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Alzoc

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  1. Alzoc

    UAV thread

    Alzoc replied to Toxn's topic in Aviation

    Contract for the development and production of the Eurodrone MALE finally notified to Airbus Even if the operational value of a twin engine, 10 tonnes / 27 m wingspan behemoth with performances barely above a MQ-9 Reaper is questionable at least it's a start :/
  2. Alzoc
    Apparently Ukraine managed at least one counter strike on Millerovo Airbase in Russia, probably using Toshka-U Some Su-30 may have been damaged of destroyed http://www.opex360.com/2022/02/25/guerre-russie-ukraine-une-base-russe-aurait-ete-visee-par-les-forces-ukrainiennes-combat-aerien-au-dessus-de-kiev/
  3. Alzoc
    Ukrainian national guard in KieV Even people over 60 are mobilized apparently
  4. Alzoc
    Situation Friday 02/25 at 10h00 KieV hour :
  5. Alzoc
    Ukrainian air defence and air force are about toast. Most airfields got hit by missiles in the opening strike, so Ukraine will have to mobilize their reservist by land (which is slow and dangerous with Russia controlling the airspace). Russia advanced quickly east of the Dniepr suffering some losses but probably far less than the Ukrainian army. They also avoided some major city (probably not to get bogged down in urban combat). Russia took Antonov airport just north of Kiev using airborn troops and Ukrainian army counter-attacked. Don't know who won or even if the fight is still ongoing. Control of this airport would basically allow Russia to land troop directly at the gates of Kiev. The question now is what are the Russian's objectives. They have more or less already destroyed or trapped most cohesive Ukrainian formations and a lot of material. Either Russia want to install a puppet government in Kiev and basically use Ukraine as a big no man's land or they want to annex everything east of the Dniepr and use the river as a natural frontier (or a combination of both). Both options would achieve Russia's stated objective of giving them breathing room from NATO aligned countries. The problem with both choices is that while cohesive Ukrainian resistance will be mostly gone by then, they will have to deal guerilla warfare in any territory they occupy, especially if the western block keep sending ATGM, manpads and small arms into Ukrainian controlled territory (which could then be theoretically smuggled into Russian controlled area). Outside of Crimea and separatist regions, most Ukrainians have a strong sense of nationality and won't be too keen on being absorbed back into Russian sphere of influence. So the question is how some 300 000+ Russian soldier can control a territory that size populated by some 44 millions inhabitants (Puppet government or not) :/ It all boils down on where Russia want to stop and how they will handle the territories they occupy. On top of that Russia basically validated all fears of eastern European country (invasion and absorption into USSR 2.0) and will push them even more toward NATO.
  6. Alzoc
    Map of the situation at 9h00 (Kiev) (source Le Monde) Orange star : Russian attack or bombardment Arrow : Russian advance Dash line : Donbass region Yellow zone : Separatist controlled region Blue : EU member states
  7. Alzoc
    Confirmed missile attack on Kiev at 6h15 (Kiev hour). Video of the declaration of war was apparently recorded Monday evening at 19h (Moscow hour), at the same time of the recognition of the two separatist republic, and played Thursday morning at 5h30 (Moscow time) according to Novaïa Gazeta (Russian tabloid opposition journal). This was apparently a rumor and the video was recorded at 3h45 (Moscow) : At around 8h20 (Kiev time) Russia claimed that Ukrainian air defence and air bases have been destroyed (smoke can be seen at the airport of Kherson, Mykolaïv and Ivano-Frankivsk) Ukrainian border guard reported Russian troops crossing the frontier from Belarus at Senkivka 235 km from KieV. Don't have much on how things are reported in Russia since most of what I have is what is relayed by French press. Edit : CCTV of Senkivka border post on CNN
  8. Alzoc
    Drop test of an UAV from an A400M : Not sure if the UAV engaged it's engine after launch since it isn't shown in the video and since it landed using a parachute (which is I think the normal landing mode for this drone). The purpose of this test was to make sure that the UAV separated cleanly from the carrier and could communicate with it properly. http://www.opex360.com/2022/02/22/pour-la-premiere-fois-un-avion-de-transport-a400m-a-largue-un-drone-en-vol/
  9. Alzoc
    This is something that have always pissed me off. We waste huge amounts of money and ressources on wind turbines and photovoltaic panels while their benefits are marginal given that power storage for electrical applications is not (and never will be) efficient, because physics. On the other hand we have untapped available tidal power, which power output is perfectly predictable decades in advance and could easily pair up with existing nuclear hydraulic power plants. Load following on nuclear power plants is not a common thing to do (most country simply use them at full power the whole time) but it's far from impossible (EDF have been doing it for decades). If I remember correctly, the potential both in the UK and in France is about 3 GW each (roughly equivalent to 3 nuclear plants) and 12,5 GW for the whole Europe. It certainly won't solve the issue by itself but there absolutely no reason not to tap into that power for rich country that can afford it.
  10. Alzoc
    To be fair, while the concept was great (like a SupCom on steroids) the gameplay quickly became very bland and the lack of narrative campaign didn't help. Could have been great in multiplayer but it never really had the player base to do so.
  11. Alzoc
  12. Alzoc
    Belarus proposed amendment to article 18 of it's constitution remove any mention of nuclear weapons. This article previously stated that nuclear weapons were banned from Belarus territory. www.opex360.com/2022/02/07/la-bielorussie-modifie-sa-constitution-pour-autoriser-le-deploiement-darmes-nucleaires-russes-sur-son-sol/
  13. Alzoc
    Nice images from the 1980's TGV speed record (380 km/h) where you can see the C-160 Transall filming just ahead of the train. Wait until 2007 and the train can go about 60 km/h faster than the C-160 top speed.
  14. Alzoc
    Caesar firing Excalibur round at Yuma Proving ground
  15. Alzoc
    A few FN Evolys have been delivered to French special forces (in both 5,56 and 7,62). http://www.opex360.com/2022/01/12/les-forces-speciales-francaises-ont-recu-la-nouvelle-mitrailleuse-ultra-legere-evolys-de-fn-herstal/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thierry-roger-3a07a949_première-livraison-de-la-nouvelle-mitrailleuse-activity-6884570994216837121-KlVo/ Probably just for testing purposes for now, like the British army. While concerns regarding sustained fire capability are important for the regular army, it is probably less so for SF (which would likely rank the reduced weight higher on the priority list).
  16. Alzoc
    History of the development of the French railway system and it's impact on shaping the country (or why you can't avoid transit through Paris if you want to go anywhere else). Manual subtitles included (which can be decently auto translated in English)
  17. Alzoc
    Video below is a bit repetitive, but at least rather short and visual If you want to go a bit further, in both case of cell death the membrane play a critical role :
  18. Alzoc
    And for once we even have tiny bit of gameplay with a trailer!
  19. Alzoc
  20. Alzoc
    Mobility trials of the modernized Leclerc's recovery vehicle (DCL-R) : Integration within the Scorpion bubble, improved mine protection and IED jammer, Scorpion RCWS, rear camera, new towing system aimed at limiting the time the crew has to spend outside. Nothing ground breaking in itself but it will bring it in line with the renovated Leclerc.
  21. Alzoc
    The base looks like a Ferret armored car No idea for the turret though. Given that it has been exported practically everywhere, it likely is some local attempt at modernization.
  22. Alzoc
    Well that might explain the involvement of London If the subs intended for Australia are based on the Astute class, the design being from the early 2000s many advancements have probably been made since then. So the Australian contract will probably used to pay for the development of some technology blocks for the Astute's successor. That mean however that the Australian are the one who will have to deal with the kinks of the program. Even a first delivery by the 2040s looks optimistic now.
  23. Alzoc
    According to this guy it doesn't in itself constitute a violation of the NPT : The loophole was left voluntarily, but exploiting it is another matter. Regardless, discussions have started with the IAEA regarding on how they will proceed : If that's the case that mean HEU fuel (which could have been expected given that both the UK and the US use it exclusively), meaning there is a major risk of proliferation. Even if the IAEA authorize it still create a precedent opening a gaping hole in the NPT. The other problem pointed out by some people on various news articles is that the both the US and the UK are using legacy American HEU and the stockpiles are limited to a few decades already. Adding a third country will only aggravate the situation. Unless the US restart it's research to switch to LEU, they will have to start enrich uranium at high level again in the upcoming years (which once more won't go over well internationally). There is a reason why when Brazil wanted to develop SSNs with the help of France, we provided help only with the hull and in the integration department. All the nuclear technology used was of Brazilian origin and there was no transfer of technology regarding nuclear propulsion (and even then it was a bit dicey). It makes sense from a logical point of view, but the UK is taking a huge political risk and I'm not quite sure the money they will get out of the contract will outweigh the costs. While the US can afford to flaunt international treaties from time to time, the same cannot be said for the UK. Civilian use of nuclear energy is not prohibited by the NPT and is even encouraged as long as you can prove to the IAEA that you don't enrich fissile materials at high levels.
  24. Alzoc
    The real question is how will Australia will acquire the whole nuclear infrastructure and skilled personal necessary to support SSNs. Building a nuclear program from the ground up takes literally decades, even with assistance. Australia does have some experience (2 research reactors and mining operations) but not much. I suppose that the US could directly sell them SSNs ready to be used, and do the most complicated maintenance operations on the west coast (at least until infrastructures are ready in Australia). Problem is that it would be a massive violation of the treaty of non proliferation, creating a precedent for China and Russia to hand over military nuclear technology to whoever they want. An argument could be made that Russia already used a loophole by "leasing" several SSNs to India, but technically India did not sign the TNP unlike both the US and Australia. I am certainly not an expert on international law but if thing go this way, it will likely open a stinky can of worms from both a legal and geopolitical point of view (even if they manage to do some weird flex to justify it legally). That being said if the Australian navy manage to have operational SSNs within the next few decades, it will definitively help against China.
  25. Alzoc
    Regarding the cold startup time of the Leclerc : It seem that the turbine takes roughly 25s to reach it's nominal state (judging only by the sound) and the driver doesn't start to move before the 1min mark (but that could simply be because he waited for people to move away)
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