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More detail on the TSR-2's intakes here:

Image showing four alternative air intake designs for TSR-2, (all with asymmetrical intakes surrounded by a cowling with a semi-circular cross-section, with a shock cone, again semi-circular in cross-section, in the centreline of the air intake)

Scheme 'A' as embodied on D.B. aircraft but with 40° opening angle (diagram shows two large outward opening doors just aft the intake)

Scheme 'B' Spring-Loaded Suck-In Doors (Shows nine small inward-opening doors across the entirety of the semi-circular circumference of the intake cowling, again just aft the intake)

Scheme 'C' as Scheme 'A' with Extra Doors (as Scheme A, but with two additional doors, one of each above and below the doors already present on Scheme A)

Scheme 'D' Translating Intake Cowl preferred solution for production aircraft (in this case there are no doors, the lip intake of the intake cowling is able to translate forward and aft)

The air intakes extended from a position forward of the wing root, and comprised half frames braced by longitudinal stringers and diaphragms, with internal and external chemi-etched stressed skins broken by auxiliary intake doors to provide additional airflow at low forward speeds and high throttle settings. Intake frontal area was controlled by hinged cones within the intake mouth; a fore-aft pair on each side, with hinges at the points and jacks extending the cone bases outwards when required, varying the cone angle from 17 to 25 degrees. The automatic intake control units were delayed and were never fitted to the only TSR2 to fly, which had the cones locked at the 17-degree mark. Even manual operation was prevented, as clutch slippage was experienced on early tests.

Upper and lower boundary-layer air bleed ducts cut through the intake frames, the

lower bleed also supplying air to a heat exchanger which exhausted below the intakes. Windtunnel tests showed that the intake walls needed to be thickened because of poor subsonic-cruise drag, which reducing efficiency by 10 per cent and imposed a fuel penalty of 300lb (135kg) on the 1,000nm sortie. The RAF was eventually presented with a pair of slightly altered intake designs, one of which would perform slightly better in the supersonic cruise, while the other worked best at subsonic speeds. As the aircraft would spend most of its life subsonic, the latter intake design was chosen for incorporation on production aircraft. The auxiliary intake doors proved highly susceptible to problems in early ground testing, with required jack pressures far in excess of predictions and the surrounding structure unable to deal with the required loading. As a result, on XR219 the doors were locked fully open for the first flight, and then a simplified mechanism was put in place so that they were fully open when the undercarriage was down, and fully closed when it was retracted. In contrast, XR220's auxiliary intakes were locked closed, and a reduction in maximum permissible take-off weight was imposed as a

result. While a temporary modification to incorporate a stronger auxiliary intake door mechanism was in progress at the time of cancellation, several alternative auxiliary intake designs were also suggested at a late stage. The favourite entailed deletion of the auxiliary doors and the introduction of a translating intake lip that would move forward on tracks to give additional airflow at low speeds and bring intake efficiency up to 91 per cent. Work on this was halted by the project's cancellation, as was analysis of windtunnel results on a version of the intake that re-energized the boundary layer and thus dispensed with the drag penalty of having to bleed it away.

October 28, 2025 at 10:19 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Right down to the fact that people take the majority of their trips in helicopters using a fraction of their passenger-carrying capacity.

At the turn of the 1970s, the Project Office team had completed all work on WG.13 (Lynx) and the Short Range Transport studies (see Chapter 13). Attention then turned to the prospect of the expanding demand for the small civil rotorcraft. The flexibility and skill of the team appears self-evident in their ability to move quickly from a sophisticated airliner convertiplane to a three- to five-seat inexpensive general aviation helicopter.

Bell, Enstrom, Aerospatiale, and others had aircraft in production or close to certification at this time. The Bell 206A Jet Ranger, in particular, was selling extremely well. Using records from the Battersea heliport manifests as guidance, it was clear that most helicopter journeys from this location, using small helicopters of up to five seat capacity, were actually conducted with just one or two passengers. Evidence of the dominance of the Jet Ranger was underpinned by records that showed 74% of all movements to and from Battersea were using this type, even though it was rarely required to carry a full load. Given that the Battersea records showed that a two passenger (three-seat) helicopter would meet nearly 80% of the demand the WG.23¹ layout would focus on this size of cabin. Range with two passengers was set at a maximum of 300nm (556km) based on discussion with operators, though the indication from Battersea operations would have suggested 250nm (463km).

October 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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READ THEORY

Front cover of "Building a Ruin: The Cold War Politics of Soviet Economic Reform" by Yakov Feygin

October 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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This is a higher fire rate than a 2A72 lol

Just imagining what one of the early 1990s BAE CV90-based TRACER (Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement) proposals could do to a BMP-3 with this.

This reduces the working parts of the system and facilitates a rate of fire of 200 rds/min in the CT40, although GIAT’s 45 mm M911 cannon could achieve 400 rds/min, due to rotating the breech through a smaller angle.

September 15, 2025 at 7:54 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Want to increase an infantry squad's lethal range?

Just put indirect fires down at the squad level, use the LGI Mle F1/Fly-K like the French do. There's a Fly-K Mk2 these days, it even has a MAPAM round with preformed fragments:

June 26, 2025 at 7:04 AM

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There should be a game that lets me do this:

To assist in clarifying the new employment concept, the schematic of Figure 10 Illustrates a simplified package of weapons. In this case seven divisions are postulated to be the threat facing the Corps; three divisions in contact, two moving up on high speed approaches, and two other divisions still in assembly areas. The five forward divisions are closer together than normal because they are In contact or moving to exploit. This increased density invites application of preclusion oriented targeting techniques wherein nuclear weapons effects are maximized in the target area while precluding specified damage levels to cities.The key concepts are that each target does not require a weapon because of the increased unit density and that employment constraints are met while achieving the prescribed military effectiveness. The schematic shows concentrations of 16 nuclear weapons on the northern division, 31 nuclear weapons on the penetrating division, a total of 17 on the southern division, two groupings totaling 19 on the northern exploiting division and 19 nuclear weapons in 3 groups on the southern exploiting division. The +'s
represent individual weapons delivered at single targets wherein the unit density does not suggest more than one target or the targets are fixed, i.e. airfields, bridges, logistic facilities, etc. In this package, weapons effects against the target are maximized recognizing and meeting all constraints. The total schedule of fires represents a package of 136 nuclear weapons delivered within one Corps area for a specific tactical contingency. This package Illustrates the targets of Corps Interest as well as theater interdiction targets in the Corps zone. These weapons would all be delivered within one or two hours.

June 24, 2025 at 12:40 AM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Why use DIVARTY when you can have an entire Artillery Division subordinate to a Corps?

Proposed US Army Artillery Division.drwan up in the late 1960s, early 1970s. Consists of four subordinate Field Artillery Group Control Headquarters, and twenty Field Artillery Battalions of Self Propelled 155mm and 8-inch howitzers, 175mm guns, Lance Ballistic Missiles and Aerial Field Artillery (1960s formation based around attack helicopters).

Proposed US Artillery Division drawn up in 1945 taking into account European Theatre experience. Consists of four Artillery Regiments, with between four and three Battalions each, for a total of three each of 105mm Howitzers, 155mm Howitzers, 155mm guns and 8-inch howitzers and one of 240mm howitzers.

June 24, 2025 at 12:29 AM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Nautiloids and Illithids alike fear this:

June 24, 2025 at 12:13 AM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Generation Lead finally have their President

Graph from 2015 showing childhood blood lead levels. Gen X, then in their 40s and 50s, now in their 50s and 60s, span a massive spike in blood lead levels.

May 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Quote post this with a picture of the airplane you’ll accept as a bribe.

The Carreidas 160, from 22nd volume of The Adventures of Tintin, Flight 714 to Sydney.

A supersonic business jet, with a highly streamlined fuselage, swept-back T-tail, and low-set variable geometry wings. Below the tail, the aircraft has a tri-engined layout, with an engine pod each side, each with two box intakes, the outboard for each engine pods respective engine, and the inboard intake of each pod supplying an engine in the centerline of the aircraft in the tail cone.

The tailplane atop the fin, lower fuselage and wings are red, the latter two being separated from the white upper fuselage by a black cheatline which runs the entire length of the aircraft, from black dielectric nosecone fairing, to the tail cone, being reproduced along the sides of the engine pods. The upper quarter of the nose cone forward of the cockpit windows is painted in black anti-glare paint.

May 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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For those who don't know:

A contemporary cartoon, redrawn by John Roberts for DK Brown's Nelson to Vanguard, showing a Town class cruiser stripped of its entire main armament in compensation for a variety of new additions. The letters X, Y, D, B and A are superimposed over the former positions of the main armament turrets and Director Control Tower.

Captions underneath the picture:

Y - Here was Y Turret
Removed for topweight compensation for fighter direction, R/T, HF/DF, pom-pom RPC and Target Indication.

X - Here was X Turret
Removed for topweight compensation for gun control Radar and additional WS sets.

D - Here was the DCT
Removed. No longer required

B - Here was B Turret
Removed to make room for AIC

A - Here was A Turret
Removed for topweight compensation for 4-inch RPC

Speech bubbles emanating from various tannoys around the ship:

"BLIMEY!!! LOOK THERE!? Alarm Red 30."

"30 KNOTS HARD A'STARB!"

"Sorry Sir! The tiller flat's been pinched for a Radar Workshop. Only 10 degrees of rudder. Try hand!"

"Sorry Sir! 'A' Boiler Room's been pinched for diesel dynamos and a TIR! Only 12 knots."

"Bofors train Green 70."

"All Oerlikons standing by!"

"Hello Red Leader. Vector 73 point 2. 15 miles. Angels 40. Bogeys 4."

"Starboard pom-pom crew stand easy"

"P1 and P2 lookout Red 120. S1 and S2 gun crews to dinner."

"Hello PORTSMOUTH Blue Leader Calling. Toodle-oo!! Toodle-oo!! There's a patch of fog off your port bow."

"Hello Blue Leader. Return to Base. Return to Base."

"Hello Yellow Leader. Vector 184 point 7. 24 point 5 miles. Circle ship. Angels 10."

"After tower and No3 gun look-out Green 150. Angle of sight 60."

May 11, 2025 at 4:06 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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At a time when Imperial leaders who had no knowledge of the U.S. nuclear program were contemplating the “sacrifice” of 20 million Japanese in the Home Islands to achieve some chimerical “victory” over the Americans,50 and the war’s invisible cost was rising to roughly 400,000 people per month from Indonesia through Manchuria,51

51.Newman, Enola Gay, 134–48. Newman arrived at this monthly average by extrapolating from the conservative twenty million figure for Chinese deaths from the Report of the Working Group for Asia and the Far East of the Temporary Sub Commission on the Economic Reconstitution of Devastated Areas published by the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1948 (the Chinese government maintains that the figure is closer to thirty million) plus figures for hard-hit Indonesia and elsewhere. He notes that this is buttressed by recent scholarship such as Seiitsu Tachibana, “The Quest for a Peace Culture: The A-Bomb Survivor’s Long Struggle and the New Movement for Redressing Foreign Victims of Japan’s War,” in Hiroshima in History and Memory, ed. Michael J. Hogan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 184; Toshio Iritani, Group Psychology of the Japanese in Wartime (London: Kegan Paul, 1991), 237; and Gavan Daws, Prisoners of the Japanese (New York: William Morrow, 1994), 363. An extensive examination of this subject can be found in Gruhl, Imperial Japan’s World War II. Gruhl is a former chief of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Cost and Economic Analysis Branch.

May 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Rest of alt text

Shortly thereafter, however, it was determined that the launching of U.S. ASAT weapons was to be exclusively an Air Force mission (not Navy), and all work on the proposed sea-based launching of ASAT weapons was terminated at that time.

May 3, 2025 at 9:27 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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From "From the Sea to the Stars"

Proposed Sea-based ASAT Weapons
In 1978, the Carter administration adopted a so-called "twin track" policy with regard to ASAT weapons: attempt to reach an ASAT arms control agreement with the Soviet Union, but simultaneously authorize a U.S. ASAT development program to provide bargaining leverage during the negotiations and insurance if the negotiations proved unsuccessful.

The Air Force had reinitiated its ASAT program. New technology in guidance and
infrared sensing allowed an inexpensive ASAT weapons system to be conceptualized.
The concept was to use F-15 aircraft to launch an existing missile, with a new second stage to loft a sensor package (about the size of a tomato juice can) with enough accuracy to intercept Soviet low-earth orbiting satellites. The kill mechanism was to be via kinetic energy upon impact; there was no explosive warhead. Air Force F-15s were to be based on both the East and West Coasts of the United States, and, upon orders to intercept, would take off and fly to a weapons release point and release the missile—all under computer control. The Naval Air Systems Command was working with Air Force Systems Command on a version to be launched from carrier-based F-14s. This was the status quo as the Chief of Naval Operations and his staff took up the
issue of ASAT weapons in 1982.

Over a three-month period, the OPNAV staff reviewed three concepts for launching the Air Force ASAT weapon from deployed Navy units—which would be in better position than land-based F-15s to intercept those Soviet satellites having orbital parameters most threatening to Navy forces at sea. The options considered were for launch: (1) by carrier-based F-14s, (2) on SM-2N missiles from Aegis cruisers, and (3) on Poseidon missiles from ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).

May 3, 2025 at 9:27 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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This is allegedly a BMP-2 hull after one such test.

Side of a BMP-2 hull after a test with ERA. The side under the ERA module has shattered into two large pieces (and likely also several smaller ones) which have also been pushed in. The weld seams where the side of the BMP hull meets the roof have also broken.

April 19, 2025 at 11:24 AM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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The Mount Whitney class were originally designed around reusing the hull of Mars-class Combat Stores ship, but the hull of the Iwo Jima class LPH offered better volume and radio antenna performance.

April 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Before they decided to use Amphibious Flagships for the Fleet Flagship role, the US Navy was looking at these:

April 16, 2025 at 4:27 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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April 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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Image of an Independence class Littoral Combat Ship in space.

April 9, 2025 at 10:38 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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This chart is quite surprising, and in spite of the fact that the NHS and British economy are not particularly well-performing.

A pair of Financial Times Charts comparing American and English life expectancy at different incomes. The y-axis on both charts is life expectancy, the x-axis on the top chart is income distribution, and on the bottom chart is net household income using 2022 purchasing power parities (although it is using a logarithmic scale). England does better at all incomes when accounting for purchasing power, with only the wealthiest Americans having an equivalent life expectancy to those in England with a quarter of their income.

April 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM

Cruiser Destroyer & Typhon Frigate Enthusiast

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You need to watch the 1979 series so you can get some better screenshots.

You could have used this image 200 times between the 20th of January and today.