north atlantic treaty organisation

Margaret Thatcher's defeat to Michael Foot in Britain's 1983 general election came as no surprise to television pundits. Rising unemployment and failure to reduce inflation despite government cuts, including to the Armed Forces had made the public fed up and willing to try a new course. Prime...

I am wondering if anyone has any information on a proposed Super Puma/ Cougar alternative to the NH90. I read somewhere that when the NH90 programme was in its early stages and experiencing the inevitable problems, Airbus briefly considered an updated version of its Super Puma as an alternative...

While the size and importance of France's armed forces in 1914 and 1939 is well understood, their importance since 1945 does not seem to be appreciated. Until the creation of West Germany's Bundeswehr at the end of the 1950s it was France that bore the brunt of providing the largest West...

Ok, this is a scenario I've been working on for a while now, so I'd like to hear other peoples' thoughts on it. It has some plot devices though (the Soviet Union not completely falling apart, Bush restarting the Cold War, etc), but I think it's realistic enough to seem sane from a glance. In...

The UK nuclear deterrent has become after the NHS a political commitment for both Tory and Labour PMs to show their metal. But an earlier Tory PM, Harold Macmillan had his doubts as did Sir Winston Churchill. Macmillan got on well with the new young US President. Kennedy for his part saw the UK...

I've been trying in vain to assertain if there was proposed outgrowth variants of the by Daimler-Benz Spähpanzer Luchs 8x8 armoured reconnaissance vehicle? I'm particularly interested as to the adoptability of the Spähpanzer Luchs turret ring size and if larger and heavier armaments were...

G'day folks, consider this. The TSR2 goes into service and later requires a SLEP, what engines are avaulable and could a big wing be fitted/would it be an improvement?

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.