what-if

Guten Tag! I really like the VJ-101C, it is like a German version of VTOL capable F-104G Starfighter clone without T-tail. It seems to be promising with a lot of potential. What will happen if it became a real operational military grade VTOL fighter jet instead of a short lived experimental...

I have been reconsidering about the potential of Avro Arrow and its related Canadian made weapon systems After looking at its early cold war era background history for multiple times, I have come to this conclusion below: To be honest, it was really difficult to find an effective combat role...

An idea I had for the USN to help get the ship numbers we want. A small surface combatant, maybe 2000-2500tons It would be build around the idea that during crisis/conflict they can have mk70s or other containerized modules strapped on amidships. Their regular armament would be simple, and no...

I was just thinking recently about a couple of the designs that were being considered when the Iowa's were just designs being considered against the threat of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Battlecruisers. And I recall that design A, the largest of the selection, was designed to carry four...

IOW - earlier & greater cooperation with SAAB and the British companies, while the cooperation between the later and the French and other European NATO is much smaller? Draken was powered by the British engine, Viggen was supposed to be powered by the Medway, while the Gripen should've been just...

As any deeply invested Spitfire fan knows, the intended major developments never eventuated and the history of the Spitfire was one of interim variants that did very well. The dead ends are as follows: SPITFIRE III: Merlin 20 development with four cannon and major airframe revisions; abandoned...

I saw a B58 Hustler for the first time the other day, I was surprised by how small it was. I also finally understand what the combination fuel-weapon store is and does. Was the design too specific and limited to remain in service beyond 1969? Could it have carried SRAMs or other advanced...

Like those of most countries, US Army tanks have relentlessly increased in weight since the M4 Sherman in World War 2. As you have heard, for decades now voices have advocated entirely replacing the M1 Abrams with a much smaller, lighter tank, even a wheeled vehicle. The lighter tank would have...

I found this photograph on tvd.im, a website that covers militaria and sundries. The entry and caption were for a Curtis SC Seahawk. Obviously, this ain’t it, but what is it? I did a cursory look at Luft’46 didn’t come up with anything that looks like this seaplane. The tail looks like it came...

Excerpt from i need to get pictures, real pictures of this beauty

In 1960 some 64 Canberra B2 & B6 in 4 sqns based in Britain and assigned to SACEUR were replaced by 24 Valiants in 3 sqns. Despite the significant decrease in numbers this was considered a net benefit because of the Valiant's all weather capabilities. By 1964 the RAF still had 9 sqns of Canberra...

I modified an Iowa battlecarrier plan to try to make it more realistic. In particular, the elevator is moved to free up the skijump ramp and the deck is lengthened in a Kiev-class style.

Pretty sure this is the right place on the forum to post this kind of topic. If not, please move and let me know where I should have posted it, please! "The reason that Space Force became naval culture, and not Air Force." I have an idea for a short story, it involves at least a total crew...

Who would it effect western tank design? Now for those that don't know heres a thread that tanks about the T-74 https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/project-101-t-74-and-rival-70s-soviet-tank-projects-object-450-480-225-226-780.8240/ But he TLDR is that the T-74 was one of the contestants...

The Harrier has become such a crucial part of the Royal Navy and Royal Navy history that I dont think we have yet risked a thread about a world in which it never entered service. Like all early VSTOL designs the P1127 was not easy to fly..It only existed at all because of US funding and...

We know how much influence the Vietnam War had on US (and other countries) aircraft developments. But what if the Vietnam War had never happened? How would aircraft programs been affected in that scenario? Let's assume in this scenario the Geneva Accords of 1954 end up in a single united...

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.

This is a take-off from Anthony Williams "Foresight War." What if you time-travelled back to the 1930s and gained access to the ears of engineers, politicians and generals? What would you suggest? You are not allowed to "predict" World War 2. To keep this thread "alternate" please do not repeat...

We discussed at nauseum alternatives to the F-8 Crusader from 1956, 1968, 1975. One we missed was this very one. I had forgotten one of the early N-156 was to be a naval fighter. The USN wanted it for the smallest carriers of WWII vintage that had not been downrated to secondary or tertiary...

Suppose that operational helicopters were delayed several years beyond the original time line. Airborne operations are still limited to parachutes and assault gliders. What direction would assault gliders develop? Would they be limited to delivering small squads (say 10 men) to capture...