War with Iran!

 U.S. Power, will be Underminded?

What Iran has is a long arms of International terrorism, that will see the sons of Trump recovered in barrels of oil in Mari Largo, if the one or the other slips up in the next few days!

The U.S. has better manpower and training for their systems to work, but politically Trump has no concern for the deaths of the uprising, but rather he pull of a good deal on nuclear and access to their oil fields!

Iran will strike Israel, since it is obsessed with trying to wipe it out with their missile forces, but it is still unclear if Iran has a atomic weapon of some type and how many, since the U.S. strikes on Ferdow six months ago did not wipe out as Trump and his lies claim?

Much of everything else he claims is also lies and the cost of all this will hurt both Europe and the U.S. long term with reprisals and terror!

Anti-Missile Defenses!

  Israels new Laser System?

Which may soon be tested out if there is to be another war in the region with Iran!

This new weapon fires a beam of energy knocking out the guidance system of the rocket or missile thus causing it to crash, rather than explode in mid air?

It is not yet clear how many they have in service and do they still need to be re-supplied with support weapons from the United States to back up Davids Sling and the Iron dome!

What ever happens Israel will once more prove itself well able to damage and destroy their enemies who are on all sides of their little nation?

U.S. Leading the way in the new Super-Sonic Age!

 Smaller business class Jets?

Britain, and France lead the way with the one-hundred seat Concorde until a crash in France twenty-five years ago ended a most successful trans-Atlantic affair, meanwhile only Singapore airlines operated the type and the Soviet-Russians operated their Tupolev TU-144 between Moscow and the far east, but the demand was not strong and the type was retired too!

On the other hand the U.S. has gone it alone with several larger Boeing concepts, but this new type will allow a one third version to be built more so for private and business flights and to be employed world wide, the secret to this type is perhaps alternative fuel, speed and operational costs being much lower than the original types?

One will just have to wait and see what will happen, or is this another red herring, pink elephants ect, that we will never see the light of day as so many went before!

Armored Electric?

 Musk has taken the Idea!

But it is not all going his way since one of his Tesla trucks was used in suspected home grown terror attack on a Trump hotel in Las Vegas!

The idea to turn his truck into an armored vehicle looks like a possibility for the future, but one is not sure if he will be the first, since many countries in Europe already have electric versions of utility vehicles and police and other emergency powered by battery?

If the Tesla does become available, then it would have a very limited market, since most countries world-wide still burn petrol and diesel!

U.S. Aircraft Carrier hit in Red Sea!

 Trusted Russian media Reports?

Was this the last straw for Joe Biden, when the Houthis had the nerve to strike a U.S. carrier with two ballistic missiles in the northern part of the red sea and strike several other warships putting them out of temporary action!

The Carrier has returned to a undisclosed place for repairs and it is not clear if it has been replaced by another, it would seem that the U.S. defense systems was not able to cope with multiple forms of attack at the same time, so we now know that the U.S. navy is vulnerable at sea?

Apart from holes in the deck of the carrier we do not know how many aircraft, helicopters were lost of damages and how many crew were killed or injured, since when things go bad for the U.S. they refuse to release any information, but with this lack in basic security it is worrying time for the incoming Trump administration that they are weak on many fronts!

Russia looks to its own Manufacturers?

 Aeroflot and the Russian government is looking to Illyushin and Yakolev!

With so many sanctions now imposed on Russia by the United States over the Ukraine Boeing is refusing to supply parts for all the grounded 737 types that have been employed in recent years?

So Russia is looking to Yakolev to have its MC21 commercial jet ready and for Illyushin to upgrade its Il-118 turboprop for domestic flying, as it has with the IL-85/95 long range types.

Meanwhile the Tupolev has been successful with its range of jet types, TU-204, 214, that are now in service, but there is much hope in the MC-21 and the Chinese airline types replacing the unwanted American aircraft?

Aeroflot has sued Sukhoi for structural failures on its Sukhoi Super-Jet 100/200 not being resolved, with still crashes and incidents!

Yemen Houthi, Somalia and Iran?

 Attacking International Shipping in the Red and Arabia Seas!

We are entering a phase of difficult times ahead, were what we order on Amazon and other may not get to us on time and the blessing we have had may become worse?

Now that shipping is being targeted on three or more sides over the conflict in the Gaza strip, we are possibly going to war in the region unless nations can get together and stop the drones, missile and rockets that are hitting commercial vessels, tankers and other and in time we will see the sinking of shipping!

We enter 2024 with a developing major crises that will spread to the Malay-Singapore channel and also to the Gibraltar straits with militants active in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and other place once more.

Prices for fuel will rise and we thought we had it bad with the Russian-Ukraine war?

Classic and Vintage Vehicles. Part-One.

Keeping history Alive?

So far we have done just fine in preserving both steam and Diesel/petrol powered vehicles, but this is running out with all the new technologies that are to come? This is because they will be  built from bespoke parts perhaps unique to each individual manufacturer and thus the restorer will hit a road block in say twenty-years time!

Most vehicles have now been saved in one form or another luxury and sports cars are the most popular, followed by interesting construction and military equipment. But some have not, either for lack of parts or because their design remains classified!

This is because many designs follow on from the one before, being improved as they proceed through time and this is true of the Swedish manufactures Saab and Volvo! There may be many others around the world former Soviet and Communist Chinese to the present?

Even the British and U.S have many similar vehicles such as the Abraham's/Challenger MBT that no one will get the chance to pry upon along with the Israeli Merkeva, not anytime too soon!

The Electric Age?

2018 Promises to be the Electric Everything!

Electricity is nothing new when it comes to machine technologies but we are now talking about a new form of fusion drive that is none fossil fuel based? The U.S. will reveal their X-57 electric space plane, but it is one of many designs that are being planned or in development around the world!

The electric lithium powered cars, buses and trucks are already here and boats, trains and ships are to follow, but many of them remain bio-fuelled and are not truly what they claim to be?

Ecology and the environment is pushing for cleaner engines that do not cause or will cut pollution levels in our large cities.

Much of what is planned is well behind by in some cases up to forty years and it is not clear as yet if the new technology will just be like diesel replacing steam, with no knowledge that it might be worse in some health aspects?

Fast-Attack Boats.

Gun Boats.

The age of the Gunboat was perhaps in World War-II. (1939-45), when both Nazi-Germany with their E-Boats and the British equivalent deployed similar vessels to work the English/French Channel. The U.S and Japan also deployed basically similar types boasts in the far east and Pacific.

These boats were well armed and could have the advantage of operating in shallow waters, but could also move fast from A to B/A to Z. There role was to patrol and observe, but they became a handy and cheap tool to do other work, such as planting and recovering of individual spies. 

Initially they were not as well armed as they are today, and they ran the risk of being spotted and attacked by aircraft. 

Today these craft are more larger and have a host of guns, missiles and torpedo tubes fitted. They are popular with smaller navies, such as in the Persian Gulf states. It was he former Soviet Union (Russia) who during the 'Cold War years became one of the largest producers of these types of boats, but it was the British company Vosper-Thorny craft that is perhaps one of the best builders of the Fast Attack Craft type world wide.

Main Battle Tanks. Part-II.

Tried and tested.

You really need some sort of serious conflict, such as an outright war to test a tank's performance and vulnerability? Security conflicts, such as Afghanistan, the Balkans, Mali do not really test heavy equipment like the MBT.

There are many great claims about the German Leopard-II and the British Challenger and I am sure against a T-55/64, may be even a T-72 they would do very well. but the reality is that we do not really know. 

It is only the U.S. Abraham's that over the last twenty years, has taken the full brunt of war in Iraq.

Drones.

Pilot less Aircraft.

The drone was chiefly developed by Israel for reconnaissance missions in hostile territory, such as South-Lebanon. IAI developed a series of drones, the Ranger and Scout which could be launched from a mobile unit using a small air strip. 

Israel also worked on the now abandoned helicopter drone Helistar. but it is the U.S. who have gone one step further and have invented a plethora of types. The Predator is probably the most well known of them, some of this is shared with the cruise missile computerization.

Drones are far cheaper and safer than risking the lives of aircrew in a hostile environment. Civilian casualties will always remain a factor in war of any kind.

Flying Boats. Part-Two.

The days of the flying boats are not over yet?

This is perhaps one of the greatest feats in the aviation world to take-off and land from water. Many early aircraft in the 1920/30's were adapted to have floats, but it was the Shorts Sunderland that became the flagship carrier of the British BOAC. 

World-war-II (1939-45) saw a increased demand on all sides for dedicated flying boats, such as the U.S. Catalina, and British Walrus, while several Italian and German types were also deployed. The flying boats were of great use at Sea to attack submarines and proved to be an invaluable tool. 

After the war several nations went on to develop their own types of boats. The U.S. the UH-1 Albatross, Japan, the Kawasaki PS-1 and Russia their Beriev family BE-12/15, 606.

Today Canada builds the CL-215/415, while the Russians have developed the first jet powered flying boat, the Beriev A-40 and a civil version the BE-200. Many nations continue to use their world war-II boats and 1950's developments are still flying, such as the Mongoose.

UAV...

Unmanned Ariel Vehicle.

The history of this type of aircraft, began in World-War-II (1939-45) when Nazi-Germany under the Dictatorship of Adolf Hitler demanded a series of vengeance weapons to be designed and built in secret if all else failed in his Axis conflict. It was the Von Braun (designer of the U.S. Saturn rocket and the Space shuttle) team who initially came up with the V-1 flying bomb (known in the UK as the doodle bug). 

After the war in 1945 both Russia and the U.S. made a mad race to capture as much German technology, and so work started on the modern family of unmanned aircraft we today see being deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan to take out militant and terrorist strongholds.

Israel over the years has built up its series of unmanned aircraft in it Scout and rangers, which much smaller than the U.S. counterparts but do the same jobs. This technology in combination with satellite guidance, saves troops on the ground, but it also has been adopted into civil aircraft flight systems, the various space programmes, Mar's lander's and the ISS.

Aircraft Carriers. Part-One.

Today there are a number of countries who still use these types of vessels, the U.S.A, UK, France, Brazil, Spain, India, Australia and they seem to be an effective platform for military and humanitarian operations. 

But are they still really viable with the development of more sophisticated kinds of warfare?

It was the British who developed the first carriers, basically ships with a flight deck and a control tower built around the funnel. Today it is the U.S. that leads the world with these powerful islands at sea.

Mobile homes.

Also known as camper vans. 

There are two roads to how these vehicles came about.

1. Travelling communities across the world, Circus's, Showmen, (Fun Fairs/Fairground attractions), moved from their horse drawn waggon's and houses to the steam engines and then on to the motorised versions.

2. The 1920's saw the rise in Caravaning craze in the UK and after World-War-II (1939-45), the Camper van came in to an easy tourer. 

In the 1960's the German Volks Wagen VW camper was associated with the 'Hippie movement and Woodstock'.

It became the iconic vehicle of young people travelling around and it remains so to this day in Europe anyway.

 

Today there are quite a varied selection of vehicles on the market. In the U.S. the Winnebago is probably the largest mobile home. Many people have over the years converted trucks and buses, coaches to live in.

A380 V B747-8.

Today the U.S. Boeing 747-8i and European Airbus A380 are two largest civilian passenger carrying aircraft in the world. 


But which one is better than the other? 


These super large aircraft were developed to carry large numbers of people over the huge distances and to have less refueling stops or as in the case today none. I suppose it is the preference for the operators in choosing which aircraft that suites or can meet their needs of comfort and facilities.


It looks like that both types have further potential if needs do demand and will they both will be developed and improved with time. 


But it is the A350 and B-777 that looks more promising and competitive in the near future.

Glorified Tri-jets?

There are many new types of commercial aircraft now coming out of China and Russia, like the C919, MC-21 and Sukhoi Su-100. But are they what they seem or just clever copies of the DC-9, Boeing 717-100/100?


And the question that could be asked are they as good as western designs from Europe and Embraer in Brazil.


What markets are the Chinese and Russians after, when most countries are drawn to Brazil, Airbus and the extensive U.S. Boeing families of aircraft.

Helicopters...

Since the first flight of the helicopter in 1946/7 by Sikorsky in the U.S. This machine has now become the prolific aviation invention so far. It was during the Vietnam war that the helicopter came into its own right, despite being limited in types available for military warfare and medical evacuation as we have to day. These machines made a serious impact on the psyche of all around them.


The Russian Mil Mi-1/2 must be the most commonly built, very basic and slow compared to today, it did allow many countries around the world to get a foot hold in to military aviation.


Today the U.S. AH-60 blackhawk is the symbol of multi-role type, but there are larger machines such as the CH-47, twin rotor, CH-53 Super stallion heavy lift. Meanwhile the Russians have their multirole Mil Mi-24/35, combining both troop transport and gunship. Russia also has the largest helicopter ever built the Mil Mi-26, with eight rotor blades and the capacity to carry at least 100 troops. 


Both Russia and the U.S. learned from Afghanistan and Vietnam the need for helicopters.


Later in the year I hope to return to the subject in more detail.