Scolopax

Some stuff I took earlier this summer that I had been meaning to put here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Some stuff I took earlier this summer that I had been meaning to put here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Some stuff I took earlier this summer that I had been meaning to put here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Some stuff I took earlier this summer that I had been meaning to put here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Some stuff I took earlier this summer that I had been meaning to put here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for something much more rudimentary.
 

 
More:

As far as mounts go, the Piranha V has been tested with the Javelin as well, and it seems the Indian Kestrel will also carry them.

I raised an eyebrow at a comment Weaponsman made about the Iranian nuclear program:
 
 
This isn't true.  The vast majority of reactor designs require fuel with varying degrees of enrichment.  Natural uranium is only .7% fissile material, and light water reactors typically need around 3% enriched material as fuel.  The British CO2-cooled designs need about the same level of enrichment for their fuel.  The Soviet RBMK used to be able to use natural uranium, but there was a hasty redesign to make them less explodey, so they cannot anymore and require fuel enriched to 2% or so.  Only the CANDU reactor can use natural uranium, and even they often do not because fuel enriched to 2% makes their operation safer and more efficient.
 
Generally speaking, designs that use natural uranium have problems with positive void reactivity coefficients.  Some of the Iranian reactors are heavy water units which might be able to use natural uranium, but would be happier and safer using mildly enriched material.  However, at least one of their reactors is a light water plant, which would definitely need material to function at all.
 
Fast-neutron reactors require much more enriched fuel, usually upwards of 20% to 50%.  That's still far shy of weapons' grade material, however, which is upwards of 85%.
 
Now, I don't expect Weaponsman to know everything; although he knows an awful lot.  Seriously; history, asymmetric warfare, weapons, and crypto; he knows a whole lot about those things.  So I don't hold it against him at all that he doesn't have in-depth knowledge of nuclear reactor technology.
 
In fact, Weaponsman is usually about the best, most-informed discourse on any matter it is he chooses to write about.  In fact, after reading his piece I decided to do a little digging around on various public fora to see what people had to say about nuclear technology.  The results were predictable, and I was filled with despair and rage.
 
So-called policymakers clearly do not understand this shit, and it's really easy to understand.  I understand it; ergo it cannot be that hard.  They're all either lazy or stupid.  Nothing that Obama has said about the Iranian nuclear deal gives any indication that he or his speechwriters know what enrichment is or what it does.  As for the general public, I'm not convinced that the majority of them know what the word "nuclear" means.
 
Public thinking on nuclear energy is constructed of bad, fuzzy analogies by people who lack familiarity with the most salient facts about it.  Take for example this article on the international politics of uranium supply.  It's obvious that the people that this article is about, and the people who wrote it are thinking of uranium as being analogous to oil; that in order to use it for power a continuous, large-volume supply of the stuff has got to be secured and guarded.
 
But nuclear fuels are thousands of times more energy dense than chemical ones; with breeder cycles and fuel reprocessing it's hundreds of thousands of times denser, getting on a million times (theoretically it's 1.5 million times denser).  That changes everything!  Indeed, the technology is slowly approaching the point where it will be economically feasible to produce electrical power from uranium extracted from seawater.  The logistics of supplying uranium for power are completely different than for fossil fuels, and they should not be thought of as analogous.
 
Similar failure to comprehend energy density, you know, the thing that makes nuclear energy interesting in the first place, dominates public discourse on nuclear waste disposal, leading to vast overestimations of just how much waste is produced per unit energy.  No, you're wrong, that's how fossil fuels work.
 
Anyway, nobody knows what the fuck about anything and everything is fucked.

You've seen them before; poorly edited videos with an alternating loop of John Phillips Sousa and Weird Al, purporting to tell you about the various design mistakes armored fighting vehicle designers have made over the years:
 

 
But does the maker of these videos one Blacktail Defense, know shit about AFV design himself?
 
Haha, no, no he does not.
 
Because of Sturgeon's House strict hate-speech enforcement laws, I am compelled to mention that Blacktail Defense is a furry.  So know that should you click any of the links to his material, you will need to decontaminate yourself per protocol DG-12-23A with bleach.
 
Blacktail Defense is a military reformer, a storied and interesting political movement in the United States that has gone from being a force of some consequence to being a ragtag group of scoundrels.  I'm not going to say that they weren't idiots and scoundrels when they were of consequence, n.b.
 
Military reformers are at they're strongest when they're on the attack.  They're a lot like creationists that way; when they can hurl invective at (mostly imaginary) weaknesses within whatever it is they hate, they can look like concerned citizens campaigning for the taxpayer's right to have their money spent wisely and the soldier's right to have the best practical equipment.
 
But give a military reformer some lined paper and a slide rule and tell them to come up with a design, rather than tear down an existing one, and you will quickly see that these people have no idea what they're talking about.
 
Ready?
 

 
This is taken directly from Blacktail's furaffinity page.  Careful analysis shows that, no, this man has no idea what the everliving fuck he's talking about.
 
Are you ready?  No, you're not, but let's go ahead anyway.
 
"The Tigerwolf may look vaguely similar to contemporary MBTs, such as the ubiquitous M1-series Abrams, but is in fact wrapped around a lot of design features and technology that are comlpetely alien to today's tanks."
 
 
Blacktail is going to prove to you that he's a better tank designer than all those idiots at Chrysler by designing a tank using technologies that didn't exist at the time of the design of the Abrams.
 
"For starters the crew is quite large, with a Commander, Driver, Gunner, TWO loaders, and an Engineer. Many designers favor a smaller crew, usually adding an autoloader to eliminate the Loader from the crew (like in the Russian T-64 through 90, the French Leclerc, and the Chinese Type 85 through 99)."
 
 
... What?
 
"However, there are a lot of problems with a smaller crew. First, autoloaders work at a painfully slow pace (14 seconds to reload in a T-72), which gives manual-loading tanks a huge rate-of-fire advantage (just 4 seconds in the M1A1 Abrams)."
 
 

 
"There's no autoloader either, as that only slows the ROF, requires smaller, less powerful and versitile ammo to be used, adds another complex, delicate set of moving parts to break, and only serves to expand the guantlet  of things that can hurt you inside the vehicle.In fact, the Tigerwolf's main gun ammo is extremely large and heavy, and probably would break an autoloader --- it's would be an incredible feat of strength for a single Loader crewman to load in under 10 seconds."
 
 
The Leclerc uses the same ammunition as the Abrams and Leopard 2.  As for his 145mm smoothbore howitzer ammunition breaking an autoloader, does he not know that the Pz 2000 SPG has an autoloader for its 155mm gun?  Of course he doesn't know that; Blacktail doesn't know what he's talking about.
 
"The engineer is useful as well, because the large size of the Tigerwolf --- coupled with it's simple drivetrain (most modern tracked vehicles have a deceptively simple drivetrain) and small, flat engine (compred to a "Vee" or gas turbine) make for easy engine maintnance[sic] and repairs from inside the tank --- there's no need to abandon it if you lose a sparkplug while under small arms fire."
 
 
Simple drivetrains, eh?


 
Note that per the graphic, the Tigerwolf has a diesel wankel.  Does Blacktail not know that diesel engines don't have spark plugs?  Of course he doesn't know that; Blacktail doesn't know what he's talking about.

(Diesel wankels don't exist.  Three companies have tried making them; Rolls Royce, John Deere and some Japanese company I CBA to look up.  None of the three ever got them to mass production.  I'm not sure what the problem was.)
 
"As for the armor, instead of using a large amount of steel and other metals, most of the Tigerwolf's armor is made up of thick panels and blocks of woven fabric Carbon 60 and 70 --- which are genarically[sic] known as "Fullerine". [sic]
Fullerine has ove 100 times the tensile strength of steel, it's 10's of times lighter, and theoretically could be manufactured quickly and inexpensively. Essentially, the Tigerwolf has a sort of "Super Kevlar" armor, but unlike current Kevlars (which are made of polimers[sic] or composites), fullerine does not have a molecular structure that distorts or melts under heat or pressure --- a single piece of this new type of armor can withstand MANY direct hits from rounds with tank-killing power, KE and CE alike."
 
 
Ah yes, fullerenes; every hack futurist's favorite crutch.
 
Fullerenes have many interesting and useful properties, but their large-scale bulk mechanical properties may not be that amazing.  Many materials have amazing strength at small scales, but disappointing strength at macro scales.  Sapphire whiskers are an example.
 
Moreover, high tensile strength (which is what fullerenes have going for them), does not necessarily imply that a material will make good armor.  The properties that make materials effective against high-velocity threats are somewhat esoteric.  Aluminum alloys, for instance, have a better strength to weight ratio than does steel, and while several of them do protect better on a weight basis than steel against lower velocity threats like artillery fragments and small arms fire, suffer badly against high-velocity penetrators and HEAT threats due to sheer failure modes that only exist at those higher velocity ranges.
 
Also, why the fuck does Blacktail think that "Kevlars" melt under pressure?  Aramids don't melt.
 
"Even though it's much larger than an M1A1 Abrams, the Mk.75 Tigerwolf is over 30% lighter, and can swim over water obstacles, rather than slog though on the bottom. And because it floats, there are no depths that it cannot cross."
 
 
This is how big a 40 tonne boat is.
 
"Also important is it's low ground pressure, stemming from it's low 40-ton weight, super-wide tracks, low height, and enourmous horizontal size --- it has the ground pessure of a "Light Track" vehicle, like the M113 Gavin. This is important because almost half the world's surface is closed to heavy tracks (again, the M1A1 Abrams), due to thier height, ground pressure, and high centers of gravity.
The Tigerwolf can directly cut across many areas that no existing or projected MBT will ever be able to --- not to mention traverse certain terrain features, such as bridges and paved roads, without damaging them."
 
 
Is Blacktail under the impression that it's ground pressure that damages bridges?  Jesus, if that were true the last thing you'd want to get anywhere near a bridge is a car.
 
"As the Tigerwolf has 40% more power and torque than the M1, and weighs 30% less, it is 40% faster and could probably accelerate as quickly as a Humvee. This would make contemporary tanks very hard-pressed to cut-off a Tigerwolf, and no current or projected tanks could ever hope to pursue a Tigerwolf.
Other advantages offered by the powerpack include a small number of moving parts, extremely low vibration and ocillation (inherent to Wankel Rotaries; not in piston engines), low heat emissions (less than in 700+ degree piston engines, or 1500+ degrees in Gas Turbines), a very small, flat, light engine block, and stonger individual components than in any current or projected tank engine, and a 5-speed AT, to take advantage of the high engine output. "
 
 
Uh huh...
 
So this is a magical wank(el) engine that has equal SFC to a diesel, rather than falling between a diesel and a turbine as existing ones do.
 
"Other advantages offered by the powerpack include a small number of moving parts, extremely low vibration and ocillation (inherent to Wankel Rotaries; not in piston engines), low heat emissions (less than in 700+ degree piston engines, or 1500+ degrees in Gas Turbines), a very small, flat, light engine block, and stonger individual components than in any current or projected tank engine, and a 5-speed AT, to take advantage of the high engine output."
 
 
WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF TURBINE REJECTS HEAT AT 1,500 DEGREES?!  The highest turbine inlet temperature on record is 1,600C!
 
Per Honeywell, AGT-1500's exhaust temperature is 500 C, but it's unclear if that is before or after it enters the recuperator.
 
And if he's using bullshit Imperial units he's still wrong.
 
If you don't know the difference between heat rejection temperature and turbine inlet temperature, you have no business discussing turbines.
 
"All tanks require high firepower, and the Mk.75 Tigerwolf has plenty of it. The large size of the Tigerwolf's hull and turret enables a heavier-caliber howitzer to be used than on any tank currently in service --- a 145mm Smooth-Bore Howitzer. Because the German-designed M256 120mm smoothbore (M1A1, M1A2, Leopard 2, etc.) has a 40% larger punch than the British-designed M67 105mm Rifled-bore (the standard to which ALL other tank guns are judged --- used on too many tanks to list), the Tigerwolf's gun probaly has at least 20% more punch than the M256 --- enough to outrange any of today's tank guns, with enough penetration to destroy an M1A1 from well beyond it's maximum gun range."
 
 
Any fictional Main Battle Wank needs to have a smitey, terrifying weapon... I'm not sure why Blacktail has saddled his design with a howitzer.
 
Also, how many places on Earth are there where you can even see further than the engagement range of an M1's armament?
 
"The Co-Axial MachineGun (COAX) fires 7x50mm rifle rounds, which combine the low cost and recoil of the 5.56x45mm NATO round, with the accuracy and penetration of the 7.62x51mm NATO round. 7mm rounds would also have a smaller casing daimeter than a 7.62mm round, which when coupled with significantly larger magazines and canisters, means the Tigerwolf totes one hell of a lot of MG ammo. As such, it is unlikely that a Tigerwolf will have to resupply MG ammo during a battle, and may even have thousands of rounds to spare --- if it is supporting friendly troops, the Tigerwolf may be able to spare a few thousand rounds for them."
 
 
Someone doesn't know the difference between case head diameter and caliber.
 
"A smooth ride and steady aim are achieved through hydropneumatic suspension and stabilization (versus the comparatively rougher torsion and hydraulics used in current and projected tanks) . The gun, turret, and hull each have thier own stabilization. While each of these are mechanically independant, they are balanced and co-ordinated via computer (which also feeds stability data to the gunnery computer, adjusting the GPS crosshairs in real time). This is unlike current tanks, whose ballistics comuters only react indirectly to the actual stability of the vehicle."
 
 
I don't know what any of this means, except that Blacktail doesn't know how suspension and stabilization work.
 
 
That's all I can stand.  I'm done.  Go read it if you want to, or not, whatever.

Nearly infinite firepower upgrades, that's the Soviet guarantee!
 

Link since image won't work.

Well, a Centurion does have to be careful to cover her modesty.

Picture

Australian Navy Cancels Order for the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter

Australian Navy Cancels Order for the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter

Not sure how many have seen this, but I found it a good watch.

Primary sources are a harsher mistress than heroin. Post your best docs, videos, and photos here! Make sure that your documents have good citations, photos have confirmed locations and dates (and are actually significant, we don't need millions of pictures of T-26 #550424). Use reliable hosting! Youtube, Picasa, or a government agency's hosting where you got them from in the first place. I will periodically update the OP with everything posted in the thread. 
 
Documents not strictly falling into "Allied" or "Axis" categories, or subcategories, will be sorted by country of origin.
 
Allied
 
British Empire and Commonwealth (excluding Canada)
T-90S manual (Russian) T-72B Manual (Russian)
T-64 1984 Manual (Russian)
T-34 EARLY TANK SERVICE MANUAL
1976 US report on capabilities of and countermeasures to the ZSU-23-4 Shilka
 
United States and Canada
Ballistic Tests of Armor Materials (American penetration standards) MECHANISM OF ARMOR PENETRATION (Investigation of projectile shatter) THE PERFORMANCE OF SUB-CALIBER PROJECTILES COMPARED WITH THAT OF CONVENTIONAL TYPES Fragment Penetration Tests of Armor Principles of Armor Protection (Decapping plates research) Grooved Armor Plate Photographic Study of Impact of Ball and Armor Piercing Ammunition on Armor Plate Light Armor Plate Development Test of Laminated Thin Armor Plate Metallurgical Examination of Samples Representing Ninety-Six Two Inch Thick Ballistic Test Plates Welding of Armor: Summary of Ballistic Shock Test Results on 1-1/2 Inch Homogeneous Armor 'H' Plates Welded with Austenitic Electrodes and Tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground Armor. Metallurgical Examination of Cast Turret Number 757 for M4 Tank, Manufactured by Union Steel Castings Co., Ballistically Tested at Subzero Temperatures at Camp Shilo Historical Review of the Correlation of Ballistic and Metallurgical Characteristics of Domestic Armor at Watertown Arsenal Metallurgical Examination of 2 Inch, 2-1/2 Inch, and 3 Inch Rolled Homogeneous Armor Employed in the Ballistic Evaluation of Armor against 57 mm and 90 mm Armor-Piercing Projectiles Resistance of Various Steels to Perforation by Fragment Simulating Projectiles Metallurgical Examination of Sections from the Cast Armor Turret made by Continental Foundry and Machine Company and two Trunnion Pins from a Heavy Tank M6A2E1 Comparative Effectiveness of Armor-Defeating Ammunition (Normalization and penetration) Armor Plate Ballistic Testing Metallurgical Examination of Section from 6 in. Experimental M4A3E2 Assault Turret Manufactured by Union Steel Castings Division of Blaw-Knox Company Metallurgical Evaluation of a Method of Anti-Personnel Defense for the Medium Tank M4A1 Metallurgical Examination of Twelve 2 1/2 Inch Thick Rolled Homogeneous and Sixteen 2 1/2 Inch Thick Face Hardened Armor Plates Manufactured by Carnegie-Illinois Steel Penetration of Homogeneous Armor by 3-inch Flat-Nosed Projectiles Comparative Effectiveness of Armor-Defeating Ammunition THE EFFECT OF SYSTEM DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS ON FIRST ROUND HITTING PROBABILITY OF TANK FIRED PROJECTILES Handbook of Ballistic and Engineering Data for Ammunition. Volume 1. 20-1-95 to 75-1-310 Included Test of 105mm Shot, T182 Development of 90mm Gun Tank, T69 SOLID STEEL AP PROJECTILES. CONVENTIONAL, TRUNCATED AND TIPPED TRUNCATED OGIVAL TYPES
History of the Subcommittee on Welding of Armor Ferrous Metallurgical Advisory Board Ordnance Department U.S. Army
Welding of Armor. Summary of Ballistic Shock Test Results on 1/2, 3/8, and 1/4 Inch Thick Homogeneous Armor 'H' Plates Welded with Austenitic Electrodes and Tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground during the Period from 1 October 1942 through 31 March 1943
REVISED SUMMARY OF ORO PROJECTS, SPECIAL STUDIES AND FIELD OPERATIONS TO MAY 31, 1952. VOLUME 1
CONTROL OF GUN FUMES IN M-4 SERIES MEDIUM TANKS
ADEQUATE HEAD ROOM IN TANKS
APPRAISAL OF KIND AND DEGREE OF PHYSICAL EFFORT REQUIRED OF TANK CREWS IN RELATION TO FATIGUE
Heavy Tank T26E1 Metallurgical Examination of Components which Failed Under Ballistic Tests
Comparison Test of Tank, Combat, Full-Tracked, 105-mm Gun, M60A1
STUDY OF ERRORS IN RANGE ESTIMATION WITH THE UNAIDED EYE
Evaluation of American telescopic tank sights
DETERMINATION OF THE AMOUNT OF HEAT TRANSMITTED TO THE FIGHTING COMPARTMENT OF TANKS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS
CONTROL OF GUN FUMES IN M4 SERIES MEDIUM TANKS BY POSITIVE-PRESSURE VENTILATION
REPORT ON GUN FUME HAZARD FROM 37MM GUN IN M5 LIGHT TANK
DETERMINATION OF BASIC VENTILATION CHARACTERISTICS OF TANKS OF THE M4 SERIES. DETERMINATION OF BASIC VENTILATION CHARACTERISTICS OF TANKS OF THE M5 SERIES
PLACEMENT AND MOUNTING OF SIGHTS IN TANKS
DISCUSSION OF VENTILATION REQUIREMENTS OF ARMORED VEHICLES
Work on Sabot-Projectiles and Supplements, 1942-1944
M4A3 Manual
M103 armour requirements
US Armor in Korea, pt. 1
US Armor in Korea, pt. 2
XM1 Engine Troubles
Analysis of the effectiveness of American tank destroyers
US testing of MTU MT883 Diesel engine for possible use in M1 Abrams
Development of 105mm HEAT round T-384 (US)
Human factors and safety assessment of the M1A1 Abrams
Alternate armament for M551
Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2) ‘How to Research’ Guide
Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2). Technical Report
Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2). Volume 2. U.S. Anti-Tank Defense at Mortain, France (August, 1944)
Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2). Volume 3. U.S. Anti-Tank Defense at Dom Butgenbach, Belgium (December, 1944)
Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2).  Volume 4. US Anti-Tank Defense at Krinkelt-Rocherath, Belgium (December, 1944)
Evaluation of Siliceous Cored Armor for the XM60 Tank
INVESTIGATION OF THE VULNERABILITY TO BALLISTIC ATTACK OF TWO T77 OSCILLATING TURRETS
War Metallurgy
Protection provided by steel and aluminum armor against fragments from high-explosive ammunition
3" M62 AP ammunition trials
United States Ammunition Data Sheets
An Overview of Novel Penetrator Technology
Medium caliber ammunition effect on urban targets
M36 Crew Training Manual
90mm M3 Armor Piercing Ammunition
M4 (105) Training Manual
M1A1/M1A2 TUSK 1/2 Manual
Technical Manual for M6 and M6A1 heavy tanks
Canadian war diaries of the Normandy campaign
Other
Swiss Anti-Tank Guns (in German) Penetrator strength effect in long-rod critical ricochet angle AMX-13 prototype trials at Aberdeen 12cm kanon STRV 121/122. Skjuttabeller Renault FT-17 manual  
Axis
 
Germany
Armor: Metallurgical Examination of Armor and Welded Joints from the Side of a German PzKw Vf (Panther) Tank Metallurgical Examination of a 3-1/4 in. Thick Armor Plate from a German PzKw V (Panther) Tank Armor Plate. Metallurgical Examination of German Armor from a Pz. Kw. III Tank Principles of Armor Protection (ballistic testing of scale Pak 40 shells) Interrogation of Herr Stiele von Heydekampf (On Porsche's designs, Tiger/Panther development, T-34's influence on German tank development, and long term trends in German tank building) Pantherfibel.pdf German tank production, availability, and losses in WWII Leitchttraktor manual British analysis of King Tiger turret (Porsche) Vulnerability of Tiger Tanks Tiger Operations Handbook: Tigerfibel  
Japan
The Metallurgical Examination of a Japanese Samurai Sword Japanese light armour (part 1) Japanese light armour (part 2) Japanese heavy armour  
Italy
 
Other
 
North Korea country handbook
 
 
It's sparse for now, but I'll slowly but surely transfer my collection. Contribute all you got!

I'm pretty sure the woman featured in the video is The Baroness.  Obviously, this is all a Cobra plot to get their hands on the Maus and use it as a super weapon.  
 

Apparently, the Ikv 105 was a contender in Army AGS search.
 
As for something else unrelated, I know for a fact that I had army-print pajamas as a kid with Ikv 91s on them.

North American birds in general, but the Woodcock holds the place as my favorite.  Perhaps a bird thread may appear in the zoology section.