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Collimatrix

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  1. Metal
    Collimatrix got a reaction from Sturgeon in The Northrop Jet Fighter Family: A Pictorial History   
    Great walkaround and talk on the YF-17:




    The aerodynamics, history and politics of the project are all discussed.
  2. Metal
    Collimatrix got a reaction from Sturgeon in The Northrop Jet Fighter Family: A Pictorial History   
    It's not that crazy:
     
    -YF-17 was a Northrop bird.  Ostensibly it was their entry into the LWF competition, but actually they'd been working on an F-5 replacement for years before the competition was announced.  This used YJ101 "leaky turbojet" engines.  This lost to the YF-16 for the LWF bid, but some genius had meanwhile decided that the Navy would have to buy LWFs as well, not realizing that carrier birds are much, much better off if purpose-designed.
     
    -F/A-18 was the ultimate result of this foolishness.  Although the YF-16 was the better design in most respects, the YF-17 was drastically better suited to carrier operations thanks to twin engines, much wider landing gear and lower landing speeds and AOA.  However, Northrop had no experience making carrier birds, so they partnered with McDonnell Douglas, who had the entire phantom/banshee/demon/phantom II family of carrier fighters under their belt.
     
    The changes from YF-17 to F/A-18 were quite major.  F/A-18 was going to be a multi-role aircraft, not just a simple day fighter.  to that end a whole mess of new avionics were added, chiefly a much bigger and better radar and also the most advanced cockpit of the time, were added to the aircraft.  Because the aircraft would be tasked as a fighter and as an attack aircraft, a lot of work went into designing cockpit instruments that could display lots of information in a smooth, efficient way.  
     
    The structure was reinforced to withstand carrier operation and anti-corrosion coatings were added where needed to survive being next to the ocean all the time.  The engines were now the godly GE F404; hands down the best fighter engine until the F110.  Weight went up enormously (about 30%) and the wings were enlarged to compensate.  To try and minimize weight increase, a large percentage of composites were used to replace traditional aluminum structure.  Initially, F-15 style dogtooth leading edge vortex generators were added to the wings and horizontal stabilizers, but these were later deleted.  The gap between the LERX and the fuselage was also eliminated, except for a small slot for boundary layer air from the inlets.
     
    F/A-18L:  McDonnell Douglas and Northrop agreed to share production responsibilities on the F/A-18, with some parts coming from each company.  In the meantime, however, Northrop was given full responsibility and ownership of the F/A-18L design, which would be a de-navalized F/A-18.  The advanced avionics, new engines and aerodynamic refinements would stay, but the structure would be made lighter and some of the special corrosion-resistant materials would be removed in order to save weight.  The aircraft was never built; Northrop simply dressing up the YF-17 prototypes to play the part.  Canada and a few other countries seriously flirted with the idea of buying these, but in the end all prospective buyers either bought regular F/A-18s or F-16s.
     
    -F/A-18E/F:  In 1987, McDonnell Douglas submitted a series of proposals for developments of the F/A-18 under the name "Hornet 2000."  Configuration 1 was a fairly simple upgrade with uprated engines, a more powerful radar, and some updates to the avionics and cockpit.  Configuration 2 was similar, but further featured some structural improvements to the wings, and an extended fuselage spine to house extra fuel.  Configuration 3 took configuration 2 and added a larger wing and tail and even more fuel.  Configuration 4 was a new aircraft altogether; a canard-configured hornet intended to lure away members of the then-troubled Eurofighter program.
     

     
    None of these proposals ever proceeded, but the spectacular failure of the USN's A-12 program did create a need for some sort of stopgap until the NATF arrived (NATF also failed).  The superhornet was thus created.  Shornet is similar to configuration 3 of the hornet 2000 proposal, but with some further elaborations.  The engines are the new F414, which is based on the F404, but incorporating changes intended for the engines of the A-12 as well as changes made by the Swedes for the gripen.  The latest version of the F414 produces over double the thrust of the YJ101; the engine that the core was originally based on.  The radar is new, additional weapon stations have been added, the LERX have been redesigned to clear up some nagging issues with the vertical stabilizer interacting with the vortices, and the inlets have been redesigned to accommodate the new engines as well as to reduce radar cross section.
     
    Since the super hornet is literally the only fixed wing carrier-based aircraft to be designed since the 1970s, it's been forced to do all sorts of other things like tanking and EW.  Thus, the buddy tanking system and the EA-18 Growler.
     
    In the meantime, McDonnell Douglass merged with Boeing, which is why the shornet is a Boeing bird now.
  3. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Renegade334 in Tanks guns and ammunition.   
  4. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to LoooSeR in Explosive Reactive Armor   
    2S24 for BMP-3 add-on armor kit vs PG-7VS. Result - 2-5 mm deep cavities.

  5. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    DX Korea 2022 is currently happening here are some photos.
     
    K2 and variants
     
    AS21 and variants
     
    K808 and variant
     
    KLTV with 120mm mortar system
  6. Tank You
    Collimatrix got a reaction from Jeeps_Guns_Tanks in The Future of PC Gaming Hardware: View from 2019   
    AMD just officially showed off their new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs.  They should be available by September 23.  How time flies!

    Performance for these CPUs is on the high end of what leakers and analysts were estimating.  However, it remains to be seen exactly how these perform in games vs. the handpicked average shown off in this presentation.  We should be seeing actual benchmarks soon.  It also remains to be seen how this will compare with Intel's Raptor Lake 13th generation CPUs.  Rumors and leaks suggest that, at least in single-core performance, the offerings from the two respective companies will be very close in performance.  TSMC's 5nm node looks quite impressive here, as it apparently allows for blistering 5.7GHz max boost frequency.

    In an interesting reversal, the AMD CPUs will require a new motherboard with the new AM5 socket.  Intel has confirmed that their upcoming 13th generation chips will use the same socket as the previous models, which will make upgrading easier for people with existing 12th generation Alder Lake systems.

    The highest-performing AMD CPUs for this generation will be less expensive than had been anticipated.  This suggests that their production efficiency is very good, and also that they're gunning for more market share.  However, because these new CPUs will require a new motherboard and new DDR5 RAM, making a new system using them will still be expensive.

     

    This rumor suggests, however, that AMD will decisively take the performance crown in Q1 of 2023.  Their vertically-stacked vcache will be back, and at least according to this source, it's considerably improved over the implementation in the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.  The CPU frequency penalty for the vcache is lower, and the performance boost is higher.  Again, the proof will be in the pudding.  I do also wonder what pricing and availability will be like.  The chiplet strategy has helped AMD's CPU production efficiency overall, but the more components they add to each chip the more vulnerable they are to various global supply chain disruptions that have been going on at least since the 2019 South Korea / Japan trade war, and which were accentuated by COVID-19 and the Ukraine War.
  7. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    11th Maneuver Division during a recent 370km long tracked vehicle maneuver exercise
     

  8. Tank You
    Collimatrix got a reaction from LoooSeR in The Future of PC Gaming Hardware: View from 2019   
    AMD just officially showed off their new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs.  They should be available by September 23.  How time flies!

    Performance for these CPUs is on the high end of what leakers and analysts were estimating.  However, it remains to be seen exactly how these perform in games vs. the handpicked average shown off in this presentation.  We should be seeing actual benchmarks soon.  It also remains to be seen how this will compare with Intel's Raptor Lake 13th generation CPUs.  Rumors and leaks suggest that, at least in single-core performance, the offerings from the two respective companies will be very close in performance.  TSMC's 5nm node looks quite impressive here, as it apparently allows for blistering 5.7GHz max boost frequency.

    In an interesting reversal, the AMD CPUs will require a new motherboard with the new AM5 socket.  Intel has confirmed that their upcoming 13th generation chips will use the same socket as the previous models, which will make upgrading easier for people with existing 12th generation Alder Lake systems.

    The highest-performing AMD CPUs for this generation will be less expensive than had been anticipated.  This suggests that their production efficiency is very good, and also that they're gunning for more market share.  However, because these new CPUs will require a new motherboard and new DDR5 RAM, making a new system using them will still be expensive.

     

    This rumor suggests, however, that AMD will decisively take the performance crown in Q1 of 2023.  Their vertically-stacked vcache will be back, and at least according to this source, it's considerably improved over the implementation in the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.  The CPU frequency penalty for the vcache is lower, and the performance boost is higher.  Again, the proof will be in the pudding.  I do also wonder what pricing and availability will be like.  The chiplet strategy has helped AMD's CPU production efficiency overall, but the more components they add to each chip the more vulnerable they are to various global supply chain disruptions that have been going on at least since the 2019 South Korea / Japan trade war, and which were accentuated by COVID-19 and the Ukraine War.
  9. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to LoooSeR in Jihad design bureau and their less mad opponents creations for killing each other.   
    More of JDB works in Ukraine. First one is classical Syrian-styled trucknical with 57 mm caliber autocannon (S-60) and second one is Russian truck with parts of MT-LB used as add-on armor. Inshallah, soon they will get to Toyotas with BMP-1 turrets and VBIEDs.

     

     
     
  10. Tank You
  11. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    K2PL/K2M with APS 
     
    K2PL/K2M without APS 
     
    7-wheeled K2-based CEV
     
    7-wheeled K2-based ARV
     
  12. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to FORMATOSE in Tanks guns and ammunition.   
    125 mm ammunition next to a T-14 at ARMY-2022 International Military-Technical Forum, some propellant charges are salmon-coloured instead of the traditional orange color. 
    Unknown APFSDS mockup, 3BM60 Svinets-2-like.
     

  13. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to LoooSeR in The Small Arms Thread, Part 8: 2018; ICSR to be replaced by US Army with interim 15mm Revolver Cannon.   
    ORSIS 12.7x108. 12kg, caliber can be switched to 12.7x99 with change of barrel, mag and bolt.

     
     
    AKV-721 in .308

     
     

     
    New rifle, SV-21

     
     
  14. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to LoooSeR in The Small Arms Thread, Part 8: 2018; ICSR to be replaced by US Army with interim 15mm Revolver Cannon.   
    And more about AK-12 from Razvedos

     
     

     
     

  15. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to LoooSeR in The Small Arms Thread, Part 8: 2018; ICSR to be replaced by US Army with interim 15mm Revolver Cannon.   
    Rare review of GSh-18. Pistol on the video is 2014 production. 
     
       Pistol is light (400 gramms lighter than PYa, both unloaded, and when loaded GSh is stil llighter than PYa unloaded), with pretty good trigger compared to Sig Sauer and Glock Veresk was shooting earlier, lighter recoil than Sig. Easy to disassemble, eats any 9x19 including armor piercing. 
       Video also shows him loading 18 shots as on net people were complaining that it is way too hard to do, then shows correct technique to load double stack mag for GSh-18.
       Pistol was painted not just to look cool, but because of not very good finish and subpar materials - pistol rusts rather quickly. Cheap materials also makes this pistol unreliable in long run, as parts breaks quicker than on other pistols.
     

     

     
     
    Mag

     
     
    Animation of pistol guts also in the video (8:30 if interested)

     
    Disassembly.

    Mag used to pul out slide catch
     
     
  16. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to FORMATOSE in Tanks guns and ammunition.   
    Early French 120 mm smoothbore APFSDS prototypes, the dates on the cartridges show the years 1976 and 1977. They are related to the AMX-30 valorisé program (related to AMX-32 development).
     
    Source : The Tank Magazine, December 1978
     

     

     
    This can be linked to the gradual evolution of French 120 mm APFSDS throughout their development phase (note the OFL 120 G1 on the far right ) :
     
    Source : COMHART, L'armement de gros calibre, 2008
     

  17. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    Hanwha Defense at Eurosatory 2022.
     

     
    Still keeping my eyes open for more shots of the K2NO model and more photos of Hyundai Rotem's booth in general.
  18. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    K2s of the 8th Infantry Division
     

     
  19. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    Some closer photos of the K2NO model that was displayed at Eurosatory 2022.
     

  20. Tank You
    Collimatrix got a reaction from Dragonstriker in Tanks guns and ammunition.   
    That's magical thinking.

    Unless the ASCALON is firing ammunition that burns at lower pressure than what the breech can handle, being lower pressure doesn't imply more growth potential.  That would imply that they're making the initial gun much stronger, which means thicker and heavier, than it needs to be for the initial ammunition offering.  That makes no sense.
  21. Tank You
    Collimatrix got a reaction from Lord_James in Tanks guns and ammunition.   
    I was just about to post that tweet.  20MJ at the muzzle, I wonder what this means.  That's quite a bit more than was stated earlier.  Are they including the sabot energy?  140mm straightwall does make some more sense if they are developing an NLOS round for it.
  22. Sad
    Collimatrix reacted to LoooSeR in Ukrainian Civil War Thread: All Quiet on the Sturgeon Front   
    Ukrainians are putting their French supplied SPGs to good use - they shelled center of Donetsk city.

     
     
  23. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to SH_MM in Tanks guns and ammunition.   
  24. Tank You
    Collimatrix reacted to Cleb in Kimchi armoured vehicles: K1, K2, K21 and other AFVs from Worse Korea   
    Some photos of the ROK Army's tests of the Redback's mobility
     

     
  25. Tank You
    Collimatrix got a reaction from Dragonstriker in The Northrop Jet Fighter Family: A Pictorial History   
    It's not that crazy:
     
    -YF-17 was a Northrop bird.  Ostensibly it was their entry into the LWF competition, but actually they'd been working on an F-5 replacement for years before the competition was announced.  This used YJ101 "leaky turbojet" engines.  This lost to the YF-16 for the LWF bid, but some genius had meanwhile decided that the Navy would have to buy LWFs as well, not realizing that carrier birds are much, much better off if purpose-designed.
     
    -F/A-18 was the ultimate result of this foolishness.  Although the YF-16 was the better design in most respects, the YF-17 was drastically better suited to carrier operations thanks to twin engines, much wider landing gear and lower landing speeds and AOA.  However, Northrop had no experience making carrier birds, so they partnered with McDonnell Douglas, who had the entire phantom/banshee/demon/phantom II family of carrier fighters under their belt.
     
    The changes from YF-17 to F/A-18 were quite major.  F/A-18 was going to be a multi-role aircraft, not just a simple day fighter.  to that end a whole mess of new avionics were added, chiefly a much bigger and better radar and also the most advanced cockpit of the time, were added to the aircraft.  Because the aircraft would be tasked as a fighter and as an attack aircraft, a lot of work went into designing cockpit instruments that could display lots of information in a smooth, efficient way.  
     
    The structure was reinforced to withstand carrier operation and anti-corrosion coatings were added where needed to survive being next to the ocean all the time.  The engines were now the godly GE F404; hands down the best fighter engine until the F110.  Weight went up enormously (about 30%) and the wings were enlarged to compensate.  To try and minimize weight increase, a large percentage of composites were used to replace traditional aluminum structure.  Initially, F-15 style dogtooth leading edge vortex generators were added to the wings and horizontal stabilizers, but these were later deleted.  The gap between the LERX and the fuselage was also eliminated, except for a small slot for boundary layer air from the inlets.
     
    F/A-18L:  McDonnell Douglas and Northrop agreed to share production responsibilities on the F/A-18, with some parts coming from each company.  In the meantime, however, Northrop was given full responsibility and ownership of the F/A-18L design, which would be a de-navalized F/A-18.  The advanced avionics, new engines and aerodynamic refinements would stay, but the structure would be made lighter and some of the special corrosion-resistant materials would be removed in order to save weight.  The aircraft was never built; Northrop simply dressing up the YF-17 prototypes to play the part.  Canada and a few other countries seriously flirted with the idea of buying these, but in the end all prospective buyers either bought regular F/A-18s or F-16s.
     
    -F/A-18E/F:  In 1987, McDonnell Douglas submitted a series of proposals for developments of the F/A-18 under the name "Hornet 2000."  Configuration 1 was a fairly simple upgrade with uprated engines, a more powerful radar, and some updates to the avionics and cockpit.  Configuration 2 was similar, but further featured some structural improvements to the wings, and an extended fuselage spine to house extra fuel.  Configuration 3 took configuration 2 and added a larger wing and tail and even more fuel.  Configuration 4 was a new aircraft altogether; a canard-configured hornet intended to lure away members of the then-troubled Eurofighter program.
     

     
    None of these proposals ever proceeded, but the spectacular failure of the USN's A-12 program did create a need for some sort of stopgap until the NATF arrived (NATF also failed).  The superhornet was thus created.  Shornet is similar to configuration 3 of the hornet 2000 proposal, but with some further elaborations.  The engines are the new F414, which is based on the F404, but incorporating changes intended for the engines of the A-12 as well as changes made by the Swedes for the gripen.  The latest version of the F414 produces over double the thrust of the YJ101; the engine that the core was originally based on.  The radar is new, additional weapon stations have been added, the LERX have been redesigned to clear up some nagging issues with the vertical stabilizer interacting with the vortices, and the inlets have been redesigned to accommodate the new engines as well as to reduce radar cross section.
     
    Since the super hornet is literally the only fixed wing carrier-based aircraft to be designed since the 1970s, it's been forced to do all sorts of other things like tanking and EW.  Thus, the buddy tanking system and the EA-18 Growler.
     
    In the meantime, McDonnell Douglass merged with Boeing, which is why the shornet is a Boeing bird now.
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