankers later on.

The Victor was the bigger bomb carried than the Vulcan, if they had gone ahead with the Batch 2 Victor's they could have remained in service as a much more powerful bomber. Funnily some of the Vulcan's ended up being Tankers as well after some of the Victors we over stressed.

The Valiant was a boring stop-gap but it did drop a nuke.

It might have been boring but it could have served longer if it hadn't been for the low altitude flights they had to go with after SAM's became effective.

The Shorts Sperrin was an ever more pedestrian backup plan.

True, looking at the numbers the UK would have been much better served if they had gone with 2 at most rather than having 4 distinct bomber programs.

sparky42

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

Amazing looking aircraft but am I right that it's only offensive use came for it in the Falklands in 1982 ?

Yep, the Victors did bombing actions in the Malayan Conflict from memory but this was the only action of the Vulcan.

Remember they were dedicated Nuke bombers, when the RAF decided to use them they had to go through their stores just to find the conventional bomb racks (as they hadn't been fitted for decades), one of the Squadrons were using the refueling coupling (think that was it) for an ashtray, and they had to rip the nav systems off of Transports (again from memory), all of this happened while the entire fleet was being decommissioned.

Capt'n Midnight

sparky42 wrote: »

Think the record stood until B2's out of the US bombed Iraq in GW2.

Nope.

PR exercise as they overflew lots of friendly airbases and had tankers deployed from some of them. The B52's or B2's could have flown from Saudi. They could probably have fired their cruise missiles while in a holding pattern above the airfield they took off from.

sparky42

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

sparky42 wrote: »

Think the record stood until B2's out of the US bombed Iraq in GW2./QUOTE]Nope.

PR exercise as they overflew lots of friendly airbases and had tankers deployed from some of them. The B52's or B2's could have flown from Saudi. They could probably have fired their cruise missiles while in a holding pattern above the airfield they took off from.

It was still a continuous combat flight, so I don't get your point, I mean what are you trying to say in regard to the tankers? The Vulcan's were tanked out and back as well.

Reggie.

sparky42 wrote: »

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

It was still a continuous combat flight, so I don't get your point, I mean what are you trying to say in regard to the tankers? The Vulcan's were tanked out and back as well.

Yes but I think the point he was making was that the vulcans had no friendly airbase to divert from and had to return to the airbase they took off from

sparky42

Reggie. wrote: »

sparky42 wrote: »

Yes but I think the point he was making was that the vulcans had no friendly airbase to divert from and had to return to the airbase they took off from

Well one did end up in Brazil from memory, moreover how is that different to what the B2's would have had over the Atlantic?

Reggie.

sparky42 wrote: »

Reggie. wrote: »

Well one did end up in Brazil from memory, moreover how is that different to what the B2's would have had over the Atlantic?

As they could have taken off closer to the target. Did the vulcans have a closer airbase?

Capt'n Midnight

Large https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/af/1c/b8/af1cb8e2a8dc7cc8ad089ab58e550298.jpg

Stars and Stripes

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Yes. They put one bomb on the runway. But still by far the longest bombing raid away from a friendly air base.

sparky42 wrote: »

Think the record stood until B2's out of the US bombed Iraq in GW2. Course the list of issues that the Vulcan's had to get over just to get that one bomb to hit was equally epic.

" epic " to get a single bomb on an airfield !! Not exactly a bang for yer buck, another heroic failure story for the Brits yet again

beauf

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

" epic " to get a single bomb on an airfield !! Not exactly a bang for yer buck, another heroic failure story for the Brits yet again

There was more to it than that. The Raid had value beyond damaging the runway. Though that was its primary aim.

beauf

Reggie. wrote: »

As they could have taken off closer to the target. Did the vulcans have a closer airbase?

The question really is, could something closer have hit the target.

Vulcan attack made single crater with first bomb halfway down runway just south of centre, remaining bombs landed over to SW over 1000m run without further damage. 3×1000-lb retard bombs laid down by one SHAR during suppression attack all hit runway centre line causing damage over 150m in area of Vulcan hit. Other damage done in stores and dispersal area at west end of runway by cluster bombs

SHAR=Sea Harrier FRS1

Stars and Stripes

beauf wrote: »

There was more to it than that. The Raid had value beyond damaging the runway. Though that was its primary aim.

Yep I'm sure, of momentous consequence for the history of the entire world.

beauf

That war would have influenced military planning and tactics and equipment, in many wars and conflicts after that. Far beyond any importance of the Falklands itself. Even if you can't see past the UK involvement in it.

Stars and Stripes

beauf wrote: »

That war would have influenced military planning and tactics and equipment, in many wars and conflicts after that. Far beyond any importance of the Falklands itself. Even if you can't see past the UK involvement in it.

See post #719.