north atlantic treaty organisation

Germany was experimenting with various VTOL aircraft during the cold war in the end they didn't go for any of them. in this alternate scenario.. what if Germany did order some into production? 1. Which design would be the most likely to lead to operation? they had the VAK 191, DO 31 (this...

So we know some time in the early 80s, France split with the UK, West Germany, Italy and Spain, and developed the ACX into the Rafale, and the others made the Typhoon. the disagreement stemmed from a carrier variant. What if in this scenario, France never left and somehow the five of them...

While some weird dudes are celebrating the epitomized image of an autocrat*, the french AdlAE discretely commemorates one of its hero pilot (Poet and novelist), Mr Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Free French air Force pilot, Croix de Guerre with palms, MIA, with the birth of its most famous...

I apologize if the explanation turns out to be silly, but i'm looking at videos of the Kongsberg NSM. Test shots are seen launched and cruising with the engine intake on top, and then there's models at defense shows with the intake on the bottom. What is going on here?

Hello, I'm looking for warships designed by Nevesbu (B.V. Nederlandse Verenigde Scheepsbouw Bureaus). Specifically for surface vessels, though I don't want to discourage discussion around their submersibles. So far I'm aware of a couple of designs: Project 1047 (files attached, source: Klaas...

One of Porsche KG's (from 1972 onwards Porsche AG) interesting Cold War military projects. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRb3o5OJsHo

After the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 the US replaced its land based medium range ballistic missiles in Europe. While the Minuteman ICBM was the main national deterrent system, the role of countering Russian missiles aimed at Western Europe was taken on by Polaris (later Poseidon) submarines...

I checked, no thread for this one. It was developed by RCA between early 1956 and september 1958 when it was canned. Before and after these dates, ( sigh...) the prefered option was the MX-1179 / MA-1. While the Sparrow II missile is well known, Astra 1 remains kind of mystery. It has been...

... instead of re-inventing the wheel in the 70's. The idea is to blend together, Zumwalt "cheaper decks" (SCS / VSS / CVV) and the too few carrier designs from Europe. To bolster NATO fleets on one side, and the USN on the other - more flattops on both sides of the Atlantic. That is...

Here's a really interesting account I found on Project Terminated, by Ronnie Serrano: '... a couple drawings were done by Pierre Mion for the U.S Navy in the late-1960s which shows using converted Fletcher-class destroyers into makeshift "Harrier Carriers". The plan at the time is to convert...

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/11/20/five-european-allies-sign-on-to-build-natos-next-medium-lift-helicopter/

View: https://youtu.be/RvlfWqCcMdk Essentially a British equivalent to the American Block III MBT, and Soviet Object 477.

Did Canada ever consider the A4 Skyhawk for its carrier aviation and Norway reinforcement role (instead of F5)? Would have been able to operate with USN/USMC.

Back in 1973 I purchased the boardgame "NATO operational combat in the 1970s" from Jim Dunnigan's SPI (Simulation Publications) gaming company. In a world before home computing this wargame of a future war as opposed to Waterloo or DDay was something new and daring. In this month of lockdown you...

More or less unnoticed in the mid 60s the Royal Navy was able to replace the wartime very fast Minelayer "Manxman" with a new build ship. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Abdiel_(N21) Abdiel served nearly to the end of the Cold War in1988. Unlike the famous UK mine countermeasures vessels...

Back in the Cold War the France, Germsny and the UK embarked on an ambitious programne to produce a family of third generation anti tank missiles. The only survivor is the long range helicopter launched version https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARS_3_LR. Like the SP70 gun and RS80 (described in...

I noticed a Teddy Bear in Guards Uniform carrying an M16 (like the Canadian Army) and it got me wondering about the saga of the SA80 and what we are going to replace it with. I get the impression that of the rifles introduced from the 1970s on only the French Army got one they liked. But even...

The US Navy's Iwo Jima class helicopter carriers were the closest the US came to a Harrier carrier when one was used as an interim Sea Control Ship. The US Marines went on to operate its Harriers from Tarawa and Wasp class ships. But the compact Iwo Jimas might have been a quick and dirty...

I should know the answer to this. When does Lance first emerge as a likely replacement for Honest John and Sergeant and even Corporal, given its range. I only ask because Lance does seem to make Blue Water pretty pointless as it has better range and more mobile with its M548 based launcher...

This one is not really feasible but it does produce some interesting models or artwork. The USAF had its Hound Dogs in service from the Cuban Missile Crisis well into the 70s. If politics and other considerations had not got in the way, permutations of NATO Hound might have served on the...