The Mess - Military Forum Off Topic Thread!

BoJack Horseman · 23-11-2015 5:22pm

Couple of things from Dave Camerons speech today.

8 x Type26 ships, which may be tailored for anti-sub warfare?
but apparently also the design & creation of a new class of light frigate?
I guess this goes to What Sparky was saying regarding no one buying the Type 26 (and therefore another sop to BAE).

"And we will buy at least thirteen new frigates and two new offshore patrol vessels.
These will include eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates.
We will design and build a new class of light, flexible general purpose frigates.
These will be more affordable than the Type 26, which will allow us to buy more of them for the Royal Navy."

20 x "Protector" drones.... to replace the reapers.
I wonder what these are? will they be armed?

meanwhile, Jezz Corbyn wants a human rights adviser in every embessey.

BoJack Horseman · 07-12-2015 10:47pm

The USS Zumwalt was taken for a spin today.....

That is some silhouette.... like something from the us civil war.

discus · 15-12-2015 3:39pm

It does look like an old Ironclad!

Jawgap · 19-12-2015 9:45am

Ken Burns style documentary on the Galactic Civil War.......

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/how-ken-burns-would-tell-the-story-of-star-wars/2015/12/18/2ed8ccaa-a5a4-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588_video.html

BoJack Horseman · 18-01-2016 2:04pm

4 x Vanguard replacements...... that won't carry ICBMs?

Jezz we can!

BoJack Horseman · 13-03-2016 12:12pm

A nice story....

'Bitchin Betty' retiring

BoJack Horseman · 14-04-2016 9:07pm

Seen this earlier...
I know it's standard fare Islamist propaganda, with secondary school edits & default jihadi idol music.... but still.

What do people make of it?

The vehicles are totally exposed, the attackers are dug in and relatively safe & the ANA just sit there....
Surely it's not a trained tactic to sit there trading blows out in the open?

ectoraige · 14-04-2016 10:10pm

goldie fish wrote: »

The Navy consists of a fleet of 7 ships, each with a crew with an average of 50 people each. The Navy itself consists of over 1000 people. What do you think the others do when not at sea?

Tread water?

Manic Moran · 15-04-2016 4:28pm

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Seen this earlier...
I know it's standard fare Islamist propaganda, with secondary school edits & default jihadi idol music.... but still.

What do people make of it?

The vehicles are totally exposed, the attackers are dug in and relatively safe & the ANA just sit there....
Surely it's not a trained tactic to sit there trading blows out in the open?

It's not. But it looks like they sat there for a minute or two trying to evaluate the opposition and figure out if the best move was to stay or attack. Note that despite the highlighting, the first rocket/missile did not hit the truck they were aiming at, it's seen firing back with a rather large machinegun a bit later in the video. With no signficant damage taken, it may not have been a bad idea to sit around a until one can figure out what one is dealing with.

Once it finally got blown up, it looks like the ANA decided discretion was the better form of valor and high-tailed it out. What that last explosion is, I have no clue, note the editing in the time, even if the dust trail was the last ANA vehicle (Travelling on its own?!) the explosion was cut to an even later/darker period.

AbusesToilets · 17-04-2016 6:37pm

Whatever about the ANA's abilities or general lack there of, the terrain looks difficult and there is always the ever present threat of IEDs to worry about in those situations.

Jawgap · 22-04-2016 7:23pm

BoJack Horseman · 26-04-2016 10:22am

Australia has finally selected a replacement for it's Collins Class submarines.

The winner was DCNS of France & a derivative of their Barracuda design

6 boats being replaced by 12.... the AU$50bn contract equating to €2.85bn per unit.

Nice looking boat, but it could be a white elephant at such a cost.

BoJack Horseman · 28-04-2016 12:19pm

This has been doing the rounds today, so some of you my have seen it.

helmet-cam footage of a small ISIS attack north of Mosul.
Interesting as it is without all the editing/music normally found in ISIS videos.

3 improvised vehicles lead this attack, with some improvised grenades interestingly
It did not go well.

Poor old Abu Hajar... you can see his colleagues are not happy with his performance!
Leave Abu alone!

AbusesToilets · 29-04-2016 1:59am

There are few things scarier than being next to a booger with a RPG

Jawgap · 03-05-2016 7:39am

BoJack Horseman · 12-05-2016 9:53pm

Meanwhile at the Russian embassy in London...

https://twitter.com/RussianEmbassy/status/730701444823826432
the internet helped them set the record straight though....
https://twitter.com/dsic/status/730766353532096513

(for anyone who remembers Command & Conquer Generals)

They just don't put the effort into lying anymore.

BoJack Horseman · 18-05-2016 6:06pm

Today Saab had the media launch for their new Gripen 'NG' today...

Bit faster, extra weapons pylons, AESA & IRST.
A big improvement.

AbusesToilets · 20-05-2016 3:12pm

Those IRST systems are going to be an interesting counterpoint to any stealth platforms going forward.

BoJack Horseman · 20-05-2016 3:35pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Those IRST systems are going to be an interesting counterpoint to any stealth platforms going forward.

Apparently up to 90kms detection range, with actual useful range of 60kms

Pretty good & a useful backup to radar, though the radar would normally have better range if it can see its target...

AbusesToilets · 20-05-2016 4:27pm

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Apparently up to 90kms detection range, with actual useful range of 60kms

Pretty good & a useful backup to radar, though the radar would normally have better range if it can see its target...

Maybe the US will get around to putting them on their planes going forward.

BoJack Horseman · 20-05-2016 5:55pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Maybe the US will get around to putting them on their planes going forward.

The only ones that don't have it are the eagles.... And I think some units will be getting it eventually.....

But the Falcons, Super Hornets & Lightening II's all have it.

AbusesToilets · 20-05-2016 7:00pm

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

The only ones that don't have it are the eagles.... And I think some units will be getting it eventually.....

But the Falcons, Super Hornets & Lightening II's all have it.

They do? I thought 22 and 35 was lacking those sensor upgrades. Pretty nuts how technologically obsolete the next gen planes actually are in many ways.

BoJack Horseman · 20-05-2016 8:25pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

They do? I thought 22 and 35 was lacking those sensor upgrades. Pretty nuts how technologically obsolete the next gen planes actually are in many ways.

The 22 doesn't (I think)..... But the 35 certainly has... And a very good one seemingly as it's multi-directional as opposed to an extra protrusion on the nose on a current plane.... Only scanning what is in front.

How are the next gen obsolete?

AbusesToilets · 20-05-2016 8:29pm

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

The 22 doesn't..... But the 35 certainly has... And a very good one as it's multi-directional as opposed to an extra protrusion on the nose on a current plane.... Only scanning what is in front.

How are the next gen obsolete?

Mostly in terms of their computing systems, and their sensor suites. The processors on the 22 for example are laughably slow, in the sub 100mhz I believe. Similar situation with some of the sensor and imaging tech, for example the 35 from what I've read isn't capable of interfacing with Rover feeds etc.

Products of the extended development time frame, though the 22 is certainly hampered from receiving upgrades by the closure of the production line, as evidenced by the delay with integrating the AIM-9x missile tech.

BoJack Horseman · 20-05-2016 9:11pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Mostly in terms of their computing systems, and their sensor suites. The processors on the 22 for example are laughably slow, in the sub 100mhz I believe. Similar situation with some of the sensor and imaging tech, for example the 35 from what I've read isn't capable of interfacing with Rover feeds etc.

How fast are the processor cores on the Falcons & Eagles?
Obviously much slower still... hence their enhancements are on pods which do the thinking for them.

But every stealth fighter from the Raptor to the J20 will has to have these capabilities programmed in...
It isn't necessarily inferior, just more time consuming than hanging a pod on one of the weapons pylons.

The 35 will eventually have ROVER link, actually an enhanced version of same... but not until block 4 (which is at about 6 years away!)

Products of the extended development time frame, though the 22 is certainly hampered from receiving upgrades by the closure of the production line, as evidenced by the delay with integrating the AIM-9x missile tech.

Not so much the line... but that the programming language is a rather old one called ADA83 (no idea what it's like).
Sensibly the F35 is mostly C & C++

AbusesToilets · 20-05-2016 9:17pm

Strikes me as perhaps poorly thought out when the program is being planned, that the processors etc wouldn't be easily upgrade able. It's of course easier to incorporate upgrades as new models are fielded, something unlikely to happen with 22, unfortunately.

That the 35, as a "CAS" platform is incapable of an air to ground link is pretty unforgivable, though that's probably low on the list of issues facing that plane.

BoJack Horseman · 20-05-2016 9:33pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Strikes me as perhaps poorly thought out when the program is being planned, that the processors etc wouldn't be easily upgrade able. It's of course easier to incorporate upgrades as new models are fielded, something unlikely to happen with 22, unfortunately.

Major problem alright.
Addressed by the F35 using more 'commercial off the shelf' design.
The F22's upgrade path is seemingly a grey area..
The DOD budgeted $600m to continue work on these 180-odd aircraft for 2016 alone..... the main hurdle apparently being that few people know this archaic language anymore.

That the 35, as a "CAS" platform is incapable of an air to ground link is pretty unforgivable

There will still be a data link & of course secure audio... there just won't be video transmission for a while yet.
But yes... you'd think it would be something built in at baseline.

BoJack Horseman · 13-06-2016 10:10am

The 2 Dutch F-35s are starting their summer of air-show demos..
Below is from over the weekend.

They aren't pushing the boat out just yet, but you can see at 1:10 the rate of turn is very good.

AbusesToilets · 13-06-2016 7:17pm

That's pretty neat. I see F-35s fairly regularly flying where I'm at presently. Have they found a solution to the overheating issue that was causing them to have to keep bomb bay doors open in flight?

BoJack Horseman · 13-06-2016 9:23pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Have they found a solution to the overheating issue that was causing them to have to keep bomb bay doors open in flight?

They are in the process of testing all of the exposed pipes and cabling in the weapons bay to see if they can be certified for higher operating temperature.

Most probably will be, but were not certified as such so will have to be assessed.
Anything that doesn't pass will either be fixed or replaced.

The exposed cabling and pipes were to help mechanics get access to stuff and lessen the need to remove a body panel as would normally be the case in a plane.
You can see here that the bay is quite busy.

But once all of those bits & bobs are certified as being ok in high heat then the precautionary restriction will be lifted.
And tbh, according to pilots in training it's never been an issue as they aren't flying low enough for long enough to be a huge deal.

The Mess - Military Forum Off Topic Thread!

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