1.
4th Special Operations Squadron
–
The 4th Special Operations Squadron is part of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It operates AC-130U Spooky aircraft providing special operations capabilities, the AC-130U aircraft flown by the 4th SOS are maintained by the 4th Aircraft Maintenance Unit. The 4th ferried aircraft to locations in Alaska, Africa, and Europe from and it also airlifted cargo and evacuated wounded to US military hospitals. The 4th Air Commando Squadron flew night missions in South Vietnam manning the AC-47 gunship beginning in November 1965. By years end, the 4th had flown 277 combat sorties, used 2,458 illumination flares, in February 1966, four of the squadrons gunships were moved to Thailand to operate against the Ho Chi Minh Trail. There they would serve several roles and they were equipped to assume Airborne Command and Control Center duties in lieu of C-130s. They both struck and directed forward air control in the Operation Barrel Roll area of the Kingdom of Laos and they also hunted supply trucks along the Trail. Between December 1965 and July 1966, they were credited with destroying 243 trucks, however, they lost four AC-47s and 26 air crew members in the process, as enemy anti-aircraft fire became steadily more effective. The 4th was then assigned solely to defense of hamlets and troops under attack and it provided an auxiliary command post and a communications link for the Fifteenth Air Force and Strategic Air Command from,1 April 1970 –30 September 1992. In September 1996, the deployed to Brindisi, Italy, supporting Operation Joint Endeavor in the skies over Bosnia. The squadron saw its first combat operations since the Vietnam War in April 1999 over Kosovo while supporting Operation Allied Force, the 4th was called upon to strike Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan In the fall of 2001. In the spring of 2003 the 4th participated in the invasion of Iraq, during the initial 2 months of the conflict the 4th flew more than 1000 combat hours from 3 separate forward operating locations
4th Special Operations Squadron
–
4th Special Operations Squadron Patch
4th Special Operations Squadron
4th Special Operations Squadron
4th Special Operations Squadron
2.
Attack aircraft
–
This class of aircraft is designed mostly for close air support and naval air-to-surface missions, overlapping the tactical bomber mission. Designs dedicated to non-naval roles are often known as ground-attack aircraft, Strike fighters, which have effectively replaced the fighter-bomber and light bomber concepts, also differ little from the broad concept of an attack aircraft. The dedicated attack aircraft as a separate class existed primarily during, the precise implementation varied from country to country, and was handled by a wide variety of designs. In the US and UK, attack aircraft were based on light bombers, sometimes carrying heavier forward-firing weapons like the B-25G. In Germany and USSR, where they were known as schlachtflugzeug or sturmovik, in the late-war era, the fighter-bomber began to take over many attack roles, a change that continued in the post-war era. Jet powered examples were relatively rare, but not unknown, like the Blackburn Buccaneer, the US Navy continued to introduce new aircraft in their A-series, but these were purely light and medium bombers. Since the 1960s, only two dedicated attack aircraft designs have been introduced, the US A-10 Thunderbolt II and Soviet Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot. One oddity belonging to class is the AC-130, which features as its primary armament high-caliber artillery guns adapted for aircraft use. A variety of attack aircraft exist, usually based on adapted trainers or other light fixed-wing aircraft. Presently, U. S. attack aircraft are identified by the prefix A-, as in A-6 Intruder, however, until the end of World War II the A- designation was shared between attack planes and light bombers for the Army aircraft. The US Navy used a separate system and at the time preferred to call similar aircraft scout bombers or torpedo bombers. For example, Douglas SBD Dauntless scout bomber was designated A-24 when used by the USAAF. It was not until 1946, when the US Navy and US Marine Corps started using the attack designation, as with many aircraft classifications, the definition of attack aircraft is somewhat vague and has tended to change over time. Current U. S. military doctrine defines it as an aircraft which most likely performs an attack mission, Attack mission means, in turn, specifically tactical air-to-ground action—in other words, neither air-to-air action nor strategic bombing is considered an attack mission. In United States Navy vocabulary, the designation for the same activity is a strike mission. Attack missions are divided into two categories, air interdiction and close air support. In the last several decades, the rise of the ubiquitous multi-role fighter has created confusion about the difference between attack and fighter aircraft. According to the current U. S. designation system, an aircraft is designed primarily for air-to-surface
Attack aircraft
–
An
A-10 Thunderbolt II flies past the effects of an
AGM-65 Maverick it fired during a
close air support training exercise
Attack aircraft
–
A-6 Intruder in the front,
A-7 Corsair in the background, 1970
Attack aircraft
–
RAF Harrier GR9 in flight, 2008
Attack aircraft
–
Junkers J.I featuring its armored "bathtub".
3.
Close air support
–
The requirement for detailed integration because of proximity, fires or movement is the determining factor. CAS may need to be conducted during shaping operations with Special Operations Forces, if the mission requires detailed integration with the fire, the term battlefield air interdiction is not currently used in U. S. joint doctrine. Close air support requires excellent coordination with ground forces, in advanced modern militaries, this coordination is typically handled by specialists such as Joint Fires Observers s, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers s, and Forward Air Controllers s. The use of aircraft in the air support of ground forces dates back to World War I. By that point, the startling and demoralizing effect that attack from the air could have on the troops in the trenches had been made clear, at the Battle of the Somme,18 British armed reconnaissance planes strafed the enemy trenches after conducting surveillance operations. The success of this improvised assault spurred innovation on both sides, in 1917, following the Second Battle of the Aisne the British debuted the first ground-attack aircraft, a modified F. E 2b fighter carrying 20-lb bombs and mounted machine-guns. After exhausting their ammunition the planes returned to base for refuelling and rearming, other modified planes used in this role were the Airco DH.5 and Sopwith Camel—the latter was particularly successful in this role. Aircraft support was first integrated into a plan on a large scale at the 1917 Battle of Cambrai. British doctrine at the time came to two forms of air support, trench strafing, and ground strafing —attacking tactical ground targets away from the land battle. As well as strafing with machine-guns, the planes were modified with bomb racks, the Germans were also quick to adopt this new form of warfare and were able to deploy aircraft in a similar capacity at Cambrai. While the British used single-seater planes, the Germans preferred the use of heavier two-seaters with a machine gunner in the aft cockpit. The Germans adopted the powerful Hannover CL. II and built the first purpose built ground attack aircraft, during the 1918 Spring Offensive the Germans employed 30 squadrons, or Schlasta, of ground attack fighters and were able to achieve some initial tactical success. The British later deployed the Sopwith Salamander as a ground attack aircraft. It was during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of 1918 that Close Air Support was first proven to be an important factor in ultimate victory, combined with a ground assault led by General Edmund Allenby, three Turkish armies soon collapsed into a full rout. In the words of the squadrons official report, No 1 Squadron made six heavy raids during the day. The panic and slaughter beggared description, the close air support doctrine was further developed in the interwar period. Most theorists advocated the adaptation of fighters or light bombers into the role, during this period, airpower advocates crystallized their views on the role of air-power in warfare. Aviators and ground officers developed largely opposing views on the importance of CAS, the inter-war period saw the use of CAS in a number of conflicts, including the Russo-Polish War, the Spanish Civil War, colonial wars in the Middle East and the Gran Chaco War
Close air support
–
A
Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter provides close air support to
United States Army soldiers patrolling the
Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, Iraq during the
Iraq War
Close air support
–
The
F.E 2d was one of the first aircraft to be used for close air support in 1917 (the observer is demonstrating the use of the rear-firing
Lewis gun).
Close air support
–
The
Junkers J.I, a First World War German
ground-attack aircraft
Close air support
–
The British used air power extensively during the interwar period to police areas in the
Middle East.
4.
Gunship
–
A gunship is a military aircraft armed with heavy guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets. The term gunship originated in the century as a synonym for gunboat. During World War II, the urgent need for hard-hitting attack aircraft led to the development of the heavily armed versions of the North American B-25 Mitchell. The 405 examples produced of the B-25G variant were armed with a 75 mm M4 cannon, the most-built B-25J variant omitted such heavy-calibre weaponry, but could in some cases, carry an impressive total of eighteen Ma Deuce AN/M2 Browning. Later the B-25J was additionally armed with eight 5 in. high velocity aircraft rockets, none of the German twin-engined gunship types were produced or converted in large numbers. In the more modern, post-World War II fixed-wing aircraft category and these gunships were configured to circle the target instead of performing strafing runs. Such aircraft have their armament on one side harmonized to fire at the apex of a cone formed by the aircraft. At the time the aircraft was known as dragonship or Puff and it was the later and larger Lockheed AC-130 Gunship II that became the modern, post–World War II origin of the term gunship in military aviation. These heavily armed aircraft used a variety of systems, including 7. The Douglas AC-47 Spooky, the Fairchild AC-119, and the AC-130 Spectre/Spooky, were vulnerable, smaller gunship designs such as the Fairchild AU-23 Peacemaker and the Helio AU-24 Stallion were also designed by the United States during the Vietnam War. Renewed interest in the concept of gunships has resulted in the development of a variant of the Alenia C-27J Spartan. Although the United States Air Force decided not to procure the AC-27J, additionally, in 2013 the US Air Force Special Operations Command reportedly tested a gunship version of the C-145A Skytruck armed with a GAU-18 twin-mount. 50-calibre machine gun system. Early helicopter gunships also operated in the configuration, an early example being the Aérospatiale Alouette III. Later, the.50 caliber machine guns were replaced by a MG151 20mm cannon in a single mounting, the South African and Rhodesian air forces later used armed Alouette III in similar configurations as the Portuguese, respectively in the South African Border and Rhodesian Bush wars. During the Vietnam War, the ubiquitous Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters were modified into gunships by mounting the U. S, helicopter Armament Subsystems—these were forward-firing weapons, such as machine guns, rockets, and autocannons, that began to appear in 1962–1963. Rotary-wing aircraft can use a variety of maneuvers to approach a target. In their case, the term gunship is synonymous with heavily armed helicopter, specifically, dedicated attack helicopters such as the Bell AH-1 Cobra also fit this meaning. In any case, the armaments include machine guns, rockets, autocannons, missiles
Gunship
–
A
Lockheed AC-130 gunship fires one of its weapons during twilight operations in 1988
Gunship
–
USS Cairo, one of the first U.S. Navy Gunships
Gunship
–
B-25H Gunship Barbie III showing 75mm M5 gun and 4.50 Browning machine guns
Gunship
–
Closeup of an early model B-25 gun pod
5.
Lockheed Corporation
–
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995, the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company was established in San Francisco in 1912 by the brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead. Following the Model F-1, the company invested heavily in the design, however, the asking price of $2500 could not compete in a market that was saturated with post World War 1 $350 Curtiss JN-4s and De Haviland trainers. The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company closed its doors in 1921, in 1926, Allan Loughead, Jack Northrop, and Kenneth Jay secured funding to form the Lockheed Aircraft Company in Hollywood. This new company utilized some of the technology originally developed for the Model S-1 to design the Vega Model. In March 1928, the relocated to Burbank, California. From 1926-28 the company produced over 80 aircraft and employed more than 300 workers who by April 1929 were building five aircraft per week, in July 1929, majority shareholder Fred Keeler sold 87% of the Lockheed Aircraft Company to Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In August 1929, Allan Lockheed resigned, the Great Depression ruined the aircraft market, and Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt. A group of headed by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross. The syndicate bought the company for a mere $40,000, ironically, Allan Lockheed himself had planned to bid for his own company, but had raised only $50,000, which he felt was too small a sum for a serious bid. In 1934, Robert E. Gross was named chairman of the new company, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and his brother Courtlandt S. Gross was a co-founder and executive, succeeding Robert as Chairman following his death in 1961. The company was named the Lockheed Corporation in 1977, in the 1930s, Lockheed spent $139,400 to develop the Model 10 Electra, a small twin-engined transport. The company sold 40 in the first year of production, amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, flew it in their failed attempt to circumnavigate the world in 1937. Subsequent designs, the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior and the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra expanded their market. The Lockheed Model 14 formed the basis for the Hudson bomber and its primary role was submarine hunting. The Model 14 Super Electra were sold abroad, and more than 100 were license-built in Japan for use by the Imperial Japanese Army, the P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day. It filled ground-attack, air-to-air, and even strategic bombing roles in all theaters of the war in which the United States operated, the Lockheed Vega factory was located next to Burbanks Union Airport which it had purchased in 1940. During the war, the area was camouflaged to fool enemy aerial reconnaissance
Lockheed Corporation
–
P-38J Lightning Yippee
Lockheed Corporation
–
P-38 Lightning assembly line at the Lockheed plant,
Burbank, California in World War II. In June 1943, this
assembly line was reconfigured into a mechanized line, which more than doubled the rate of production. The transition to the new system was accomplished in only eight days. During this time production never stopped. It was continued outdoors.
Lockheed Corporation
–
A
Lockheed L-049 Constellation sporting the livery of
Trans World Airlines at the
Pima Air & Space Museum.
Lockheed Corporation
–
The
Lockheed U-2, which first flew in 1955, provided intelligence on
Soviet bloc countries.
6.
Lockheed Martin
–
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995 and it is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington, DC, area. Lockheed Martin employs 126,000 people worldwide, Marillyn Hewson is the current President and Chief Executive Officer. Lockheed Martin is one of the largest companies in the aerospace, defense, security and it is the worlds largest defense contractor based on revenue for fiscal year 2014. In 2013, 78% of Lockheed Martins revenues came from sales, it topped the list of US federal government contractors. In 2009 US government contracts accounted for $38.4 billion, foreign government contracts $5.8 billion, Lockheed Martin operates in five business segments, Aeronautics, Information Systems & Global Solutions, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space Systems. The company also invests in healthcare systems, renewable energy systems, intelligent energy distribution, merger talks between Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta began in March 1994, with the companies announcing their $10 billion planned merger on August 30,1994. The deal was finalized on March 15,1995, when the two companies approved the merger. The segments of the two companies not retained by the new company formed the basis for the present L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin also later spun off the materials company Martin Marietta Materials. Both companies contributed important products to the new portfolio, Lockheed products included the Trident missile, P-3 Orion, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, C-130 Hercules, A-4AR Fightinghawk and the DSCS-3 satellite. Martin Marietta products included Titan rockets, Sandia National Laboratories, Space Shuttle External Tank, Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers, the Transfer Orbit Stage and various satellite models. On April 22,1996, Lockheed Martin completed the acquisition of Loral Corporations defense electronics and system integration businesses for $9.1 billion, the remainder of Loral became Loral Space & Communications. Lockheed Martin abandoned plans for a $8, the development of the spacecraft cost $193.1 million. In May 2001, Lockheed Martin sold Lockheed Martin Control Systems to BAE Systems, on November 27,2000, Lockheed completed the sale of its Aerospace Electronic Systems business to BAE Systems for $1.67 billion, a deal announced in July 2000. This group encompassed Sanders Associates, Fairchild Systems, and Lockheed Martin Space Electronics & Communications. In 2001, Lockheed Martin won the contract to build the F-35 Lightning II, in 2001, Lockheed Martin settled a nine–year investigation conducted by NASAs Office of Inspector General with the assistance of the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The company paid the United States government $7.1 million based on allegations that its predecessor, Lockheed Engineering Science Corporation, submitted false lease costs claims to NASA. On August 31,2006, Lockheed Martin won a $3.9 billion contract from NASA to design and build the CEV capsule, in 2009, NASA reduced the capsule crew requirements from the initial six seats to four for transport to the International Space Station
Lockheed Martin
–
Lockheed Martin's Center For Leadership Excellence (CLE) Building in Bethesda, Maryland
Lockheed Martin
–
C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J
Lockheed Martin
–
Naval variant of the
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
Lockheed Martin
–
Submarine launch of a Lockheed Trident missile
7.
Boeing
–
The Boeing Company is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, and satellites worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support services, Boeing stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Boeing Companys corporate headquarters are located in Chicago and the company is led by President, Boeing is organized into five primary divisions, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, Engineering, Operations & Technology, Boeing Capital, and Boeing Shared Services Group. Boeing bought Heaths shipyard in Seattle on the Duwamish River, which became his first airplane factory. Boeing was incorporated in Seattle by William Boeing, on July 15,1916, Boeing was later incorporated in Delaware, the original Certificate of Incorporation was filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware on July 19,1934. Boeing, who studied at Yale University, worked initially in the timber industry and this knowledge proved invaluable in his subsequent design and assembly of airplanes. The company stayed in Seattle to take advantage of the supply of spruce wood. William Boeing founded his company a few months after the June 15 maiden flight of one of the two B&W seaplanes built with the assistance of George Conrad Westervelt, a U. S. Navy engineer. Boeing and Westervelt decided to build the B&W seaplane after having flown in a Curtiss aircraft, Boeing bought a Glenn Martin Flying Birdcage seaplane and was taught to fly by Glenn Martin himself. Boeing soon crashed the Birdcage and when Martin informed Boeing that replacement parts would not become available for months, Westervelt agreed to build a better airplane and soon produced the B&W Seaplane. This first Boeing airplane was assembled in a hangar located on the northeast shore of Seattles Lake Union. Many of Boeings early planes were seaplanes, on April 6,1917, the U. S. declared War on Germany and later in the year entered World War I. On May 9,1917, the became the Boeing Airplane Company. With the U. S. entering the war, Boeing knew that the U. S. Navy needed seaplanes for training, so Boeing shipped two new Model Cs to Pensacola, Florida, where the planes were flown for the Navy. The Navy liked the Model C and ordered 50 more, the company moved its operations to a larger former shipbuilding facility known as Boeing Plant 1, located on the lower Duwamish River, Washington state. Others, including Boeing, started selling other products, Boeing built dressers, counters, and furniture, along with flat-bottom boats called Sea Sleds. In 1919 the Boeing B-1, flying boat made its first flight and it accommodated one pilot and two passengers and some mail. Over the course of eight years, it made international airmail flights from Seattle to Victoria, on May 24,1920, the Boeing Model 8 made its first flight
Boeing
–
Replica of Boeing's first plane, the
Boeing Model 1, at the
Museum of Flight
Boeing
–
William E. Boeing in 1929
Boeing
–
Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
Boeing
–
The
Boeing 707 in
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) livery, 1964
8.
United States Air Force
–
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
United States Air Force
–
First
F-35 Lightning II of the
33rd Fighter Wing arrives at
Eglin AFB
United States Air Force
–
Seal of the Department of the Air Force (
United States Air Force portal)
United States Air Force
–
U.S. Air Force airmen from the 720th STG jumping out of a
C-130J Hercules aircraft during water rescue training in the
Florida panhandle
United States Air Force
–
Combat Controllers participating in
Operation Enduring Freedom provide air traffic control to a
C-130 taking off from a remote airfield.
9.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
C-130 Hercules
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
A
Michigan Air National Guard C-130E dispatches its flares during a low-level training mission
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
Royal Australian Air Force C-130H, 2007
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
Royal Air Force C-130K (C.3)
10.
C-130 Hercules
–
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models
C-130 Hercules
–
C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
–
A
Michigan Air National Guard C-130E dispatches its flares during a low-level training mission
C-130 Hercules
–
Royal Australian Air Force C-130H, 2007
C-130 Hercules
–
Royal Air Force C-130K (C.3)
11.
Fixed-wing aircraft
–
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft, such as an aeroplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the vehicles forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft, in which the form a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft. Glider fixed-wing aircraft, including free-flying gliders of various kinds and tethered kites, powered fixed-wing aircraft that gain forward thrust from an engine include powered paragliders, powered hang gliders and some ground effect vehicles. The wings of an aircraft are not necessarily rigid, kites, hang-gliders, variable-sweep wing aircraft. Most fixed-wing aircraft are flown by a pilot on board the aircraft, kites were used approximately 2,800 years ago in China, where materials ideal for kite building were readily available. Some authors hold that leaf kites were being flown much earlier in what is now Indonesia, by at least 549 AD paper kites were being flown, as it was recorded in that year a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission. Ancient and medieval Chinese sources list other uses of kites for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling, and communication for military operations. Stories of kites were brought to Europe by Marco Polo towards the end of the 13th century, although they were initially regarded as mere curiosities, by the 18th and 19th centuries kites were being used as vehicles for scientific research. This machine may have been suspended for its flight, some of the earliest recorded attempts with gliders were those by the 9th-century poet Abbas Ibn Firnas and the 11th-century monk Eilmer of Malmesbury, both experiments injured their pilots. In 1799, Sir George Cayley set forth the concept of the aeroplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion. Cayley was building and flying models of fixed-wing aircraft as early as 1803, in 1856, Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris made the first powered flight, by having his glider LAlbatros artificiel pulled by a horse on a beach. In 1884, the American John J. Montgomery made controlled flights in a glider as a part of a series of gliders built between 1883-1886, other aviators who made similar flights at that time were Otto Lilienthal, Percy Pilcher, and Octave Chanute. In the 1890s, Lawrence Hargrave conducted research on wing structures and his box kite designs were widely adopted. Although he also developed a type of aircraft engine, he did not create. Sir Hiram Maxim built a craft that weighed 3.5 tons, in 1894, his machine was tested with overhead rails to prevent it from rising. The test showed that it had enough lift to take off, the craft was uncontrollable, which Maxim, it is presumed, realized, because he subsequently abandoned work on it. By 1905, the Wright Flyer III was capable of fully controllable, stable flight for substantial periods, the flight was certified by the FAI. This was the first controlled flight, to be officially recognised, the Bleriot VIII design of 1908 was an early aircraft design that had the modern monoplane tractor configuration
Fixed-wing aircraft
–
A
Boeing 737 aeroplane - an example of a fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
–
A
delta -shaped
kite
Fixed-wing aircraft
–
Boys flying a kite in 1828 Germany, by
Johann Michael Voltz
Fixed-wing aircraft
–
Le Bris and his glider, Albatros II, photographed by
Nadar, 1868
12.
Sensor
–
A sensor is always used with other electronics, whether as simple as a light or as complex as a computer. Moreover, analog sensors such as potentiometers and force-sensing resistors are still widely used, applications include manufacturing and machinery, airplanes and aerospace, cars, medicine, robotics and many other aspects of our day-to-day life. A sensors sensitivity indicates how much the output changes when the input quantity being measured changes. For instance, if the mercury in a thermometer moves 1 cm when the changes by 1 °C. Some sensors can also affect what they measure, for instance, Sensors are usually designed to have a small effect on what is measured, making the sensor smaller often improves this and may introduce other advantages. Technological progress allows more and more sensors to be manufactured on a scale as microsensors using MEMS technology. In most cases, a microsensor reaches a higher speed. Most sensors have a transfer function. The sensitivity is defined as the ratio between the output signal and measured property. For example, if a sensor measures temperature and has a voltage output, the sensitivity is the slope of the transfer function. Converting the sensors electrical output to the measured units requires dividing the output by the slope. In addition, an offset is added or subtracted. For example -40 must be added to the output if 0 V output corresponds to -40 C input, for an analog sensor signal to be processed, or used in digital equipment, it needs to be converted to a digital signal, using an analog-to-digital converter. The full scale range defines the maximum and minimum values of the measured property, the sensitivity may in practice differ from the value specified. This is called a sensitivity error and this is an error in the slope of a linear transfer function. If the output differs from the correct value by a constant. This is an error in the y-intercept of a transfer function. Nonlinearity is deviation of a transfer function from a straight line transfer function
Sensor
–
An infrared sensor
13.
Navigation
–
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. The field of navigation includes four categories, land navigation, marine navigation, aeronautic navigation. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks, all navigational techniques involve locating the navigators position compared to known locations or patterns. Navigation, in a sense, can refer to any skill or study that involves the determination of position and direction. In this sense, navigation includes orienteering and pedestrian navigation, for information about different navigation strategies that people use, visit human navigation. In the European medieval period, navigation was considered part of the set of seven mechanical arts, early Pacific Polynesians used the motion of stars, weather, the position of certain wildlife species, or the size of waves to find the path from one island to another. Maritime navigation using scientific instruments such as the mariners astrolabe first occurred in the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages, the perfecting of this navigation instrument is attributed to Portuguese navigators during early Portuguese discoveries in the Age of Discovery. Open-seas navigation using the astrolabe and the compass started during the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, the Portuguese began systematically exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418, under the sponsorship of Prince Henry. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the Indian Ocean by this route, in 1492 the Spanish monarchs funded Christopher Columbuss expedition to sail west to reach the Indies by crossing the Atlantic, which resulted in the Discovery of America. In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa, soon, the Portuguese sailed further eastward, to the Spice Islands in 1512, landing in China one year later. The fleet of seven ships sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Southern Spain in 1519, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, some ships were lost, but the remaining fleet continued across the Pacific making a number of discoveries including Guam and the Philippines. By then, only two galleons were left from the original seven, the Victoria led by Elcano sailed across the Indian Ocean and north along the coast of Africa, to finally arrive in Spain in 1522, three years after its departure. The Trinidad sailed east from the Philippines, trying to find a path back to the Americas. He arrived in Acapulco on October 8,1565, the term stems from 1530s, from Latin navigationem, from navigatus, pp. of navigare to sail, sail over, go by sea, steer a ship, from navis ship and the root of agere to drive. Roughly, the latitude of a place on Earth is its angular distance north or south of the equator, latitude is usually expressed in degrees ranging from 0° at the Equator to 90° at the North and South poles. The height of Polaris in degrees above the horizon is the latitude of the observer, similar to latitude, the longitude of a place on Earth is the angular distance east or west of the prime meridian or Greenwich meridian. Longitude is usually expressed in degrees ranging from 0° at the Greenwich meridian to 180° east and west, sydney, for example, has a longitude of about 151° east. New York City has a longitude of 74° west, for most of history, mariners struggled to determine longitude
Navigation
–
Table of geography, hydrography, and navigation, from the 1728
Cyclopaedia
Navigation
–
Dead reckoning or DR, in which one advances a prior position using the ship's course and speed. The new position is called a DR position. It is generally accepted that only course and speed determine the DR position. Correcting the DR position for
leeway, current effects, and steering error result in an estimated position or EP. An
inertial navigator develops an extremely accurate EP.
Navigation
–
Pilotage involves navigating in restricted waters with frequent determination of position relative to geographic and hydrographic features.
Navigation
–
Celestial navigation involves reducing celestial measurements to lines of position using tables,
spherical trigonometry, and
almanacs.
14.
Fire-control system
–
A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the task as a human gunner firing a weapon. The best known United States device was the Norden bombsight, simple systems, known as lead computing sights also made their appearance inside aircraft late in the war as gyro gunsights. These devices used a gyroscope to measure turn rates, and moved the gunsights aim-point to take this into account, the only manual input to the sight was the target distance, which was typically handled by dialing in the size of the targets wing span at some known range. Small radar units were added in the period to automate even this input. By the start of the Vietnam War, a new computerized bombing predictor, called the Low Altitude Bombing System, the key advantage is that the weapon can be released accurately even when the plane is maneuvering. Most bombsights until this time required that the plane maintain a constant attitude, the LABS system was originally designed to facilitate a tactic called toss bombing, to allow the aircraft to remain out of range of a weapons blast radius. The principle of calculating the point, however, was eventually integrated into the fire control computers of later bombers and strike aircraft, allowing level, dive. In addition, as the control computer became integrated with ordnance systems. By the start of World War II, aircraft altitude performance had increased so much that anti-aircraft guns had similar predictive problems, the main difference between these systems and the ones on ships was size and speed. The USN Mk 37 system made similar assumptions except that it could predict assuming a constant rate of altitude change. The Kerrison Predictor is an example of a system that was built to solve laying in real time, simply by pointing the director at the target and then aiming the gun at a pointer it directed. It was also designed to be small and light, in order to allow it to be easily moved along with the guns it served. The radar-based M-9/SCR-584 Anti-Aircraft System was used to air defense artillery since 1943. In combination with the VT proximity fuze, this system accomplished the feat of shooting down V-1 cruise missiles with less than 100 shells per plane. This system was instrumental in the defense of London and Antwerp against the V-1, although listed in Land based fire control section anti-aircraft fire control systems can also be found on naval and aircraft systems. In the United States, Coast Artillery fire control systems began to be developed at the end of the 19th Century, early systems made use of multiple observation or base end stations to find and track targets attacking American harbors. Fire control in the Coast Artillery became more and more sophisticated in terms of correcting firing data for such factors as weather conditions, provisions were also made for adjusting firing data for the observed fall of shells
Fire-control system
–
A
German anti-aircraft 88 mm gun with its fire-control computer from World War II. Displayed in the
Canadian War Museum.
Fire-control system
–
Admiralty Fire Control Table in the transmitting station of
HMS Belfast.
Fire-control system
–
Ford Mk 1 Ballistic Computer. The name rangekeeper began to become inadequate to describe the increasingly complicated functions of rangekeeper. The Mk 1 Ballistic Computer was the first rangekeeper that was referred to as a computer. Note the three pistol grips in the foreground. Those fired the ship's guns.
Fire-control system
–
Accurate fire control systems were introduced in the early 20th century. Pictured, a cut-away view of a destroyer. The below decks
analog computer is shown in the centre of the drawing and is labelled "Gunnery Calculating Position".
15.
Vietnam War
–
It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
Vietnam War
–
Clockwise, from top left: U.S. combat operations in
Ia Drang, ARVN Rangers defending
Saigon during the 1968
Tet Offensive, two
Douglas A-4C Skyhawks en route for airstrikes against North Vietnam after the
Gulf of Tonkin incident, ARVN recapture
Quảng Trị during the 1972
Easter Offensive, civilians fleeing the
1972 Battle of Quảng Trị, burial of 300 victims of the 1968
Huế Massacre.
Vietnam War
–
A Japanese naval officer surrenders his sword to a British Lieutenant in Saigon on 13 September 1945.
Vietnam War
–
The
Geneva Conference, 1954
Vietnam War
–
U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles greet President
Ngô Đình Diệm of
South Vietnam in Washington, 8 May 1957.
16.
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
–
The Douglas AC-47 Spooky was the first in a series of gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. It was designed to provide more firepower than light and medium ground-attack aircraft in certain situations when ground forces called for air support. The AC-47 was a United States Air Force C-47, that had modified by mounting three 7. Other armament configurations could also be found on similar C-47-based aircraft around the world and it could orbit the target for hours, providing suppressing fire over an elliptical area approximately 52 yd in diameter, placing a round every 2.4 yd during a three-second burst. The aircraft also carried flares it could drop to illuminate the battleground, the AC-47 had no previous design to gauge how successful it would be because it was the first of its kind. The USAF found itself in a situation when requests for additional gunships began to come in because it simply lacked miniguns to fit additional aircraft after the first two conversions. The next four aircraft were equipped with 10 20mm AN/M2 machine guns, all four of these aircraft were retrofitted to the standard armament configuration when additional miniguns arrived. The AC-47 initially used SUU-11/A gun pods that were installed on locally fabricated mounts for the gunship application, emerson Electric eventually developed the MXU-470/A to replace the gun pods, which were also used on later gunships. In August 1964, years of fixed-wing gunship experimentation reached a new peak with Project Tailchaser under the direction of Capt. This test involved the conversion of a single Convair C-131B to be capable of firing a single GAU-2/A Minigun at an angle out of the left side of the aircraft. Even crude grease pencil crosshairs were quickly discovered to enable a pilot flying in a turn to hit a stationary area target with relative accuracy. The Armament Development and Test Center tested the craft at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida and he received permission to conduct a live-fire test using the C-131 and revived the side-firing gunship program. Captain Terry and a testing team arrived at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, on 2 December 1964, the first test aircraft was ready by 11 December, the second by 15 December, and both were allocated to the 1st Air Commando Squadron for combat testing. The newly dubbed FC-47 often operated under the call sign Puff. Its primary mission involved protecting villages, hamlets, and personnel from mass attacks by VC guerrilla units, puffs first significant success occurred on the night of 23–24 December 1964. An FC-47 arrived over the Special Forces outpost at Tranh Yend in the Mekong Delta just 37 minutes after an air support request, fired 4,500 rounds of ammunition, the FC-47 was then called to support a second outpost at Trung Hung, about 20 miles away. The aircraft again blunted the VC attack and forced a retreat, between 15 and 26 December, all the FC-47s 16 combat sorties were successful. On 8 February 1965, an FC-47 flying over the Bong Son area of Vietnam’s Central Highlands demonstrated its capabilities in the process of blunting a Viet Cong offensive
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
–
AC-47 Spooky
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
–
AC-47
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
–
AC-47 at
Nha Trang Air Base in South Vietnam
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
–
MXU-470/A minigun modules in an AC-47
17.
Air interdiction
–
It is a core capability of virtually all military air forces, and has been conducted in conflicts since World War I. A distinction is made between tactical and strategic air interdiction, depending on the objectives of the operation. Typical objectives in tactical interdiction are meant to affect events rapidly and locally, while strategic objectives are often broader and more long-term, with less direct attacks on enemy fighting capabilities, instead focusing on infrastructure, logistics and other supportive assets. The term deep air support, relates to air support. Close air support, as the name suggests, is directed towards targets close to ground units, as closely coordinated air-strikes. Deep air support or air interdiction is carried out further from the fighting, based more on strategic planning. Despite being more strategic than close air support, air interdiction should not be confused with strategic bombing, with air interdiction in World War I, the goal was to isolate the battlefield by strafing and bombing enemy supply lines. Favorite targets were railroad lines, bridges, and truck convoys, due to the primitive state of aircraft and weapons technology, as well as the undeveloped nature of air doctrine and tactics, air interdiction missions in World War I were of limited utility. The potential of air interdiction was clearly recognized, however, specifically, the Allies launched major air interdiction efforts in the North African, Italian, and Normandy campaigns. As a consequence of differences, the results of air interdiction also varied. The greatest success was in the terrain of North Africa. The Italian campaign, by contrast, was characterized by terrain, poor weather conditions. The diverse results of two campaigns taught air planners differing lessons. Air interdiction has continued to play a role in conflicts since World War II. Once again, differing local conditions and political restraints have had an effect on how air interdiction was conducted. In Vietnam, for example, the interdiction campaign known as Rolling Thunder was largely unsuccessful. The dense jungle terrain, poor intelligence on enemy movements, the flow of supplies and reinforcements from North Vietnam to their units in South Vietnam was not seriously affected. In contrast, coalition air interdiction efforts in the 1991 Gulf War were extremely successful in isolating front-line Iraqi units from their bases in the rear
Air interdiction
–
A U.S. Navy
A-7E bombs the
Hai Duong bridge in
North Vietnam in 1972.
18.
Convoy
–
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas. Arriving at the scene of an emergency with a well-ordered unit. Naval convoys have been in use for centuries, with examples of merchant ships traveling under naval protection dating to the 12th century, the use of organized naval convoys dates from when ships began to be separated into specialist classes and national navies were established. By the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, effective naval tactics had been developed to ward off pirates. Some convoys contained several hundred merchant ships, the most enduring system of convoys were the Spanish treasure fleets, that sailed from the 1520s until 1790. When merchant ships sailed independently, a privateer could cruise a shipping lane, ships sailing in convoy presented a much smaller target, a convoy was as hard to find as a single ship. As a result of the convoy systems effectiveness, wartime insurance premiums were consistently lower for ships that sailed in convoys, losses of ships travelling out of convoy however were so high that no merchant ship was allowed to sail unescorted. In the early 20th century, the changed the balance of power in convoy battles. Steaming faster than merchant ships and firing at long ranges, a battleship could destroy many ships in a convoy before the others could scatter over the horizon. To protect a convoy against a ship required providing it with an escort of another capital ship. Battleships were the reason that the British Admiralty did not adopt convoy tactics at the start of the first Battle of the Atlantic in World War I. But the German capital ships had been bottled up in the North Sea, the Admiralty took a long time to respond to this change in the tactical position, and in April 1917 convoy was trialled, before being officially introduced in the Atlantic in September 1917. Other arguments against convoy were raised, further, large convoys were thought to overload port resources. Actual analysis of shipping losses in World War I disproved all these arguments, at least so far as they applied to transatlantic, ships sailing in convoys were far less likely to be sunk, even when not provided with any escort at all. The loss of productivity due to delays was small compared with the loss of productivity due to ships being sunk. Ports could deal more easily with convoys because they tended to arrive on schedule, Convoy duty also exposes the escorting warships to the sometimes hazardous conditions of the North Atlantic, with only rare occurrences of visible achievement. The British adopted a system, initially voluntary and later compulsory for almost all merchant ships
Convoy
–
A convoy of merchant ships protected by airplanes en route to
Cape Town during
World War II
Convoy
–
Convoy Routes in the Atlantic Ocean during 1941
Convoy
–
US Navy warships escort the tanker Gas King in 1987
Convoy
–
A military convoy of
Humvees leaving
Washington, DC the day after the
Inauguration of Barack Obama
19.
Air base
–
A military air base is an aerodrome used by a military force for the operation of military aircraft. An air base typically has some similar to a civilian airport—for example air traffic control. Some military aerodromes have passenger facilities, for example RAF Brize Norton in England has a used by passengers for the Royal Air Forces flights by TriStar to the Falkland Islands. Some air bases have revetments, hardened aircraft shelters, or even underground hangars, combat aircraft require storage of aircraft ordnance. An air base may be defended by anti-aircraft weapons and force protection troops, road air bases are highways constructed to double as auxiliary air bases in the event of war. Nations known to utilize this strategy are India, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, Turkey, Poland and Pakistan. In the case of Finnish road air bases, the space needed for landing aircraft is reduced by means of an arrestor wire, similar to that used on some aircraft carriers. An aircraft carrier is a type of ship which serves as a seaborne air base. They are now a key part of the military, allowing for military aircraft to be staged much nearer the theatre of conflict, aircraft carriers were vital to the United States during World War II and to the United Kingdom in the 1982 Falklands War. They retain modern roles as well as several acres of territory an nation can move about at will. Aircraft carriers are used in disaster relief. Royal Air Force station List of Royal Canadian Air Force stations List of United States Air Force installations List of Soviet Air Force bases Naming of military air bases
Air base
–
Part of
Spangdahlem Air Base in 1990
Air base
–
Osan Air Base, an airbase shared by
United States Air Force and
Republic of Korea Air Force in
South Korea.
20.
Hurlburt Field
–
Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the Town of Mary Esther. It was named for First Lieutenant Donald Wilson Hurlburt, who died in a crash at Eglin, the installation is nearly 6,700 acres, and employs nearly 8,000 military personnel. This facility is assigned a location identifier of HRT by the Federal Aviation Administration. Hurlburt began as a training field for the much larger Eglin Field. It was initially designated Eglin Auxiliary Field No, however, once separated, the facility retained its history and kept all building numbers the same, i. e. all start with a 9. The facility had previously named the Eglin-Hurlburt Airdrome until 1943, Hurlburt Field, March 1944. 9, October 1944, with the current name official on January 13,1948, the base commander of Eglin Main was also responsible for Hurlburt, 1942–1946, but when the base reactivated on February 1,1955, it gained a separate commander. He died on either October 1,1943, or October 2,1943 when his Lockheed AT-18 Hudson gunnery trainer, 42-55591, crashed during take-off at Eglin. Auxiliary Field No.10 was later named Eglin Dillon Airdrome, now known primarily as Outlying Field Choctaw, hurlburts nephew was Captain Craig D. Button, USAF, noted for his mysterious flight and crash of an A-10 Thunderbolt on April 2,1997. Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle and his Raiders could not have practiced take offs with their B-25 Mitchell bombers at Auxiliary Field No,9, as it, and the requisite hard-surfaced runway, did not exist in March 1942. A former Hurlburt Field base commander in the 1950s may have started this story, nonetheless, the short cross-field former runway, near the southern end of Hurlburt Fields main runway, is now named the Doolittle Taxiway. Other Eglin fields, including Wagner Field/Eglin Auxiliary Field No,1, and Duke Field/Eglin Auxiliary Field No. 3, were used during this training, Navy personnel from NAS Pensacola, as flight deck shirt crew, represented that services contribution to the Tokyo mission. The atomic missions put paid to this operation and this launch site is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The 4751st Air Defense Wing was organized at Hurlburt on October 1,1957 and it was redesignated the 4751st Air Defense Missile Wing on January 15,1958 and discontinued on July 1,1962 when Tactical Air Command took over the field. Its subordinate 4751st Air Defense Missile Squadron continued operations as a tenant until November 30,1979 and it operated IM-99/CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missiles from this site. The 6555th Guided Missile Wing operated CGM-13/TGM-13 Mace cruise missiles from the island, the final Mace launches from Hurlburt Site A-15 took place in June 1974. Hurlburt Field fell into disrepair following World War II, but was reactivated in 1955, the 17th Bombardment Wing was reactivated on April 1,1955 and assigned to the Ninth Air Force, with the 34th, 37th
Hurlburt Field
–
Main Gate (about 1967)
Hurlburt Field
–
A CV-22 Osprey aircraft from the 8th Special Operations Squadron flies over the Emerald Coast outside Hurlburt Field, Fla., on 31 Jan 2009. While over the water, the crew practiced using a hoist, which is used to rescue stranded personnel.
Hurlburt Field
–
First Lieutenant Donald Wilson Hurlburt
21.
Cannon AFB
–
Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately 7 miles southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command, the population of the Cannon AFB CDP was 2,245 as of the 2010 census. The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operations Wing, which activated on 1 October 2007, Cannon AFB was established in 1942 as Army Air Base, Clovis. The commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing is Colonel Tony D. Bauernfeind, the Command Chief Master Sergeant is Paul J Henderson II. The AC-130W is assigned to the 73rd Special Operations Squadron, with all twelve becoming operational in 2010, Cannon Air Force Base is named in honor of General John K. Cannon. In 1950 he returned to Europe as Commander in Chief of USAFE, General Cannon retired in 1954 as Commanding General, Tactical Air Command. The history of the began in the late 1920s, when a civilian passenger facility. Portair Field was used as a terminal for early commercial transcontinental flights, flew passengers in the Ford Trimotor “Tin Goose” by day, in the 1930s Portair was renamed Clovis Municipal Airport. After the United States entered World War II, the first military unit to use the facility was a glider detachment, on 6 July 1942 the base was assigned to Second Air Force. In 1943, the military began to use the facility as a bomber base, Clovis AAF was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force. On 8 April 1943, the base was renamed Clovis Army Air Field, the 16th Bomb Wing arrived in January 1943. Known USAAF groups assigned to Clovis AAF were, 302d Bombardment Group Served as a training unit. 450th Bombardment Group Trained with B-24s, transferred to Fifteenth Air Force in Italy. 498th Bombardment Group Trained with B-29 Superfortresses, transferred to Twentieth Air Force in Saipan. 497th Bombardment Group Trained with B-29 Superfortresses, transferred to Twentieth Air Force in Saipan. 472d Bombardment Group Trained with B-29 Superfortresses, 500th Bombardment Group Trained with B-29 Superfortresses. Transferred to Twentieth Air Force in Saipan, 93d Bombardment Group Arrived at Clovis AAF for inactivation. 467th Bombardment Group Trained with B-29s Superfortresses, on 16 April 1945, Clovis AAF was transferred from jurisdiction of Second Air Force to Continental Air Command
Cannon AFB
–
16th Special Operations Squadron AC-130H Spectre Gunship
Cannon AFB
–
3 March 1997 USGS Orthophoto
Cannon AFB
–
Clovis Army Airfield – 1943.
Cannon AFB
–
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
22.
New Mexico
–
New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
New Mexico
–
Wheeler Peak in the
Sangre de Cristo Range
New Mexico
–
Flag
New Mexico
–
Chaco Canyon
New Mexico
–
Carlsbad Caverns
23.
Air Force Special Operations Command
–
Air Force Special Operations Command, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command, AFSOC is also the U. S. Air Force component command to United States Special Operations Command, AFSOC provides all Air Force Special Operations Forces for worldwide deployment and assignment to regional unified combatant commands. Just as it had relinquished control of the C-130 theater airlift fleet to Military Airlift Command in 1975, on 1 August 1987,23 AF headquarters moved to Hurlburt Field, Florida. The commander of AFSOC is Lieutenant General Bradley A. Heithold, major General Eugene Haase is Vice Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Matthew Caruso is the Command Chief Master Sergeant, Air Force Special Operations Command. The commands SOF units are composed of trained, rapidly deployable airmen who are equipped with specialized aircraft. Another aspect of AFSOC is Special Tactics, the U. S. Air Forces special operations ground force, similar in ability and employment to Marine Special Operations Command, U. S. Army Special Forces and U. S. The commands Special Tactics Squadrons are led by Special Tactics Officers, Special Tactics Squadrons combine Combat Controllers, Tactical Air Control Party, Special Operations Weather Technicians, Pararescuemen and Combat Rescue Officers to form versatile SOF teams. Due to the rigors of the field, Special Tactics year-long training is one of the most demanding in the military. In an attempt to reduce the high attrition, Special Tactics is very selective when choosing their officers, Special Tactics Officers undergo a highly competitive process to gain entry into the Special Tactics career field, ensuring only the most promising and capable leaders are selected. STO leadership and role modeling during the difficult training reduces the rate for enlisted trainees. STO selection is a two-phase process, based on Phase One performance, about eight to 10 applicants are invited to the next phase. Phase Two is a battery of evaluations, ranging from physical fitness and leadership to emotional intelligence. At the end of Phase Two, typically two to four applicants are selected to begin the year-plus Special Tactics training pipeline, consequently, in March 1983, MAC activated Twenty-Third Air Force at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. In October 1983,23 AF helped rescue Americans from the nation of Grenada. During the seven-day operation, centered at Point Salines Airport,23 AF furnished MC-130s, AC-130s, aircrews, maintenance, an EC-130 from the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Air National Guard also played a psy-war role. In May 1986, the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act led to the formation of the United States Special Operations Command, senators William Cohen and Sam Nunn introduced the Senate bill, and the following month Congressman Dan Daniel introduced a like measure in the House of Representatives. The key provisions of the formed the basis to amend the 1986 Defense Authorizations Bill. This bill, signed into law in October 1986, in part directed the formation of a command responsible for special operations
Air Force Special Operations Command
–
Several aircraft of the 1st Special Operations Wing belonging to the 6th Special Operations Squadron
Air Force Special Operations Command
–
Air Force Special Operations Command Emblem
Air Force Special Operations Command
–
A PJ from the
23rd STS searching for survivors of the
2010 Haiti earthquake in
Port-au-Prince
Air Force Special Operations Command
–
AFSOC's first CV-22—Sunset, Hurlburt Field, Florida
24.
United States Special Operations Command
–
The command is part of the Department of Defense and is the only Unified Combatant Command legislated into being by the U. S. Congress. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, the idea of a unified special operations command had its origins in the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw, the disastrous attempted rescue of hostages at the American embassy in Iran in 1980. Since its activation on 16 April 1987, U. S, Special Operations Command has participated in many operations, from the 1989 invasion of Panama to the ongoing Global War on Terrorism. Since the incident, the Army Chief of Staff, General Edward C, shy Meyer, called for a further restructuring of special operations capabilities, eventually helping to create the U. S. By 1983, there was a small but growing sense in the Congress for the need for military reforms, in June, the Senate Armed Services Committee began a two-year-long study of the Defense Department, which included an examination of SOF spearheaded by Senator Barry Goldwater. The Joint Special Operations Agency thus did little to improve SOF readiness, capabilities, or policies, within the Defense Department, there were a few staunch SOF supporters. Noel Koch, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, at the same time, a few on Capitol Hill were determined to overhaul United States Special Operations Forces. Senators Nunn and Cohen also felt strongly that the Department of Defense was not preparing adequately for future threats, Senator Cohen agreed that the U. S. needed a clearer organizational focus and chain of command for special operations to deal with low-intensity conflicts. In October 1985, the Senate Armed Services Committee published the results of its review of the U. S. military structure, entitled Defense Organization. Mr. James R. Locher III, the author of this study, also examined past special operations. This influential document led to the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, by spring 1986, SOF advocates had introduced reform bills in both houses of Congress. Congress held hearings on the two bills in the summer of 1986, Admiral William J. Crowe Jr. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led the Pentagons opposition to the bills. He proposed, as an alternative, a new Special Operations Forces command led by a three-star general and this proposal was not well received on Capitol Hill—Congress wanted a four-star general in charge to give SOF more clout. A number of retired officers and others testified in favor of the need for reform. By most accounts, retired Army Major General Richard Scholtes gave the most compelling reasons for change, after his formal testimony, Scholtes met privately with a small number of Senators to elaborate on the problems that he had encountered in Grenada. Both the House and Senate passed SOF reform bills, and these went to a committee for reconciliation. Senate and House conferees forged a compromise, the final bill, attached as a rider to the 1987 Defense Authorization Act, amended the Goldwater-Nichols Act and was signed into law in October 1986. Congress clearly intended to force DOD and the Administration to face up to the realities of past failures, DOD and the Administration were responsible for implementing the law, and Congress subsequently had to pass two additional bills to ensure proper implementation
United States Special Operations Command
–
Senator Barry Goldwater, Former Chairman of the
Senate Armed Services Committee
United States Special Operations Command
–
United States Special Operations Command Emblem
United States Special Operations Command
–
General James Lindsay the first Commander in Chief, Special Operations Command
United States Special Operations Command
–
MH-60 landing on Hercules
25.
Cabin pressurization
–
For aircraft, this air is usually bled off from the gas turbine engines at the compressor stage, and for spacecraft, it is carried in high-pressure, often cryogenic tanks. The air is cooled, humidified, and mixed with recirculated air if necessary, the cabin pressure is regulated by the outflow valve. It also serves to increase passenger comfort and is a regulatory requirement above 15,000 feet in the U. S. A. The principal physiological problems are listed below, Pressurization of the cargo hold is also required to prevent damage to pressure-sensitive goods that might leak, expand, burst or be crushed on re-pressurization. In some individuals, particularly those with heart or lung disease, symptoms may begin as low as 5,000 feet, at this altitude, there is about 25% less oxygen than there is at sea level. Hypoxia may be addressed by the administration of oxygen, either through an oxygen mask or through a nasal cannula. Without pressurization, sufficient oxygen can be delivered up to an altitude of about 40,000 feet. At 40,000 feet, the ambient air pressure falls to about 0.2 bar, emergency oxygen supply masks in the passenger compartment of airliners do not need to be pressure-demand masks because most flights stay below 40,000 feet. Above that altitude the pressure of oxygen will fall below 0.2 bar even at 100% oxygen. Passengers may experience fatigue, nausea, headaches, sleeplessness, and these are the same symptoms that mountain climbers experience, but the limited duration of powered flight makes the development of pulmonary oedema unlikely. The mechanism is the same as that of compressed-air divers on ascent from depth, symptoms may include the early symptoms of the bends—tiredness, forgetfulness, headache, stroke, thrombosis, and subcutaneous itching—but rarely the full symptoms thereof. Decompression sickness may also be controlled by a suit as for altitude sickness. Barotrauma As the aircraft climbs or descends, passengers may experience discomfort or acute pain as gases trapped within their bodies expand or contract, the most common problems occur with air trapped in the middle ear or paranasal sinuses by a blocked Eustachian tube or sinuses. Pain may also be experienced in the tract or even the teeth. The pressure inside the cabin is technically referred to as the equivalent effective cabin altitude or more commonly as the cabin altitude and this is defined as the equivalent altitude above mean sea level having the same atmospheric pressure according to a standard atmospheric model such as the International Standard Atmosphere. Thus a cabin altitude of zero would have the pressure found at sea level. Federal Aviation Administration regulations in the U. S. mandate that under normal operating conditions, the rate of change of cabin altitude strongly affects comfort as humans are sensitive to pressure changes in the inner ear and sinuses and this has to be managed carefully. The cabin altitude of the Boeing 767 is typically about 6,900 feet when cruising at 39,000 feet and this is typical for older jet airliners
Cabin pressurization
–
The pressurization controls on a
Boeing 737-800
Cabin pressurization
–
An empty bottle, closed during a commercial flight with a cabin altitude of around 8,000 ft, is crushed by the pressure at ground level after descent.
Cabin pressurization
–
Outflow and pressure relief valve on a
Boeing 737-800
Cabin pressurization
–
Passenger oxygen mask deployment
26.
Port and starboard
–
Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms for left and right, respectively. Port is the side of a vessel or aircraft, facing forward. Starboard is the side, facing forward. Since port and starboard never change, they are references that are not relative to the observer. These terms are also being used as aeronautic terms, the term starboard derives from the Old English steorbord, meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their centrelines, they were steered with an oar at the stern of the ship and, because more people are right-handed. The term is cognate with the Old Norse stýri and borð, since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at wharf on the other side. Hence the left side was called port, formerly, larboard was used instead of port. This is from Middle-English ladebord and the lade is related to the modern load. Larboard sounds similar to starboard and in 1844 the Royal Navy ordered that port be used instead, the United States Navy followed suit in 1846. Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s by whalers, in Old English the word was bæcbord, of which cognates are used in other European languages, for example as the present Dutch bakboord, the German backbord and the French term bâbord. Aircraft are lit in the same way
Port and starboard
–
Image from the
Bayeux Tapestry showing a
longship with a
steering oar on the starboard side.
Port and starboard
–
An exhibit at the
Saint Helier Maritime Museum (the terms appear in the inverse sense to the camera).
27.
Strafing
–
Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons ranging from machine guns to autocannons or rotary cannons. This means that, although ground attack using automatic weapons fire is often accompanied with bombing or rocket fire. The term strafing can cover either fixed guns, or aimable guns, some fixed wing aircraft, like fighter-bombers, are capable of flying either air-combat missions or ground attack missions, while others are dedicated ground-attack types. Less commonly, the term can be used—by extension—to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft using smaller-caliber weapons, the word is an adaptation of German strafen, to punish, specifically from the humorous adaptation of the World War I German catchphrase Gott strafe England. While the earliest use of aircraft was for observation and directing of artillery. Trenches and supply columns were attacked from the air in the second half of the war. Strafing with machine guns was used when precision was needed, but non-strafing attack methods were preferred for targets, area targets. The German army was the first to introduce a class of aircraft designed for strafing. Planes built specifically for strafing include the German World War I Junkers J. I, the Junkers J. I. had two downward-facing machine guns that were used for strafing. The Luftwaffes best strafing plane was the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka, the Ju-87 G variant had two Rheinmetall-Borsig 37mm Flak 18 guns each mounted under the wing. For the RAF the best ground attack plane was the Hawker Hurricane II and it was armed with four 20 mm wing-mounted cannon. The Hawker Typhoon was used in the stages of the war. It had four 60 lb RP-3 rockets, for the US, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the key ground attack planes. It was armed with eight.50 calibre machine guns, another aircraft that was important in that role was the North American B-25 Mitchell. It was used for strafing runs in the Pacific War. The Russian Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik was one of the key Russian ground attack planes and it had heavy armour around the engine, underside and canopy. It was armed with 20mm to 23mm to 37mm cannons depending on the model, in the Vietnam War, this was found to be a deficiency, and improvised gunships had to be used in strafing missions. The A-10 was built to attack tanks, armored vehicles, the A-10 was designed around the GAU-8 Avenger, a 30 mm rotary cannon that is the airplanes primary armament and the heaviest such automatic cannon mounted on an aircraft
Strafing
–
A German vehicle column destroyed by
ground-attack aircraft close to
Arnhem, 23 September 1944.
Strafing
–
A-10's 30 mm
GAU-8 Avenger cannon is used for strafing tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets.
28.
M61 Vulcan
–
The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate. The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft for fifty years. The M61 was originally produced by General Electric, after several mergers and acquisitions, it is currently produced by General Dynamics. At the end of World War II, the United States Army began to consider new directions for future military aircraft guns, the higher speeds of jet-powered fighter aircraft meant that achieving an effective number of hits would be extremely difficult without a much higher volume of fire. While captured German designs showed the potential of the revolver cannon. The Army wanted something better, combining extremely high rate of fire with exceptional reliability, in 1947, the Air Force became a separate branch of the military. The new Air Force made a request for a new aircraft gun, a lesson of World War II air combat was that German, Italian and Japanese fighters could attack American aircraft from long range with their cannon main armament. American fighters with.50 cal main armament, such as the P-51 and P-47, had to be close to the enemy in order to hit, in response to this requirement, the Armament Division of General Electric resurrected an old idea, the multi-barrel Gatling gun. With multiple barrels, the rate of fire per barrel could be lower than a revolver cannon while providing a greater overall rate of fire. In 1946, the Army issued General Electric a contract for Project Vulcan, the first GE prototypes of the 0. 60-inch caliber T45 were ground-fired in 1949, it achieved 2,500 rpm, which was increased to 4,000 rpm by 1950. By the early 1950s, the USAF decided that high velocity alone might not be sufficient to ensure target destruction and these variants of the T45 were known as the T171 and T150 respectively, and were first tested in 1952. Eventually, the 20×102 mm cartridge was determined to have the balance of projectile and explosive weight. A linkless ammunition feed system was developed for the upgraded M61A1, in 1993, General Electric sold its aerospace division, including GE Armament Systems along with the design and production tooling for the M61 and GEs other rotary cannon, to Martin Marietta. After Martins merger with Lockheed, the cannon became the responsibility of Lockheed Martin Armament Systems. Lockheed Martin Armament Systems was later acquired by General Dynamics, who produce the M61. Each of the six barrels fires once in turn during each revolution of the barrel cluster. The multiple barrels provide both a high rate of fire—around 100 rounds per second—and contribute to prolonged weapon life by minimizing barrel erosion. Mean time between jams or failures is in excess of 10,000 rounds, making it a reliable weapon
M61 Vulcan
–
An unmounted M61 Vulcan.
M61 Vulcan
–
An M61 Vulcan at the
Miramar Airshow.
M61 Vulcan
–
An M61 ammunition belt.
M61 Vulcan
–
M61 on display.
29.
Bofors 40 mm
–
The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late as the Gulf War. In the post-war era the original design was not suitable for action against jet powered aircraft, so Bofors introduced a new model of more power. In spite of sharing almost nothing with the design other than the calibre and the distinctive conical flash hider. Although not as popular as the original L/60 model, the L/70 remains in service to this day, especially as a weapon for light armored vehicles. Bofors itself has been part of BAE Systems AB since March 2005, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928, Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired and this proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. This seemed to be the solution they needed, improving firing rates to a level. During this period Krupp purchased a share of Bofors. Krupp engineers started the process of updating the Bofors factories to use equipment and metallurgy. The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931, and by the middle of the month it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the mechanism were all that remained, and by the end of the year it was operating at 130 rounds per minute. Continued development was needed to turn it into a suitable for production. Since acceptance trials had been passed the year before, this known as the 40 mm akan M/32
Bofors 40 mm
–
Bofors 40 mm/L60. This example includes the British-designed Stiffkey Sight, being operated by the aimer standing to the right of the loader (turned sideways). It operates the trapeze seen above the sights, moving the sights to adjust for lead.
Bofors 40 mm
–
Finnish Bofors 40 mm. This gun mounts the original reflector sights, and lacks the armor found on British examples.
Bofors 40 mm
–
Polish-made Bofors gun after the
Battle of the Bzura. This gun also mounts the reflector sight that equipped the original Bofors versions.
Bofors 40 mm
–
Q.F. 40 mm Mk. 1 displayed at
CFB Borden. This example mounts a Stiffkey Sight, and displays the additional armor protecting the gunners.
30.
M102 howitzer
–
The M102 was a light-towed 105 mm howitzer used by the United States Army in the Vietnam War, the First Gulf War, and the Iraq War. The M102 105 mm howitzer is used in air mobile, attack plane, the weapon carriage is lightweight welded aluminum, mounted on a variable recoil mechanism. When emplaced, the high volume of fire compensates in large measure for the lower explosive weight of the projectile compared to the Armys 155 mm. Since 1964, the Army acquired 1,150 M102 towed howitzers, the weapon is being replaced by the M119-series 105 mm howitzer. Units were initially equipped with the M101A1 howitzer, virtually the same 105 mm howitzer that had used to support U. S. forces since World War II. In 1966 a new 105 mm towed howitzer, the M102, was received in Vietnam, the first M102s were issued to the 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery, in March 1966. Replacement of the old howitzers continued steadily over the four years. Many of the more seasoned artillerymen did not want the old cannon replaced, over the years they had become familiar with its every detail and were confident that it would not disappoint them in the clutch. The M102 fires the same semi-fixed ammunition as the M101, but its longer barrel allows a higher muzzle velocity. A low silhouette made the new weapon a more target for the enemy. The 105 mm howitzer M102 is a towed weapon, which has a very low silhouette when in the firing position. The M102 howitzer fires a 33 lb projectile of semifixed ammunition and it has a muzzle velocity of 494 metres per second. The maximum rate of fire is 10 rounds per minute for the first 3 minutes, a roller tire attached to the trail assembly of the M102 permits the weapon to be rotated 6,400 mils around a firing platform, which provides the pivot for the weapon. It can be elevated from −89 mils to a maximum of 1,333 mils, the panoramic telescope has a four power, fixed focus optical system, with 178 mils field of view. It contains dry nitrogen gas to retard fogging and condensation, the parallax shield used during boresighting protects the lens. The trails are made of aluminum alloy and they are a single box trail in wishbone shape, and serve three purposes, mobility, stability, and stowage of section equipment. The lunette is the towing pintle that allows the weapon to be connected to the vehicle, when towing, vehicle has a fixed or seized tow pintle, remove the lock plate located under the lunette. The drawbar has two positions, lowered for travel and raised for firing, there are two lifting brackets to connect slings to when the howitzer is being lifted by helicopter
M102 howitzer
–
The M102 howitzer firing
M102 howitzer
–
M102 howitzer belonging to Battery A, 1-206th FA, is towed north from Camp New York, Kuwait by a M1114 Up-Armored HMMWV.
M102 howitzer
–
102 Howitzer belonging to Battery A, 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery, 39th Brigade Combat Team, in position at Camp Taji, Iraq 29 May 2004
31.
GAU-12 Equalizer
–
The General Dynamics GAU-12/U Equalizer is a five-barrel 25 mm Gatling-type rotary cannon. The five-barrel Equalizer cannon was developed in the late 1970s, based on the mechanism of the GAU-8/A Avenger cannon, the GAU-12/U cannon is operated by a 15 hp electric motor, or in external mounts supplied by a bleed air driven pneumatic system. Its rate of fire is normally 3,600 rounds per minute, for use in the AC-130 gunship, the fire rate is limited to 1,800 rounds per minute in order to conserve ammunition and reduce barrel wear. The current principal application for the Equalizer is the AV-8 Harrier IIs of the United States Marine Corps, Italian Navy, the complete installation, which includes a double-ended feed system that returns empty cartridges to the magazine, weighs 900 lb empty and 1,230 lb loaded. RAF and Fleet Air Arm Harriers did not adopt the Equalizer for their Harrier GR7, the British had originally planned a pair of ADEN25 guns. That gun was canceled in 1999 after protracted development problems, the Equalizer is also used in the AC-130U Spooky gunship, where one cannon is mounted on the port side, and the U. S. Marine Corps LAV-AD air-defense vehicle. Other applications have been planned for the GAU-12/U, including a mounting for the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter, instead the gun was manually aimed using a digital gun sight and fire control. Sea Vulcan consisted of a 540-round helical drum magazine, a one-piece aluminum turret that can be opened with just a screwdriver, and the main gun. Intended as an alternative to conventional deck-mounted machine guns and cannon. The gun was developed in the mid 1980s as a cost effective protection for ships smaller than frigate or corvette or patrol boats, the GAU-12 was utilized as the principal armament for the Rutan ARES. The GAU-22/A is the latest application of the GAU-12/U, which is a version designed for use on the F-35 Lightning II. The CTOL version of the aircraft carry the gun internally, while the STOVL. The GAU-22/As major difference is the use of four barrels, rather than the five barrels on the GAU-12/U. The GAU-22/A is lighter, has a rate of fire of 3,300 rounds per minute. This system is undergoing testing and qualification. The weapon is produced by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems. The Nammo 25 mm APEX projectile is being developed for the GAU-22/A
GAU-12 Equalizer
–
An AV-8 Harrier II; the two pods on the belly of the aircraft hold the cannon (port side, visible hole) and ammunition (starboard side).
32.
MC-130J Combat Shadow II
–
Members of the family include the MC-130E Combat Talon I, MC-130H Combat Talon II, MC-130W Combat/Dragon Spear, MC-130P Combat Shadow, and MC-130J Commando II. A possible MC-130 variant, designated the XFC-130H, did not proceed beyond the development stage, the Air Force is acquiring the new production MC-130J to replace the Combat Talons and Combat Shadows. The MC-130E was the first Combat Talon and was developed to support special operations missions during the Vietnam War. Eighteen were created by modifying C-130E transports, and four lost through attrition, an updated Combat Talon II was developed in the 1980s from the C-130H variant of the Hercules and went into service in the 1990s. Four of its 24 original aircraft have been lost in operations, the Combat Shadows were built during the Vietnam War for search and rescue operations and repurposed in the 1980s as AFSOC air-refueling tankers, with the last of the 24 retired in 2015. The Combat Spear was developed in 2006 as a version of the Combat Talon II but was reconfigured and designated the AC-130W Stinger II in 2012. The Commando II became operational in 2011 as the current special operations MC-130 to replace all other extant variants,33 of the planned 37 are in the USAF inventory as of May 2016. Two highly classified testbed aircraft, were assigned to Project Thin Slice to develop a low-level clandestine penetration aircraft for Special Forces operations in Southeast Asia. In 1964, Lockheed was ordered to adapt the C-130Es after six C-123B Providers modified for unconventional warfare under Project Duck Hook proved inadequate for the new MACV-SOG. The modifications under Thin Slice and its August 1966 successor Heavy Chain were code-named Rivet Yard, discrete modification tests were conducted by the 1198th Operational Evaluation and Training Squadron, out of Area II of Norton AFB at San Bernardino, California,30 miles east of Ontario. As the Thin Slice aircraft were being developed,14 C-130Es were purchased for SOG in 1965 for similar modification, the first aircraft were production C-130Es without specialized equipment that were produced at Lockheeds facility in Marietta, Georgia. Three production airplanes per month were given the Fulton STARS system, the velvet black-and-green scheme drew the nickname Blackbirds. As installation was completed, the Blackbirds were returned to Ontario for installation of the electronics package, the modified aircraft became known as Clamps. The aircraft collectively were assigned the designation Combat Talon in 1967, the Fulton Surface-To-Air Recovery System was used to extract personnel and materials via air. A large helium balloon raised a nylon lift line into the air, the yoke snagged the line and released the balloon, yanking the attached cargo off the ground with a shock less than that of an opening parachute. A sky anchor secured the line and wires stretched from the nose to both leading wing tip edges protected the propellers from the line on missed snag attempts. Crew members hooked the snagged line as it trailed behind and attached it to the hydraulic winch, a major effort at upgrading the system, Project 46, was pursued from 1986 to 1989, but at its conclusion, use of the STARS system for live extractions remained suspended. The Fulton STARS equipment of all Combat Talons was removed during 1998, Rivet Clamp installation began with four STARS-equipped C-130s completed by March 1966, followed by installations in eight further aircraft in July 1966 and January 1967
MC-130J Combat Shadow II
–
MC-130
MC-130J Combat Shadow II
–
MC-130E Combat Talon dispensing flares
MC-130J Combat Shadow II
–
MC-130E Combat Talon I taxis to the runway at
RIAT 2010
MC-130J Combat Shadow II
–
Mixed formation of helicopters and Combat Talon of the Son Tay rescue operation during a practice mission.
33.
Mk44 Bushmaster II
–
The Mk44 Bushmaster II is a 30 mm chain gun manufactured by Alliant Techsystems. It is a derivative of the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster, the barrel is chromium-plated for extended life. The gun uses standard GAU-8 Avenger ammunition that is available in API, HEI, the gun can be converted to a caliber of 40 mm, which involves changing the barrel and a few key parts, to use the Super 40 cartridge. It can also be converted to use the 30x170 mm RARDEN cartridge, although the United States Air Force selected this cannon to replace the 25 mm and 40 mm guns on its fleet of AC-130U gunships in 2007, this plan was later canceled. The United States Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which has been canceled, was expected to be armed with cannon as well. Some United States Navy vessels, such as the new San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock are armed with the Bushmaster II for surface threat defense. The Bushmaster II cannon is used in the DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun point defense system that is fitted to the Royal Navys Type 23 frigates. The USAF had experimented with installing Bushmaster II cannons on their AC-130U gunships in place of the GAU-12, on 11 August 2008, the effort was canceled because of problems with the Bushmasters accuracy in tests at the altitude we were employing it. There were also schedule considerations that drove the decision, on 9 July 2012, the Air Force type classified a new version of the Bushmaster called the GAU-23/A. The cannon will be used on the AC-130W and the AC-130J gunships, the U. S. Navy uses the Mk44 Bushmaster II in the Mk 46 Mod 2 Gun Weapon System. The GWS is produced by General Dynamics to give protection against small. A Mk 46 turret consists of the 30 mm chain gun, a forward looking infrared sensor, a low light television camera, the guns fire at 200 rounds per minute and are fed by a 400-round magazine through 200-round dual feeds. Effective range is 2,200 yds for full-caliber high-explosive or armor-piercing ammunition, in 2012, the Navy decided to replace the Mk 11057 mm cannons on Zumwalt-class destroyers with the Mk 46 GWS. It can have a select, linkless feed system. The 30 mm chain gun can fire Mk310 Programmable Air Burst Munition rounds to attack targets in defilade, the United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command helped enhance the XM813 mainly for safety and turret integration. By changing five parts, the gun caliber can be increased to 40 mm, as of November 2013, the XM813 was being tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground over three months to ensure reliability levels of 40,000 mean rounds between failures. Long-term plans are to equip vehicles with the Bushmaster III 35mm/50mm cannon, the XM813 was demonstrated on 10 September 2014 at the ARDEC Digital Multi-Purpose Range Complex. The gun was mounted on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and fired at targets up to 1,500 metres away, an enhanced fire control system improves long-range accuracy to kill targets with fewer bursts, sometimes as few as two or three rounds instead of 10
Mk44 Bushmaster II
–
Finnish
CV 9030 with Mk44
Mk44 Bushmaster II
–
Mk44 aboard
San Antonio–class transport ship
Green Bay, 2009.
34.
AGM-176 Griffin
–
The AGM-176 Griffin is a lightweight, precision-guided munition developed by Raytheon. It can be launched from the ground or air as a missile or dropped from the air as a guided bomb. It carries a small warhead, and was designed to be a precision low-collateral damage weapon for irregular warfare. It has been used in combat by the United States military in Afghanistan, Raytheon developed Griffin as a low-cost modular system, using components from earlier projects, including the FGM-148 Javelin and the AIM-9X Sidewinder. It was originally designed to be launched from the US Special Operations Commands MC-130W Dragon Spear gunship and its precision combined with a relatively small 5.9 kg warhead reduces collateral damage. The munition comes in two versions, Griffin A is an unpowered precision munition that can be dropped from a rear cargo door or a door-mounted launcher that can drop while the cabin is pressurized. Weighing 15 kg and measuring 1.1 meters in length, the missiles folding fins allow it to be launched from a 140 mm tube. It can be set to engage the target height of burst. The U. S. Navy has tested the Griffin as a shipboard missile guided by laser at fast-moving small boats, the missile version is less than half the weight of a Hellfire round and includes a 5.9 kg warhead. It has a range of 15 km when air-launched, or 5.5 km when launched from the surface and it has been fired from the U. S. Army Remote weapon station, multi-round Wedge Launcher, Smart Launcher and Kiowa Warrior manned helicopters. The missile is smaller than the Hellfire typically used by armed UAVs, three Griffins can be carried in place of one Hellfire. The Griffin missile and launch assembly is also lighter than the Hellfire, in 70 months of production from 2008 to early February 2014, Raytheon delivered 2,000 Griffin missiles. In late February 2014, Raytheon demonstrated the improved Griffin Block III missile, hitting static, the Block III includes an improved semi-active laser seeker with better electronics and signal processing and a new Multi-Effects Warhead System to maximize lethality against different targets. Raytheon developed a version of the Griffin for integration onto Littoral Combat Ships. The Sea Griffin has a new motor and guidance system to increase its range from an LCS. Raytheon faced competition in equipping the LCS with a missile, as the Navy looked for other vendors, competition came from MBDA with the Sea Spear version of its Brimstone missile. Both missiles intended to give the LCS protection from small boat swarm attacks, the Navy instead selected the AGM-114L Hellfire to equip the LCS. The decision was made from the use of the Saab’s Sea Giraffe radar
AGM-176 Griffin
–
Launch of a Griffin during testing
AGM-176 Griffin
–
USS Firebolt (PC-10) fires a BGM-176B missile in June 2015.
35.
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
–
The GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb is a 250 lb precision-guided glide bomb that is intended to provide aircraft with the ability to carry a higher number of more accurate bombs. Most US Air Force aircraft will be able to carry a pack of four SDBs in place of a single 2,000 lb bomb, the Small Diameter Bomb II / GBU-53/B, adds a tri-mode seeker to the INS and GPS guidance of the original SDB. The original SDB is equipped with a GPS-aided inertial navigation system to attack targets such as fuel depots, bunkers. The second variant will include a thermal seeker and radar with automatic target recognition features for striking targets such as tanks, vehicles. The small size of the bomb allows a single aircraft to carry more of the munitions than is possible using currently available bomb units. The SDB carries approximately 38 lb of AFX-757 high explosive and it also has integrated DiamondBack type wings which deploy after release, increasing the glide time and therefore the maximum range. Its size and accuracy allow for an effective munition with less collateral damage, warhead penetration is 3 feet of steel reinforced concrete and the fuze has electronic safe and fire cockpit selectable functions, including air burst and delayed options. The GBU-39 has a circular error probable of 5–8 m, CEP is reduced by updating differential GPS offsets prior to weapon release. The corrections are transmitted by Link 16 to SDB-equipped aircraft. In November 2014, the U. S. Air Force began development of a version of the SDB I intended to track and attack sources of electronic warfare jamming directed to disrupt the munitions guidance. The home-on-GPS jam seeker works similar to the AGM-88 HARM to follow the source of a radio-frequency jammer to destroy it, imageNav technology has demonstrated target geo-location and navigation precision greater than three meters. She was later convicted of violating a conflict of interest statute, and on August 10,2010 the U. S. Air Force awarded a $450 million contract for engineering and development. Although unit costs were somewhat uncertain as of 2006, the estimated cost for the INS/GPS version was around US$70,000. Boeing and the Italian firm Oto Melara have signed a contract covering the production of 500 GBU-39s and 50 BRU-61/a racks for the Aeronautica Militare. The FY15 budget requested 246 bombs at a cost of US$287,000 each, when the Pentagon approved the SDB-II for production and deployment in May 2015, it had a unit cost of US$115,000. October 2001 – Boeing is awarded the SDB contract, september 2005 – Small Diameter Bomb certified for operational test, evaluation. September 2006 – SDB team deliver the first SDBs to the USAF, october 2006 – Initial Operational Capability declared for SDB on the F15E. October 2006 – First use in combat, February 2008 –1, 000th SDB I and first 50 FLM delivered
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
–
4 SDBs (training/ground handling variant) loaded on an
F-15E Strike Eagle
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
–
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
36.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
–
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot, Patterson Field is approximately 10 miles northeast of Dayton, Wright Field is approximately 5 miles northeast of Dayton. The host unit at Wright-Patterson AFB is the 88th Air Base Wing, assigned to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and Air Force Materiel Command. The bases origins begin with the establishment of Wilbur Wright Field on 22 May and McCook Field in November 1917, McCook was used as a testing field and for aviation experiments. Wright was used as a field, Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot, armorers’ school. McCooks functions were transferred to Wright Field when it was closed in October 1927, Wright-Patterson AFB was established in 1948 as a merger of Patterson and Wright Fields. In 1995, negotiations to end the Bosnian War were held at the resulting in the Dayton Agreement that ended the war. The 88th Air Base Wing is commanded by Col. John M. Devillier Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant John M. Mazza, the base had a total of 27,406 military, civilian and contract employees in 2010. The Greene County portion of the base is a census-designated place, Wright-Patterson AFB is one of the largest, most diverse, and organizationally complex bases in the Air Force with a long history of flight tests spanning from the Wright Brothers into the Space Age. It is the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, one of the commands of the Air Force. It is also the base of the 445th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command. Wright-Patterson is also the headquarters of the Aeronautical Systems Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson is the host of the annual United States Air Force Marathon which occurs the weekend closest to the Air Forces anniversary. The Wing reports to the Aeronautical Systems Center, a major development and their flight exhibition company and the Wright Company School of Aviation returned 1910–1916 to use the flying field. In 1918, Wilbur Wright Field agreed to let McCook Field use hangar and shop space as well as its enlisted mechanics to assemble, after World War I,347 German aircraft were brought to the United States—some were incorporated into the Army Aeronautical Museum. The training school at Wilbur Wright Field was discontinued, Wilbur Wright Field and the depot merged after World War I to form the Fairfield Air Depot. In 1924, the Committee presented the deeds to president Calvin Coolidge for the construction of a new engineering center. The entire acreage was designated Wright Field, which had such as the Headquarters, 5th Division Air Service. New facilities were built 1925–27 on the portion of Wright Field west of Huffman Dam to house all of the McCook Field functions being relocated, on 1 July 1931, the portion of Wright Field east of Huffman Dam was redesignated Patterson Field in honor of Lieutenant Frank Stuart Patterson
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
–
Air Force Materiel Command Headquarters National Museum of the United States Air Force Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, 445th Airlift Wing
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
–
Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Air Depot, c. 1920
37.
Night vision device
–
A night vision device, also known as a night optical/observation device, is an optoelectronic device that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness. The image may be a conversion to light of both visible light and near-infrared, while by convention detection of thermal infrared is denoted thermal imaging. The image produced is typically monochrome, e. g. shades of green, NVDs are most often used by the military and law enforcement agencies, but are available to civilian users. The term usually refers to a unit, including an image intensifier tube, a protective and generally water-resistant housing. Many NVDs also include components such as a sacrificial lens. An NVD may have an IR illuminator, making it an active as opposed to passive night vision device, Night vision devices were first used in World War II and came into wide use during the Vietnam War. The technology has evolved greatly since their introduction, leading to several generations of night vision equipment with performance increasing, consequently, they are available for a wide range of applications, e. g. for gunners, drivers and aviators. The classification below was introduced by the US manufacturers through the US government. Other manufacturers do not abide by it, in 1929, Hungarian physicist Kálmán Tihanyi invented the infrared-sensitive electronic television camera for anti-aircraft defense in Britain. The first military night vision devices were introduced by the German army as early as 1939, the first devices were being developed by AEG starting in 1935. In mid-1943, first tests with infrared night-vision devices and telescopic rangefinders mounted on Panther started, two different arrangements / solutions were created and used on Panther tanks. Solution A - Sperber FG1250, with range up to 600m, was made up of one 30 cm infrared searchlight and this was matched by an earlier experimental Russian version dubbed the PAU-2 and was field tested in 1942. From late 1944 to March 1945, some Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf G mounted with FG1250, were successfully tested, by the end of World War II, the German Reich had equipped approximately 50 Panther tanks, which saw combat on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. The Vampir man-portable system for infantrymen was being used with Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifles, parallel development of night vision systems occurred in the USA. The M1 and M3 infrared night sighting devices, also known as the sniperscope or snooperscope, were introduced by the US Army in World War II and they were active devices, using a large infrared light source to illuminate targets. Vladimir K. Zworykin working for the Radio Corporation of America, zworykins idea came from a former radio guided-missile. At that time infra-red was commonly called black light, a term later restricted to ultraviolet and it was not a success due to its size and cost. First generation passive devices, introduced during the Vietnam War, were an adaptation of earlier active GEN0 technology, using an S-20 photocathode, their image intensifiers produce a light amplification of around 1, 000×, but are quite bulky and require moonlight to function properly
Night vision device
–
A
U.S. Army aviator uses a pair of helmet-mounted AN/AVS-6 vision goggles. The effect on the
natural night vision of the eye is evident
Night vision device
–
A standard
telescopic sight augmented with a night vision device in front. Note that in addition to the image intensifier the NVD gathers much more light via its much larger
aperture
Night vision device
–
A
1PN51-2 night vision
reticle with markings for
range estimation
Night vision device
–
An
M16A1 rifle fitted with the AN/PVS-2 Starlight scope.
38.
Forward looking infrared
–
Forward looking infrared cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. They can be used to help pilots and drivers steer their vehicles at night and in fog, the wavelength of infrared that thermal imaging cameras detect differs significantly from that of night vision, which operates in the visible light and near-infrared ranges. Infrared light falls into two ranges, long-wave and medium-wave. Long-wave infrared cameras, sometimes called far infrared, operate at 8 to 12 μm, and can see heat sources, such as hot engine parts or human body heat, a few miles away. Longer-distance viewing is more difficult with LWIR because the infrared light is absorbed, scattered. Some long-wave cameras require their detector to be cooled, typically for several minutes before use. Many thermal imagers, including some forward-looking infrared cameras are also uncooled, medium-wave cameras operate in the 3-to-5 μm range. These can see almost as well, since those frequencies are affected by water-vapor absorption. Many camera systems use image processing to improve the image quality. Infrared imaging sensor arrays often have wildly inconsistent sensitivities from pixel to pixel, to remedy this, the response of each pixel is measured at the factory, and a transform, most often linear, maps the measured input signal to an output level. Some companies offer advanced fusion technologies that blend a visible-spectrum image with an image to produce better results than a single-spectrum image alone. Thermal imaging cameras, such as the Raytheon AN/AAQ-26, are used in a variety of applications, including vessels, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters. In warfare, they have three distinct advantages over other imaging technologies, second, it sees radiation in the infrared light spectrum, which is difficult to camouflage. Third, these systems can see through smoke, fog, haze. Pushbroom systems typically have been used on aircraft and satellites, such systems cannot be used for real-time imaging, and must look perpendicular to the direction of travel. In 1972, TI invented the Common Module concept, greatly reducing cost, piloting of aircraft in low visibility conditions Pinpoint sources of ignition during firefighting operations Monitoring active volcanoes. Detecting heat in faulty electrical joints, also, older camera designs used rotating mirrors to scan the image to a small sensor. More modern cameras no longer use this method, the simplification helps reduce cost, uncooled technology available in many EVS products have reduced the costs to fractions of the price of older cooled technology, with similar performance
Forward looking infrared
–
A
Thales Damocles (targeting pod) FLIR Targeting Pod.
Forward looking infrared
–
FLIR imagery from a U.S. Navy helicopter: Alleged drug traffickers are arrested by Colombian naval forces.
Forward looking infrared
–
A FLIR pod on a French Air Force helicopter
Forward looking infrared
–
A FLIR system on a U.S. Air Force helicopter during search and rescue operation
39.
Analog computer
–
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically, as their values change. As an analog computer does not use values, but rather continuous values, processes cannot be reliably repeated with exact equivalence. Unlike digital signal processing, analog computers do not suffer from the quantization noise, Analog computers were widely used in scientific and industrial applications where digital computers of the time lacked sufficient performance. Analog computers can have a wide range of complexity. Slide rules and nomographs are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers, systems for process control and protective relays used analog computation to perform control and protective functions. More complex applications, such as synthetic aperture radar, remained the domain of analog computing well into the 1980s, setting up an analog computer required scale factors to be chosen, along with initial conditions—that is, starting values. Another essential was creating the network of interconnections between computing elements. Sometimes it was necessary to re-think the structure of the problem so that the computer would function satisfactorily, no variables could be allowed to exceed the computers limits, and differentiation was to be avoided, typically by rearranging the network of interconnects, using integrators in a different sense. Running an electronic computer, assuming a satisfactory setup, started with the computer held with some variables fixed at their initial values. Moving a switch released the holds and permitted the problem to run, in some instances, the computer could, after a certain running time interval, repeatedly return to the initial-conditions state to reset the problem, and run it again. This is a list of examples of early computation devices which are considered to be precursors of the modern computers, some of them may even have been dubbed as computers by the press, although they may fail to fit the modern definitions. The south-pointing chariot can be considered the earliest analog computer and it was a mechanical-geared wheeled vehicle used for to discern the southern cardinal direction. The Antikythera mechanism was an orrery and is claimed to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer. It was designed to calculate astronomical positions and it was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to circa 100 BC. Devices of a level of complexity comparable to that of the Antikythera mechanism would not reappear until a thousand years later, many mechanical aids to calculation and measurement were constructed for astronomical and navigation use. The planisphere was a star chart invented by Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī in the early 11th century, the astrolabe was invented in the Hellenistic world in either the 1st or 2nd centuries BC and is often attributed to Hipparchus. A combination of the planisphere and dioptra, the astrolabe was effectively an analog computer capable of working out different kinds of problems in spherical astronomy
Analog computer
–
A page from the Bombardier's Information File (BIF) that describes the components and controls of the
Norden bombsight. The Norden bombsight was a highly sophisticated optical/mechanical analog computer used by the United States Army Air Force during
World War II, the
Korean War, and the
Vietnam War to aid the pilot of a
bomber aircraft in dropping
bombs accurately.
Analog computer
–
The ancient Greek-designed
Antikythera mechanism, dating between 150 to 100 BC, is the world's oldest known analog computer.
Analog computer
–
Analog computing machine at the
Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in 1949.
Analog computer
–
Heathkit EC-1 educational analog computer
40.
Fire control computer
–
A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the task as a human gunner firing a weapon. The best known United States device was the Norden bombsight, simple systems, known as lead computing sights also made their appearance inside aircraft late in the war as gyro gunsights. These devices used a gyroscope to measure turn rates, and moved the gunsights aim-point to take this into account, the only manual input to the sight was the target distance, which was typically handled by dialing in the size of the targets wing span at some known range. Small radar units were added in the period to automate even this input. By the start of the Vietnam War, a new computerized bombing predictor, called the Low Altitude Bombing System, the key advantage is that the weapon can be released accurately even when the plane is maneuvering. Most bombsights until this time required that the plane maintain a constant attitude, the LABS system was originally designed to facilitate a tactic called toss bombing, to allow the aircraft to remain out of range of a weapons blast radius. The principle of calculating the point, however, was eventually integrated into the fire control computers of later bombers and strike aircraft, allowing level, dive. In addition, as the control computer became integrated with ordnance systems. By the start of World War II, aircraft altitude performance had increased so much that anti-aircraft guns had similar predictive problems, the main difference between these systems and the ones on ships was size and speed. The USN Mk 37 system made similar assumptions except that it could predict assuming a constant rate of altitude change. The Kerrison Predictor is an example of a system that was built to solve laying in real time, simply by pointing the director at the target and then aiming the gun at a pointer it directed. It was also designed to be small and light, in order to allow it to be easily moved along with the guns it served. The radar-based M-9/SCR-584 Anti-Aircraft System was used to air defense artillery since 1943. In combination with the VT proximity fuze, this system accomplished the feat of shooting down V-1 cruise missiles with less than 100 shells per plane. This system was instrumental in the defense of London and Antwerp against the V-1, although listed in Land based fire control section anti-aircraft fire control systems can also be found on naval and aircraft systems. In the United States, Coast Artillery fire control systems began to be developed at the end of the 19th Century, early systems made use of multiple observation or base end stations to find and track targets attacking American harbors. Fire control in the Coast Artillery became more and more sophisticated in terms of correcting firing data for such factors as weather conditions, provisions were also made for adjusting firing data for the observed fall of shells
Fire control computer
–
A
German anti-aircraft 88 mm gun with its fire-control computer from World War II. Displayed in the
Canadian War Museum.
Fire control computer
–
Admiralty Fire Control Table in the transmitting station of
HMS Belfast.
Fire control computer
–
Ford Mk 1 Ballistic Computer. The name rangekeeper began to become inadequate to describe the increasingly complicated functions of rangekeeper. The Mk 1 Ballistic Computer was the first rangekeeper that was referred to as a computer. Note the three pistol grips in the foreground. Those fired the ship's guns.
Fire control computer
–
Accurate fire control systems were introduced in the early 20th century. Pictured, a cut-away view of a destroyer. The below decks
analog computer is shown in the centre of the drawing and is labelled "Gunnery Calculating Position".
41.
Eglin Air Force Base
–
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing, the 96 TW is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command systems. Eglin AFB was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base and it is named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin, who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Eglin is an Air Force Materiel Command base serving as the focal point for all Air Force armaments. Eglin is responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered non-nuclear weapons, the base plans, directs and conducts test and evaluation of U. S. and allied air armament, navigation and guidance systems, and command and control systems. Severe weather testing of aircraft and other equipment is carried out here at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory, the residential portion of the base is a census-designated place, its population was 8,082 at the 2000 census. Eglin Air Force Base has 2,359 military family housing units, unmarried junior enlisted members generally live in one of Eglin’s seven dormitories located near the dining hall, chapel, base gym, Enlisted Club and bus lines on base. Each individual unit generally handles dormitory assignments, bachelor Officer Quarters are not available. Several units and one dormitory are currently being renovated in 2011, Eglin is also one of the few military air bases in the U. S. to have scheduled passenger airline service as the Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport is co-located on the base property. The 96 TW is the test and evaluation wing for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, the Eglin Gulf Test Range provides approximately 130,000 square miles of over water airspace. The 96 TW reports to the Air Force Test Center at Edwards AFB, the 33d FW Nomads is the largest tenant unit at Eglin. The 33 FW is a joint graduate flying and maintenance training wing for the F-35 Lightning II, organized under Air Education and Training Commands 19th Air Force. Reactivated at Eglin on 1 April 1965 with F-4C Phantom IIs, as of 1 October 2009, the 33d FW transitioned to a training wing for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The final F-15s assigned to the 33d departed the base in September 2009, as the first of its kind in the Department of Defense, the joint wing is responsible for F-35 JSF pilot and maintainer training for the Air Force, Marine Corps and the Navy. The first of 59 F-35s arrived from Fort Worth, Texas on 14 July 2011, the F-35A made its first flight on 15 December 2006. The VFA-101 Grim Reapers are authorized operate 15 assigned F-35C aircraft, the F-35C is a carrier-capable low-observable multi-role fighter aircraft, designed to provide unmatched airborne power projection from the sea. The F-35C bears structural modifications from the other variants, necessitated by the increased resiliency required for carrier operations, the wing tests every fighter, bomber, unmanned aerial vehicle, and associated weapon system in the Air Force inventory. The wing reports to the USAF Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and these weapons include air-launched cruise missiles, standoff missiles, and gravity bombs
Eglin Air Force Base
–
First 33rd Fighter Wing Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Arrives at Eglin AFB Florida 14 July 2011
Eglin Air Force Base
–
F-15C of the 33d Fighter Wing.
Eglin Air Force Base
–
Five
F-15Cs from the 33d Fighter Wing of Eglin Air Force Base fly over an Alaskan mountain range during a deployment to
Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.
Eglin Air Force Base
–
An
A-10C Thunderbolt II, piloted by the 40th Flight Test Squadron, flies over what's left of a target that was successfully hit by a Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition drop on the Eglin range.
42.
Nha Trang Air Base
–
Nha Trang Air Base is a Vietnam Peoples Air Force military airfield in Vietnam. It is located 1.7 miles northwest of Nha Trang in Khánh Hòa Province, the airfield was opened in 1949 by the Colonial French government of Indochina as Base Aerienne 194. By mid-1951 Nha Trang was the center for the Air Force Military Training School for Vietnamese pilots, in November 1955, it became the South Vietnamese Air Force military academy. The United States Air Force used the base during the Vietnam War as an operations base in the late 1960s. It was seized by the Vietnam Peoples Army in April 1975 and afterwards was used as an airfield by the Vietnam Peoples Air Force and later. Today the facility is closed with all airline traffic being routed to the new facility at Cam Ranh Airport. Nha Trang Air Base was built by the French in 1949 and it was then known as Base Aerienne 194. By mid-1951 Nha Trang was the center for the Air Force Military Training School, before this time, early pilot training for Vietnamese personnel was conducted in French flying schools in France, Algeria, and Morocco. In 1951, the first table of organization of the Vietnamese Armée de lAir listed Tan Son Nhut Air Base and Nha Trang Air Bases as the VALA operational bases, with its headquarters in Saigon. Aircraft assigned to the Air Force Military Training School were some Morane-Saulnier 500s, on 15 December 1952 the training facility was redesignated the Air Instruction Center for VNAF use. Nha Trang was well situated for flight training, not only because of the scarcity of other flying fields, but also for its east central coastal climate and excellent flying weather. This location also had ideal terrain features, which included level ground, mountains to the west, and the sea to the east, all considered good for tactical flight training. On 1 July 1955, the day the VNAF was established, Nha Trang was one of its four original bases, along with Tourane Air Base, Bien Hoa Air Base, and Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Along with the school, the 2d Group Artillery Squadron. On 7 July 1955 the training facility at Nha Trang became Tactical Base No.1, the two elements – base and training – were combined in September 1957, and the facility was designated Nha Trang Air Training Base. The next significant flying unit to be formed there was the 2d Fighter Squadron in 1961 with North American T-28 Trojan fighter-bombers, however, VNAF flight training gradually came under the influence of the U. S. Military Assistance Program, and in January 1962 flight training was moved from the Air Training Center at Nha Trang to the United States, leaving only the technical and military schools at the base. By September 1962, the USAF had dispatched a team to Nha Trang to instruct VNAF personnel in the maintenance of the Cessna U-17 Skywagon in preparation for restarting flight training there
Nha Trang Air Base
–
Nha Trang Air Base, South Vietnam, June 1968
Nha Trang Air Base
–
14th Special Operations Wing (USAF)
Nha Trang Air Base
–
U-17 of the VNAF with flight instructor at Nha Trang Air Base
Nha Trang Air Base
–
South Vietnam A-1E "Skyraiders" forming South Vietnamese Flag in the Sky
43.
South Vietnam
–
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a state governing the southern half of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. It received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam, the term South Vietnam became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts. The Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on 26 October 1955, with Ngô Đình Diệm as its first president and its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and eighty-seven other nations. It had membership in several committees of the United Nations. After the Second World War, the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, in 1949, anti-communist Vietnamese politicians formed a rival government in Saigon led by former emperor Bảo Đại. Bảo Đại was deposed by Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm in 1955, after Diệm was killed in a military coup led by general Dương Văn Minh in 1963, there was a series of short-lived military governments. General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu led the country from 1967 until 1975, the Vietnam War began in 1959 with an uprising by Viet Cong forces armed and controlled by Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Fighting reached a climax during the Tet Offensive of 1968, when there were over 1.5 million South Vietnamese soldiers and 500,000 U. S. soldiers in South Vietnam. Despite a peace treaty concluded in January 1973, fighting continued until the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies overran Saigon on 30 April 1975, the creation of this republic, during the Indochina War, allowed France to evade a promise to recognise Vietnam as independent. This pre-Vietnam government prepared for a unified Vietnamese state, but the countrys full reunification was delayed for a year because of the problems posed by Cochinchinas legal status, Nguyễn Văn Xuân 1949–55 State of Vietnam. Roughly 60% of Vietnamese territory was controlled by the communist Việt Minh. Vietnam was partitioned at the 17th parallel in 1954, once highly lauded by America, he was ousted and assassinated in a U. S. -backed coup. In 1963–65, there were numerous coups and short-lived governments, several of which were headed by Dương Văn Minh or Nguyễn Khánh, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ was the top leader in 1965–67. Surrendered to Communists when others abandoned their posts, 1975–76 Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam. Huỳnh Tấn Phát Before World War II, the third of Vietnam was the concession of Cochinchina. Between Tonkin in the north and Cochinchina in the south was the protectorate of Annam, Cochinchina had been annexed by France in 1862 and even elected a deputy to the French National Assembly. It was more evolved, and French interests were stronger than in parts of Indochina. During World War II, Indochina was administered by Vichy France, japanese troops overthrew the French administration on 9 March 1945, Emperor Bảo Đại proclaimed Vietnam independent
South Vietnam
–
About 1 million Vietnamese refugees left the newly created communist North Vietnam during
Operation "Passage to Freedom" (October 1954).
South Vietnam
–
Flag
South Vietnam
–
A woman casting her ballot in the 1967 Elections in the Republic of Vietnam
South Vietnam
–
Scene of a
Việt Cộng bombing in a residential area of
Saigon, 1965.
44.
Fairchild AC-119
–
The Fairchild AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger were twin-engine piston-powered gunships developed by the United States during the Vietnam War. They replaced the Douglas AC-47 Spooky and operated alongside the versions of the AC-130 Spectre gunship. By late 1967, the idea of the fixed-wing gunship had been proven so successful, the newer AC-130s that had been created under Project Gunship II were effective, but were being mostly used for armed reconnaissance and interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Furthermore, the C-130 airframe was in service as a transport. In February 1968, under the USAF program Project Gunship III,26 C-119Gs were converted to AC-119G standard, initially taking on the name Creep and these aircraft were primarily intended to replace the AC-47 in the close air support role. In addition, Fairchild-Hiller, which was contracted for all the conversions, converted another 26 C-119Gs into AC-119Ks and these aircraft were called Stingers primarily in reference to the two M61 Vulcan 20-mm cannons they carried in addition to the AC-119Gs four GAU-2/A miniguns. The AC-119K could be distinguished by the addition of two General Electric J85 turbojet engines in underwing pods. The conversions were completed at Fairchild-Hillers facility in St. Augustine, Project Gunship III, being a follow-on to the success of the AC-130 series, meant that the AC-119 was a more advanced aircraft in both its iterations than the AC-47. The AC-119K, designed to hit trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, was more advanced, included in the conversion was the AN/APN-147 Doppler navigation radar, AN/AAD-4 forward looking infrared, AN/APQ-133 side-looking beacon tracking radar and AN/APQ-136 search radar. The armament scheme for aircraft was simpler than that of the AC-130. The AC-119G had a total of four GAU-2A/A miniguns in SUU-11A/A pods, like late-model AC-47s, these were soon changed to the purpose-built MXU-470/A minigun modules. The AC-119K, needing a more powerful and longer range punch to take out vehicles, by November 1968, the aircraft had deployed to Vietnam and joined the 14th Special Operations Wing at Nha Trang Air Base. When the 71 SOS returned to continental USA in 1969, the gunships were taken over by the newly formed 17 SOS, the AC-119Ks were placed in the 18th Special Operations Squadron. With the addition of the two types, the 14 SOW for a time in 1968 was flying eight different aircraft from ten different bases in South Vietnam, the 14 SOW was inactivated in 1971. Limited numbers continued to be operated out of Thailand as late as the fall of 1972, the AC-119G and 119K continued to serve in extremely small numbers with the Republic of Vietnam Air Force until the de facto reunification of the country in 1975. During the Vietnam War, only five AC-119 Gunship IIIs were lost to all causes, 53-3144, is on display at the Air Commando Heritage Park at Hurlburt Field, Florida. General characteristics Crew,6,8 Length,86 ft 5¾ in Wingspan,109 ft 3¼ in Height,26 ft 7¾ in Wing area,1,400 ft² Empty weight,40,125 lb Max
Fairchild AC-119
–
AC-119G Shadow AC-119K Stinger
45.
Warplane
–
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat, Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipment using their own aircraft ordnance, Combat aircraft are normally developed and procured only by military forces. Non-combat aircraft are not designed for combat as their primary function and these mainly operate in support roles, and may be developed by either military forces or civilian organizations. In 1783, when the first practical aircraft were established, they were adopted for military duties. The main role of fighters is destroying enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat, many are fast and highly maneuverable. Escorting bombers or other aircraft is also a common task and they are capable of carrying a variety of weapons, including machine guns, cannons, rockets and guided missiles. Many modern fighters can attack enemy fighters from a great distance, examples of air superiority fighters include the F-22 Raptor. World War II fighters include the British Spitfire, the American P-51 Mustang, an example of an interceptor would be the MiG-25. An example of a fighter is the Messerschmitt Bf 110. The term fighter is also applied to aircraft that have little air-to-air combat capability – for example the A-10 ground-attack aircraft is operated by USAF Fighter squadrons. Bombers are normally larger, heavier, and less maneuverable than fighter aircraft and they are capable of carrying large payloads of bombs, torpedoes or cruise missiles. Bombers are used almost exclusively for ground attacks and not fast or agile enough to take on enemy fighters head-to-head, a few have a single engine and require one pilot to operate and others have two or more engines and require crews of two or more. A limited number of bombers, such as the B-2 Spirit, have stealth capabilities that keep them from being detected by enemy radar, an example of a conventional modern bomber would be the B-52 Stratofortress. An example of a World War II bomber would be a B-17 Flying Fortress, bombers include light bombers, medium bombers, heavy bombers, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. The U. S. Navy and Marines have traditionally referred to their light, attack aircraft can be used to provide support for friendly ground troops. Some are able to carry conventional or nuclear weapons far behind enemy lines to strike priority ground targets, attack helicopters attack enemy armor and provide close air support for ground troops. An example historical ground-attack aircraft is the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, several types of transport airplanes have been armed with sideways firing weapons as gunships for ground attack. These include the AC-47 and AC-130 aircraft, in modern air forces the distinction between bombers, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft has become blurred
Warplane
–
United States Navy
Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft fly in formation as they wait their turn for refueling during
Operation Desert Storm in 1991
Warplane
–
A German
MiG-29 firing an air-to-air missile.
Warplane
–
A
USAAF B-29 Superfortress.
Warplane
–
An
A-10 Thunderbolt II firing an
AGM-65.
46.
20 mm caliber
–
The 20 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition. Since 20mm is the point where most nations switch from bullets to shells. A machine gun does not fire shells, so historically a weapon that fires shells below 20 mm can be a cannon, a true definition will always mention whether the weapon fires bullets or shells in addition to its caliber. A very small number of anti-tank rifles have been produced in 20 mm,20 mm caliber cartridges have an outside bullet diameter and inside barrel diameter of 0.787 inches. Projectiles or bullets are typically 75 to 127 mm long, cartridge cases are typically 75 to 152 mm long. Many but not all 20 mm rounds have a filling and detonating fuze. As an example, the RT-20 fires a 20×110mm 130-gram projectile at a velocity of 850 m/s. For a simple slug this gives an energy of 47 kilojoules. Like most cannon ammunition,20 mm caliber weapons are used against large targets such as vehicles, buildings. Though lethal against individual soldiers, 20mm ammunition is so large, target Practice Tracer - Inert projectile with tracer material in base for visual trajectory tracking. Only rarely do two designers use the case length, so this designation is usually definitive. Some cartridge types have additional letters or information about them listed.50 BMG.950 JDJ14
20 mm caliber
–
20 x 102 mm round with.
50 BMG rounds,
golf ball, stick of
SDRAM computer memory.
47.
Bofors 40 mm gun
–
The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late as the Gulf War. In the post-war era the original design was not suitable for action against jet powered aircraft, so Bofors introduced a new model of more power. In spite of sharing almost nothing with the design other than the calibre and the distinctive conical flash hider. Although not as popular as the original L/60 model, the L/70 remains in service to this day, especially as a weapon for light armored vehicles. Bofors itself has been part of BAE Systems AB since March 2005, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928, Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired and this proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. This seemed to be the solution they needed, improving firing rates to a level. During this period Krupp purchased a share of Bofors. Krupp engineers started the process of updating the Bofors factories to use equipment and metallurgy. The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931, and by the middle of the month it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the mechanism were all that remained, and by the end of the year it was operating at 130 rounds per minute. Continued development was needed to turn it into a suitable for production. Since acceptance trials had been passed the year before, this known as the 40 mm akan M/32
Bofors 40 mm gun
–
Bofors 40 mm/L60. This example includes the British-designed Stiffkey Sight, being operated by the aimer standing to the right of the loader (turned sideways). It operates the trapeze seen above the sights, moving the sights to adjust for lead.
Bofors 40 mm gun
–
Finnish Bofors 40 mm. This gun mounts the original reflector sights, and lacks the armor found on British examples.
Bofors 40 mm gun
–
Polish-made Bofors gun after the
Battle of the Bzura. This gun also mounts the reflector sight that equipped the original Bofors versions.
Bofors 40 mm gun
–
Q.F. 40 mm Mk. 1 displayed at
CFB Borden. This example mounts a Stiffkey Sight, and displays the additional armor protecting the gunners.
48.
30 mm caliber
–
The 30 mm caliber is a specific size of autocannon ammunition. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30×173mm and 30×113mmB rounds and Soviet 30×165mm rounds which are used around the world. 30 mm ammunition is not used against personnel, but rather as an anti-materiel or armor-piercing round. Rounds of this size can be effective against armored vehicles as well as fortified bunkers, the most modern anti-aircraft gun systems in use by Russia are 30 mm caliber. The U. S. military uses 30 mm weapons in their A-10 Thunderbolt II and it was going to be used in the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle until the project was cancelled. 30 mm ammunition generally comes in three varieties, armor-piercing, high-explosive, and training rounds, armor-piercing and high-explosive cartridges usually also possess incendiary characteristics
30 mm caliber
–
30×173mm rounds
30 mm caliber
–
30 mm rounds
30 mm caliber
–
30×113mm rounds being loaded into an
AH-64D Apache Longbow
49.
Bushmaster II
–
The Mk44 Bushmaster II is a 30 mm chain gun manufactured by Alliant Techsystems. It is a derivative of the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster, the barrel is chromium-plated for extended life. The gun uses standard GAU-8 Avenger ammunition that is available in API, HEI, the gun can be converted to a caliber of 40 mm, which involves changing the barrel and a few key parts, to use the Super 40 cartridge. It can also be converted to use the 30x170 mm RARDEN cartridge, although the United States Air Force selected this cannon to replace the 25 mm and 40 mm guns on its fleet of AC-130U gunships in 2007, this plan was later canceled. The United States Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which has been canceled, was expected to be armed with cannon as well. Some United States Navy vessels, such as the new San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock are armed with the Bushmaster II for surface threat defense. The Bushmaster II cannon is used in the DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun point defense system that is fitted to the Royal Navys Type 23 frigates. The USAF had experimented with installing Bushmaster II cannons on their AC-130U gunships in place of the GAU-12, on 11 August 2008, the effort was canceled because of problems with the Bushmasters accuracy in tests at the altitude we were employing it. There were also schedule considerations that drove the decision, on 9 July 2012, the Air Force type classified a new version of the Bushmaster called the GAU-23/A. The cannon will be used on the AC-130W and the AC-130J gunships, the U. S. Navy uses the Mk44 Bushmaster II in the Mk 46 Mod 2 Gun Weapon System. The GWS is produced by General Dynamics to give protection against small. A Mk 46 turret consists of the 30 mm chain gun, a forward looking infrared sensor, a low light television camera, the guns fire at 200 rounds per minute and are fed by a 400-round magazine through 200-round dual feeds. Effective range is 2,200 yds for full-caliber high-explosive or armor-piercing ammunition, in 2012, the Navy decided to replace the Mk 11057 mm cannons on Zumwalt-class destroyers with the Mk 46 GWS. It can have a select, linkless feed system. The 30 mm chain gun can fire Mk310 Programmable Air Burst Munition rounds to attack targets in defilade, the United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command helped enhance the XM813 mainly for safety and turret integration. By changing five parts, the gun caliber can be increased to 40 mm, as of November 2013, the XM813 was being tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground over three months to ensure reliability levels of 40,000 mean rounds between failures. Long-term plans are to equip vehicles with the Bushmaster III 35mm/50mm cannon, the XM813 was demonstrated on 10 September 2014 at the ARDEC Digital Multi-Purpose Range Complex. The gun was mounted on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and fired at targets up to 1,500 metres away, an enhanced fire control system improves long-range accuracy to kill targets with fewer bursts, sometimes as few as two or three rounds instead of 10
Bushmaster II
–
Finnish
CV 9030 with Mk44
Bushmaster II
–
Mk44 aboard
San Antonio–class transport ship
Green Bay, 2009.
50.
Breech-loading weapon
–
A breech-loading gun is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading, early firearms, on the other hand, were almost entirely muzzle-loading. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the gun without exposing themselves to fire or repositioning the piece. The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech and this was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw, breech-loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century. The breech-loading swivel gun had a rate of fire, and was especially effective in anti-personnel roles. Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century, Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century, one such gun known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain, and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in Madrid. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge, patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Later on into the century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition, the cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a feature of firearms thereafter. The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly, Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812. In 1846 another Paris Frenchman, Benjamin Houllier, patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell, Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the.22 BB, the first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both Berdan and Boxer priming. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr or Dreyse needle gun, was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech and it was so called because of its. 5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually a version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies, specifically, however, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866
Breech-loading weapon
–
Breech from Russian 122 mm M1910 howitzer, modified and combined with 105mm H37 howitzer barrel
Breech-loading weapon
–
Early types of breech loaders from the 15th and 16th century on display at the
Army Museum in Stockholm.
Breech-loading weapon
–
Henry VIII breech loading hunting gun, 16th century. The breech block rotates on the left on hinges, and is loaded with a reloadable iron
cartridge. Thought to have been used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. The original
wheellock mechanism is missing.
Breech-loading weapon
–
Breech-loading firearm that belonged to
Philip V of Spain, made by A. Tienza,
Madrid circa 1715. It came with a ready-to-load reusable cartridge. This is a
miquelet system.
51.
M120 mortar
–
The Soltam K6 is a 120 mm mortar that was developed by Soltam Systems of Israel. It is the version of the Soltam K5 and has replaced older systems, such as the 107-millimetre M30. It is much lighter than the M30, has a greater range, the K6 fires fin-stabilized ammunition from a smoothbore barrel. Unlike its smaller cousins, the 81 mm and 60 mm mortars. Thus, no spin is imparted to the projectile in flight, although heavy mortars require trucks or tracked mortar carriers to move them, they are still much lighter than field artillery pieces. They outrange light and medium mortars, and their power is much greater. An improved version is known as the K6A3, high explosive rounds fired by the M120 weigh about 31 lb and can have a lethality radius of 225 ft. The K6 entered service with the United States Army in 1991 as the M120 Mortar System and its mission is to provide heavy weapon, high-angle organic indirect fire support to the unit commander. The M120 is used by mechanized units and light infantry in certain situations. Another feature of the M120 is the M303 Sub-Caliber insert, which allows the mortar to fire 81 mm ammunition, the M120 is transported on the M1100 Trailer by the M998 Humvee. The version that is mounted on the M1064 and M1129 mortar carriers is known as the M121, in 2007, the U. S. Army ordered 588 M326 MSS from BAE Systems
M120 mortar
–
Soltam K6 mortar
52.
AGM-114 Hellfire
–
It was originally developed under the name Heliborne, Laser, Fire and Forget Missile, which led to the colloquial name Hellfire ultimately becoming the missiles formal name. It has multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike ability, and can be launched from air, sea. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100-pound class air-to-ground precision weapon for the forces of the United States. The Hellfire can be deployed from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, waterborne vessels, most variants are laser guided with one, AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire, being radar guided. The development of the Hellfire Missile System began in 1974 with the U. S. Army requirement for a tank-buster, production of the AGM-114A started in 1982. The Hellfire II, developed in the early 1990s is a missile system with several variants. Predator, Reaper and AH665 Tiger, UCAVs carry the Hellfire II, but the most common platform is the AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship, which can carry up to 16 of the missiles at once. It also works in adverse weather and battlefield obscurants, such as smoke, each Hellfire weighs 47 kilograms, including the 9 kilograms warhead, and has a range of 8,000 metres. The AGM-114R Romeo Hellfire II entered service in late 2012 and it uses a semi-active laser homing guidance system and an integrated blast fragmentation sleeve warhead to engage targets that previously needed multiple Hellfire variants. It will replace AGM-114K, M, N, and P variants in U. S. service, in October 2012, the U. S. ordered 24,000 Hellfire II missiles, for both the U. S. armed forces and foreign customers. The Joint Common Missile was to replace Hellfire II by around 2011, the JCM was developed with a tri-mode seeker and a multi-purpose warhead that would combine the capabilities of the several Hellfire variants. In the budget for FY2006, the U. S. Department of Defense canceled a number of projects that they no longer warranted continuation based on their cost effectiveness. A possible new JCM successor called the Joint Air to Ground Missile is under consideration, the only known operational air-to-air kill with a Hellfire took place on 24 May 2001. A civilian Cessna 152 aircraft entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, with unknown intentions, an Israeli Air Force AH-64A helicopter fired upon the Cessna, resulting in its complete disintegration. In 2008, the usage of the AGM-114N variant caused controversy in the United Kingdom when it was reported that these thermobaric munitions were added to the British Army arsenal, thermobaric weapons have been condemned by human rights groups. The UK Ministry of Defence refers to the AGM-114N as an enhanced blast weapon, in January 2016 the Wall Street Journal reported that one training missile without a warhead was accidentally shipped to Cuba in 2014 after a training mission in Europe. The dummy missile was later returned, a US official said that this was an inert dummy version of the Lockheed system, known as a Captive Air Training Missile. It is stripped of its warhead, fuse, guidance equipment, AGM-114A Basic Hellfire Target, Tanks, armored vehicles
AGM-114 Hellfire
–
A model of a Hellfire's components
AGM-114 Hellfire
–
Iraqi Air Force AC-208 Cessna Caravan launches a Hellfire missile
AGM-114 Hellfire
–
Hellfire loaded onto the rails of a
United States Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra at
Balad Air Base in
Iraq in 2005.
AGM-114 Hellfire
–
Predator launching a Hellfire missile
53.
Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System
–
As of October 2015, BAE Systems had manufactured 5,000 APKWS units. Where possible the system utilizes existing Hydra 70 components such as launchers, rocket motors, warheads, the weapon bridges the gap between the Hydra 70 and AGM-114 Hellfire systems and provides a cost-effective method of engaging lightly armored point targets. APKWS is the U. S. government’s only program of record for the semi-active and it converts the Hydra 70 unguided rocket into a precision guided munition through the addition of a mid-body guidance unit developed by BAE Systems. The winning bidder for the APKWS II contract was the team of BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics, beating out the offerings from Lockheed Martin, the APKWS II uses the Distributed Aperture Semi-Active Laser Seeker technology. This system allows a laser seeker to be located in the edge of each of the forward control canards. This configuration allows existing warheads from the Hydra 70 system to be used without the need for a seeker in the missile nose. Firing ranges are 1, 100-5,000 meters, the former of which can be hit less than 5 seconds after firing. Maximum range is constrained by use of the existing Hydra 70 motor, but since the seeker can see as far as 14 km, the weapon is easily assembled and can be shot with minimal instruction, as if it were an unguided rocket. 2002, APKWS development test series begins, April 2005, General Dynamics APKWS program cancelled due to poor test results. October 2005, Competition re-opened as APKWS II, september 2005, Successful flight test of BAE APKWS II. April 2006, BAE Systems selected as contractor for the APKWS II program. February 2007, Funding for program withdrawn in proposed FY2008 budget, may 2007, Successful flight test of BAE APKWS II in production-ready configuration. November 2008, Transfer of contract from US Army to US Navy, march 2012, APKWS II achieves initial operating capability and is sent to Afghanistan with United States Marine Corps. Plans are to integrate it onto the MQ-8 Fire Scout, july 2012, BAE Systems receives full-rate production contract for APKWS from the U. S. Navy. The first FRP deliveries were in October 2012 and the expected the next FRP option to be awarded by the end of 2012. September 2012, The Navy awards a contract to integrate the APKWS into the Fire Scout. October 2012, BAE announces its intention to modify the APKWS II to be fired from fixed-wing tactical fighter platforms, january 2013, Additional conversion kits ordered. No in flight failures during the 100 combat launches in Afghanistan to date, february 2013, APKWS launched from an A-10 Thunderbolt II
Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System
–
APKWS missile
54.
Hydra 70
–
The Hydra 70 rocket is a 2. 75-inch fin-stabilized unguided rocket used primarily in the air-to-ground role. It can be equipped with a variety of warheads, and in recent versions. The Hydra is widely used by US and allied forces, competing with the Canadian CRV-7 which is physically interchangeable. The Hydra 70 is derived from the 2. 75-inch Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket developed by the United States Navy for use as an aerial rocket in the late 1940s. The Mk 40 was used during the Korean and Vietnam wars, being used to close air support to ground forces from about 20 different firing platforms. The main change made to produce the Hydra was the Mk.66 motor which uses a new propellant that offers more thrust,1,335 pounds-force 1,415 pounds-force. To improve stability during the time while the fins are still opening, today, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and AH-64D Apache Longbow, as well as the Marine Corps AH-1 Cobra, carry the Hydra rocket launcher standard on its weapon pylons. The family of Hydra 702.75 inch rockets perform a variety of functions, the war reserve unitary and cargo warheads are used for anti-materiel, anti-personnel, and suppression missions. The Hydra 70 family of folding-fin aerial rockets also includes smoke screening, illumination, Hydra 70 rockets are known mainly by either their warhead type or by the rocket motor designation, Mk 66 in US military service. In the U. S. Marine Corps, either the M260 or M261 launchers are employed on the AH-1 Cobra and future AH-1Z Viper, the M260 and M261 are used with the Mk 66 series of rocket motor, which replaced the Mk 40 series. The Mk 66 has a reduced weight and provides a remote fuze setting interface. Hydra 70s have also been fired from UH-60 and AH-6 series aircraft in US Army service. S, Marine Corps because they were not compatible with the Mk 66 rocket motor. The Hydra 70 rocket system is used by the U. S. Navy. Hydra 70 warheads fall into three categories, Unitary warheads with impact-detonating fuzes or remote-set multi-option fuzes, cargo warheads with air burst-range, with setable fuzes using the wall-in-space concept or fixed standoff fuzes. The most common warhead for the Hydra 70 rocket is the M151 10-Pounder, NOTE, Though some of the warheads described were designed for the older Mk 40 rocket motor, but most likely could work with the Mk 66 motor if upgraded or modernized models were not available. However, this would not be necessary, as vast quantities of upgraded models exist today, weight,13.6 pounds Length,41.7 inches Burn time,1. 05–1. Roketsan Cirit is a similar missile compatible with 70 mm rocket launchers, saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Thailand United Arab Emirates U. S. Army Aviation and Missile Command CRV-7 FFAR rocket 2.75 in SNEB rocket FZ air-to-ground rockets 70mm/2.75 Zuni 5 in Hydra 70. Hydra-70 Rockets, From Cutbacks to the Future of Warfare, Defense Industry Daily, hydra-70, Warheads energetics, Weapon Systems, General Dynamics
Hydra 70
–
Four dummy Hydra 70 rockets and an inert
AGM-114 Hellfire
Hydra 70
–
Hydra 70 rockets on an
AH-1 Cobra helicopter
Hydra 70
–
Hydra 70s in an M261 launcher on a Dutch
AH-64 Apache. The tips of some of the rockets are white (and the rockets are shorter in length) because they have a different type of fuze/warhead.
55.
GBU-44/B Viper Strike
–
The GBU-44/B Viper Strike glide bomb is a GPS-aided laser-guided variant of the Northrop Grumman Brilliant Anti-Tank munition which originally had a combination acoustic and infrared homing seeker. The system was intended for use from UAVs, and it has also been integrated with the Lockheed AC-130 gunship. The Viper Strike is now produced by MBDA, the Viper Strike bomb first underwent testing in 2003. On March 29 and 30, Viper Strikes released from an RQ-5 Hunter UAV scored 7 out of 10 direct hits at White Sands Missile Range, the other three bombs missed their targets by a few feet but still inflicted measurable damage. The objective of the tests was to validate the concept of the Viper Strike, in June 2005, Northrop integrated the Global Positioning System into the laser-guided munition to provide highly accurate midcourse guidance. This allowed the weapon to be launched from much greater altitude, during tests, an unarmed weapon successfully acquired GPS data after dispensing from an aircraft and flew to pre-assigned GPS waypoints. In January 2007, Viper Strikes successfully destroyed a series of moving and they were guided to their targets by the Hunter UAVs laser targeting system. The GBU-44/B Viper Strike was first used in combat in September 2007, an MQ-5A Hunter UAV used one to kill two men who were setting up a roadside bomb. On September 1,2009, it was reported that the Hunter had successfully completed testing of the new GPS-guided Viper Strike weapons system, on June 2,2010, Northrop announced that the Viper Strike would be added to the United States Marine Corps KC-130J refueling and cargo aircraft. On December 12,2011, MBDA Inc. purchased Northrop Grummans Viper Strike munitions business located in Huntsville, on April 16,2012, Viper Strike bombs scored multiple direct hits from a KC-130J Harvest Hawk at the Naval Air Warfare Centers China Lake, California Weapons Station. In August 2012, MBDA announced that Viper Strike munitions scored direct hits against high speed vehicles during a two-day test, Viper Strikes successfully hit eight vehicles travelling at extremely high speeds in varying realistic scenarios. Current, MQ-5 Hunter KC-130J Harvest Hawk AC-130W Stinger II Planned, glide ratio,10,1 Guidance, GPS-midcourse/terminal laser homing. AGM-176 Griffin MQ-9 Reaper Northrop Grumman BAT / GBU-44/B Viper Strike - Designation Systems GBU-44 Viper Strike, Death From Above - Defense Industry Daily GBU-44/B Viper Strike - MBDA
GBU-44/B Viper Strike
–
Launch vehicle
.jpg)
AC-130 Whiskey on YouTube from Deadliest Tech
