random picture thread

[CaptBrenden]

I did some training with the tankers.. here is some interesting things I heard:

The turret on an M1 can do a complete rotation in less then 7 seconds.  

On open ground it get get just over 60mph (tho it could probobly do more but its got a governer built in)

its powered by a jet turbine and used JP5 jet fule,
and it takes 14 gallons of that fule supposedly to start.  

Im also told that the onboard computer tracking can allow an M1 to hit slow moving air targets like helicopters with the main canon while its doing its top speed.  ... shoot a helicopter.. out of the air.. with a 120mm cannon at 60mph...  Who ever said tanks were slow lumbering things?

The armor to the front is i think he said 13 inches thick, but its only an inch or two thick on the top... thats why alot of new anti tank missles are programed to fly up into the air and come back down on their targets these days.  

An interesting feature:  the ammo for the turret is stored in the back end of the turret in a seperate compartment from the crew. there is an armored door that slides open when the gunner turns his seat from the breach to the side allowing him to grab a round and place it in the breach then it seals itself again.  the top half of the turret where the rounds are stored are designed with intentional weak points in the armor so if those rounds explode in the tank the top of the armor blows off and the explosion is directed upwards, alowing the crew to survive such an event.. but their ears will be ringing to be sure.

Oh while im thinking about the rounds, here is a really cool space saving feature: The casings to the rounds exept for the back plate are made of fiber glass. When the round fires the casing is incinerated exept for a thin metal disc that drops into a neat catch bin below the breach, that way empty casings dont need to be removed from the breach after each shot, they just open the breach and slam in a new round.

the image, it is related!

[Smokey]

Exactly, with modern equipment and a huge engine, tanks are lethal...

That is, until an apache shows up...

Pic related

[NejinOniwa]

I won't comment on military equipment until the stuff I've got on my drawing board is up for production. Still can't think anything but "dusty, dusty, dusty and powder". So shit.

[CaptBrenden]

ahh the AH64 isn indeed a nice peice of hardware designed for an anti tank/infantry support role.. Untill it flys into a sand storm.  

Thats where the older cobra comes into play:

The cobra and the Huey have been around a long time.. so the BlackHawk and Apatche are designed to be better/faster/stronger... but they are several times the cost, and it takes very little to screw up the onboard computers rendering them junk.  THe huey and the cobra however, have been in service for dacades with occasional upgrades in engine power and the like, but remain a cheap and effective design that has shown to be reliable. In Vietnam the average huey pilot got shot down several times in his duties and every time they crashed and walked away. I have a work buddy that was a door gunner in vietnam and he said one or twice after being shot down they were in another by the end of the day.  The old school mechanical design alows a skilled pilot to set them down safely...

However every time a blackhawk gets hit it goes spiraling out of the air and usualy kills everyone inside because the pilot looses nearly all control once that computers toast.

I distrust computers when they are given too much of a roll in combat.

[NejinOniwa]

The cobra and the Huey have been around a long time.. so the BlackHawk and Apatche are designed to be better/faster/stronger... but they are several times the cost, and it takes very little to screw up the onboard computers rendering them junk. THe huey and the cobra however, have been in service for dacades with occasional upgrades in engine power and the like, but remain a cheap and effective design that has shown to be reliable. In Vietnam the average huey pilot got shot down several times in his duties and every time they crashed and walked away. I have a work buddy that was a door gunner in vietnam and he said one or twice after being shot down they were in another by the end of the day. The old school mechanical design alows a skilled pilot to set them down safely...

However every time a blackhawk gets hit it goes spiraling out of the air and usualy kills everyone inside because the pilot looses nearly all control once that computers toast.

I distrust computers when they are given too much of a roll in combat.

That is true. I hate things that don't have any sort of reasonably useable Manual Mode too; Until we can make sure the computers WON'T be toast, we have to make sure we can get things down safely on our own.
For example, the JAS fighter is versatile enough to do a near-instant volte-face, but so unstable it'd fall like a rock without the computers.
Something's not right there, obviously!

[Smokey]

Well, hardware can get quicker and more agile when we add computers...
Planes are so deformed these days because that form allows for much greater maneuverability... and say a targeting computer in a tank makes life a lot easier for the gunners...

But as it always is with new weapons; There's also always a new counter-measure...

EMPs would be great AA's when the blast radius is large enough, since modern fighters are all fly (and more importantly, shoot) by wire...

[NejinOniwa]

Lolol wireless ^^


But yes - alternately, some sort of "shoot up EMP bomb into air, detonate" or something, would be a good thing, since I don't think you'll ever reach THAT high with the thing from the ground.

[NejinOniwa]

WAT O_o

[Darknight_88]

Lolol wireless ^^


But yes - alternately, some sort of "shoot up EMP bomb into air, detonate" or something, would be a good thing, since I don't think you'll ever reach THAT high with the thing from the ground.

But then there's always the option of shielding the electronics against EMP. And then civilians would be the only ones affected :/

Exactly, with modern equipment and a huge engine, tanks are lethal...

That is, until a hog shows up...

fix'd

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2945/1156564889910rc2.jpg

[Smokey]

Ah, yes... The A-10...

Lovely little things they are...

[CaptBrenden]

durable too, they can loows a huge portion off each wing and an engine and still fly, they are the tanks of the air

[SleepyD]

That is true. I hate things that don't have any sort of reasonably useable Manual Mode too; Until we can make sure the computers WON'T be toast, we have to make sure we can get things down safely on our own.
For example, the JAS fighter is versatile enough to do a near-instant volte-face, but so unstable it'd fall like a rock without the computers.
Something's not right there, obviously!

Well, hardware can get quicker and more agile when we add computers...
Planes are so deformed these days because that form allows for much greater maneuverability... and say a targeting computer in a tank makes life a lot easier for the gunners...

As an aerospace engineering major, I must comment:
Smokey is right.
Pretty much all fighter jets are unstable.  That's because, basically, unstable = maneuverable. If the plane's design makes it want to pull up instead of stay level, then pulling up would go much faster.  The plane would resist the maneuver if it wanted to stay level.
The first aircraft designed to be unstable is the F-16.  The "Electric Jet," some people called it. Essentially all fighter planes made after the F-16 were designed to be unstable.  Stealth fighters are particularly unstable.  I do believe the F-117 (or was it the test version?) was dubbed the "Wobblin' Goblin" by some people.  


Regarding the A-10:
pure genius.
Fairchild designed the plane for its intended role quite well there. :3 Tanks of the air indeed.
And they may not be sleek fighter jets, but they're much more maneuverable than they look.

[Smokey]

Speaking of tanks...


heeh



This is the very first tank built...

And this is the very first combat tank... ;010
Must've been scary to see (and drive, those things were lethal to the crew too)...



Added after 1 minutes:

btw sorry for posting a wide pic... ^^

[NejinOniwa]

Okay, can we skip out on the military stuff now? I'm getting bored here.

Ok, I'm not, because I found this pic. Linked for NSFW - slightly - but gawd, I lol'd. It lends a whole new meaning to the word 'cleavage'.

[EDIT]LULZ 555 AWAY CUZ WE DON'T LIEK[/EDIT]

Added after 14 minutes:

On a side military note, though, it can be noted that today is the 64th anniversary of the D-Day...


...and also, the National Day of Sweden. Hooray for me!

[CaptBrenden]

403, FORBIDDEN

*walkes over to Nejin and revokes some of his internets*