The decline in the price of Steel. Part-One.

TATA-U.K. and Port Talbot Steelworks.

We tend to forget that most machines built where made from either iron or steel and today there is a big change with the introduction of Polymers (Tough Plastics). 

The Peoples Republic of China has flooded the world market with cheap steel and many nations have been effected by this slump in the prices. This was not done deliberately, because they have undermined themselves too! 

Port Talbot has been around for over 100 years like many of its now defunct counterparts, it started life as an iron foundry and progressed as science required it to do so. Steel today is used in cannery, automobiles, military vehicles and ship building. But many countries, including the U.K. have lost much of this, the other serious problem with steel is the amounts of scrap and the need to re-cycle it.

The costs lay in the electrical supply for maintaning production, the transportation and mining of fossils from coal to alumina and ore, much of the third world has been left scarred with the removal of bauxite-alumina. Because once it is exposed to the atmosphere it is highly dangerous and this toxic problem has been no stranger to the workforces in the steel working industry and those down wind of smoke.

There is that other side of of heavy industry that people forget as they strive for new things, respiratory problems, lung disease, cancers, asbestosis exposure, that has left generational marks and continues world wide to do to this day.

Ordinance. Part-One.

and bomb Disposal.

This is a specialist field within all armed forces, para-military police and even the smallest nations who just have a police force. Many overlook this area and yet it is one half of two sides, the other being demolition or sabotage units.

The quartermaster in those James Bond movies is nothing more than a demolitions expert, all glossed up with his new super toys?

We are hearing much at this time in Europe in connection with the need of the bomb disposal units, but they are active to in all areas of conflict having to deal with pipe-bombs or IED's. many fantastic robotic vehicles that are much more effective in disarming the timing and triggers,

All this experience came at the cost of many men in N-Ireland, Spain and Israel who had to slowly painstakingly work their way up to these at times complex devices. 

Ordnance have been around for some time and this series will look into the different vehicles deployed from the past to the present.

Modern Armoured Vehicle. One.

Or not so protected?

There are two types of modern APC's now available and moving away from tracked to multi-wheeled, speed is now perhaps the empathises of modern warfare? On the other hand many of the types that were deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq have become less armoured and more open over the years.

The United States and the Russian Federation have kept to their MBT, ARV and APC which are tracked such as the Abrams MBT, T-90, Bradley and various Russian equivalents, while many supports Humvee's and the GAZ-69. Meanwhile others members of the co-alition such as the U.K. have opted for lightly armoured snatch vehicles such as their Landrovers and Supacat Jackal and Coyote. 

One has to ask are these types cheaper or more effective in their limited roles? Many other nations have chosen to develop sophisticated 6X6, 8X8 vehicles that can act as more than an the standard armoured personnel carrier, to options of a  light tank, SAM, SSM systems! Finland, Switzerland and Brazil have chosen this road, with the SISU and Mowag. 

Ireland's Timoney Division has produced some specialised trucks and APC's for Belgium and several other countries in Europe.

The Coast Guards. Part-One.

Multi-Role.

Nearly every nation has a rescue service of one kind or another, from being embedded within their police or military. Some are a separate division dedicated to its own provisions of equipment and personnel.

We have mountain rescue, coastguards, Royal Life boat institutions (R.N.L.I.) and many others. Each one plays a specific role on water, in the air and underground. Some fire service units are equipped in this way. There is close cooperation between all the emergency services, during storms, earthquakes, major incidents-accidents and terrorists attacks.

The sea borne operators in the U.S. double up with their vessels to assist narcotics enforcement, apart from search and rescue. This is becoming more so now across the globe with more navies having to deal with people smuggling and ship hijacking.

Engines. Part-One.

The heart of every Machine.

If one visits the Science Museum in London, U.K. or nearly every country in the world, you are confronted by the engines of all the great machines that have ever been built. For mechanics this is a day out, for others perhaps after looking at a couple one can get bored easily?

But it is the engine from the petrol to the hydro-electric fusion that has been the heart of motive power this last 125 years. Engines have helped in the development of getting into space, going to the depths of our oceans, building all forms of structures and tunnels.

 Ford T-Model car, Mark 1 tank, Holland Submarine, Sputnik, Ferrari, Porche,Apollo Rockets, Queen Mary, Spitfire, Volkswagen Beetle, Drones, Hydro Power, Trains, Mustang P-51, Rolls-Royce, MiG-15, SR-71, Bullet train, Antonov 225 Mirya, X-Planes, Mars Rovers,

Steam was one thing, Diesel another, fusion is something else and nuclear elctro fusion will take us out of our solar system?