nuclear battlefield

220 Tornado IDS; replacing 7 Squadrons (6 from 1981) of Vulcan B.2 (56 in total), 5 squadrons of Jaguar and 2 squadrons of RAF Germany Buccaneers: 11 squadrons planned as of 1985 of which 2 were to be recce. there was ultimately a try-national training unit and the TWCU. 165 Tornado ADV...

The more I read about the nuclear politics of the 60s defence decisions the more I am astonished at the annoying involvement of the Germans. It seems that from joining NATO onwards they either agitated to have their own fingers on the nuclear trigger, or later, as put by Helmut Schmidt, they...

Avro Excalibur R.1 "XP730" - 543 Squadron RAF - 1964 Scratchbuilt 1/72 scale Avro 730. This depicts the earlier 4 engine version that was submitted by Avro against Operational Requirement 330. The fuselage was built using a length of 1 inch conduit as a core, fitted with cross sections...

In 1972 the US speculated that if India had gone nuclear at that time, India could "use aircraft in its current inventory such as Canberras or reconfigured Boeing 707's or 747's, as delivery vehicles, but these would be a rudimentary affair, essentially for one-way missions."...

The Challenger tank was arguably born in about 1970 when the UK, impressed by the performance of their BURLINGTON (Chobham) armour, but concerned that a wholly new MBT would not be in service before about 1985, proposed the development of a near-term improved tank using some existing components...

I can't find any images of this, but I've read about studies that were undertaken to bring the B-70's RCS down to that of the B-52. Plans called for 10-20 degrees of dihedral to be added to the wings, vertical tail-surfaces to be canted inward 10-20 degrees, as well as the addition of slanted...

I’m particularly interested in the navigation and attack capabilities of the early Harriers, in particular Falklands era. However research on the net has only led to a partial understanding of this subject. It’s the same story with published works. I’m aware that some members of the forum are...

Ideas? (I know what it is but the site I got it from is a rare treat. Just wondering if anybody else had seen it. :-) )

This YouTube video has some really good footage of Harriers, plus some other aircraft (Sea Vixens - yay!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRdNwcWsZE I especially like the Sea Harrier in nuclear strike configuration (WE177 and tank) preparing to launch at 20:37 and the 'Captain Pugwash'...

Who can flesh this lot out? 1954: Sperry/UK, licence from Sperry/US: intended for (to be) Blue Streak. Bracknell clean room. Abandoned for: 3/57: Elliott licence from Bosch Arma (ATLAS kit). Rochester clean room. B Streak died 13/4/60 but INS work continued for Blue Steel. 1957: Ferranti...

Random thought.... Have there been any designs for jet VTOL tailsitters, on paper or actually built, with the engine reversed in the airframe and the efflux turned 180 degrees or so to exit from the nose? It's not hard to imagine such a design with a pair of Harrier-style rotating louvers for...

Very sketchy and incomplete! DM-14 - Nike-Hercules DM-15 -- Nike Zeus A? (sketchy) DM-15S --NIKE-ZEUS ASAT DM-15X2 -- Nike-EX. On 1 JAN 1967, was redesignated SPARTAN. DM-18 -- Thor DM-18A -- Thor Agena A? DM-19 -- Thor Delta? DM-20 -- Skybolt DM-21 -- Thor Agena B?

Checking the information of the A-3 naval bomber I discover with the A-3 has the option of under wind station, some of the stations has used in the ERA-3B and the NRA-3B, but this stations was standard of the A-3 original bomber version of was added in a after version? What is the theoretical...

Today it is 50 years since the first Hawker P.1127 hovered, on 21st of October 1960. Despite the recent news that the UK is retiring its fleet the US Marine Corps, Spanish Navy, Italian Navy and Indian Navy continue to operate it, and it is likely that the Harrier will still be in service for...

I have finished some simple drawings of US destroyer designs from the 1960s and 1970s. The drawings are based on sketches and artist renderings found in Norman Friedman's book "US Destroyers An Illustrated Design History". I find the nuclear frigate design (Typhoon) very interesting. Fishjay

Model of Myasishchev M-56 from USSR-Russian Aviation & Space Collectibles (Alex Panchenko). Description: Source: http://www.ussr-airspace.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_39_38_108&products_id=2005

According to Cold War submarines: the design and construction of U.S. and Soviet submarines By Norman Polmar, Kenneth J. Moore: "The Royal Navy also considered - very briefly - the possibility of a small nuclear propelled submarine" The book mentions these in the context of midget submarines...

Abraham makes a valid point on another thread about what the UK OrBat would look like if things had been different from the end of WWII. SO I think rather than hijacking an existing thread perhaps it would be better to start afresh. Now Abe makes the case that the UK could have left the nuclear...

The following "article" is adapted from RyanCrierie (on another forum) and Andreas Parsch (on his website). Known contenders to the U.S. Navy BDM proposal were as follows: Admiral-Beech PD-111/-1 Avion (ACF) Bendix Bell 69 Emerson Grumman G-143 Bushfire Motorola Sperry Gyroscope SMD-109...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/25/russia.uk.intercepts/index.html?hpt=T2 Is this just payback for all the times we did it to them over the years?