1.
Douglas Aircraft Company
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The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. Douglas Aircraft Company largely operated as a division of McDonnell Douglas after the merger. MD later merged with Boeing in 1997, the Douglas Aircraft Company was founded by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. on July 22,1921 in Santa Monica, California, following dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company. An early claim to fame was the first circumnavigation of the world by air in Douglas airplanes in 1924. In 1923, the U. S. Army Air Service was interested in carrying out a mission to circumnavigate the Earth for the first time by aircraft, Donald Douglas proposed a modified Douglas DT to meet the Armys needs. The two-place, open cockpit DT biplane torpedo bomber had previously produced for the U. S. Navy. The DTs were taken from the lines at the companys manufacturing plants in Rock Island, Illinois and Dayton. The modified aircraft known as the Douglas World Cruiser, also was the first major project for Jack Northrop who designed the system for the series. After the prototype was delivered in November 1923, upon the completion of tests on 19 November. Due to the expedition ahead, spare parts, including 15 extra Liberty L-12 engines,14 extra sets of pontoons. These were sent to airports along the route, the last of these aircraft was delivered to the U. S. Army on 11 March 1924. After the success of the World Cruiser, the Army Air Service ordered six similar aircraft as observation aircraft. The success of the DWC established the Douglas Aircraft Company among the aircraft companies of the world. Douglas adopted a logo that showed aircraft circling a globe, replacing the original winged heart logo, the logo evolved into an aircraft, a rocket, and a globe. It was later adopted by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and then became the basis of the current logo of the Boeing Company after their 1997 merger, many Douglas aircraft had long service lives. Douglas Aircraft designed and built a variety of aircraft for the U. S. military, including the Navy, Army Air Forces, Marine Corps, Air Force. The company initially built torpedo bombers for the U. S. Navy, within five years, the company was building about 100 aircraft annually. Among the early employees at Douglas were Ed Heinemann, Dutch Kindelberger, and Jack Northrop, the company retained its military market and expanded into amphibian airplanes in the late 1920s, also moving its facilities to Clover Field at Santa Monica, California
2.
Nuclear weapon
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A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from small amounts of matter. The first test of a bomb released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The first thermonuclear bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10 million tons of TNT, a thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 2,400 pounds can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons of TNT. A nuclear device no larger than traditional bombs can devastate a city by blast, fire. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of destruction, and their use. Nuclear weapons have been used twice in nuclear warfare, both times by the United States against Japan near the end of World War II, the bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 civilians and military personnel from acute injuries sustained from the explosions. The ethics of the bombings and their role in Japans surrender remain the subject of scholarly, since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for the purposes of testing and demonstration. Only a few nations possess such weapons or are suspected of seeking them, israel is also believed to possess nuclear weapons, though in a policy of deliberate ambiguity, it does not acknowledge having them. Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands are nuclear weapons sharing states, south Africa is the only country to have independently developed and then renounced and dismantled its nuclear weapons. Modernisation of weapons continues to occur, all existing nuclear weapons derive some of their explosive energy from nuclear fission reactions. Weapons whose explosive output is exclusively from fission reactions are commonly referred to as bombs or atom bombs. This has long noted as something of a misnomer, as their energy comes from the nucleus of the atom. The latter approach is considered more sophisticated than the former and only the approach can be used if the fissile material is plutonium. A major challenge in all nuclear weapon designs is to ensure that a significant fraction of the fuel is consumed before the weapon destroys itself. The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range from the equivalent of just under a ton to upwards of 500,000 tons of TNT, all fission reactions necessarily generate fission products, the radioactive remains of the atomic nuclei split by the fission reactions. Many fission products are highly radioactive or moderately radioactive. Fission products are the radioactive component of nuclear fallout
3.
Redstone Arsenal
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Many of these units are moving due to decisions by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The Redstone Arsenal CDP had a population of 1,946 as of the 2010 census, the base contains a government and contractor workforce that averages 36,000 to 40,000 personnel daily. The team first worked on ballistic missiles, starting with V-2 rocket derivatives before moving on to a series of larger designs. Many of their tests were carried out at White Sands Missile Range, in late 1956 the Army was relieved of most of its ballistic missiles in favor of similar weapons operated by the US Air Force. The German design team was spun off to become part of the newly founded NASA. Redstone served as the site for space launch vehicle design into the 1960s. Redstone Arsenal is located at 34°41′03″N 86°39′15″W, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the Redstone CDP has a total area of 7.8 square miles, all land. Redstone Arsenal contains extensive wetland areas associated with the Tennessee River and several local springs, a total of 651 prehistoric archaeological sites were recorded on Redstone Arsenal to date. At least 22 have components dating to the Paleo-Indian period, the Paleo-Indian projectile point called the Redstone Point was named after Redstone Arsenal where it was first identified. Euroamerican settlers began to establish homesteads on the land that is now Redstone Arsenal by the first decade of the 19th century, prior to the Civil War, the landscape was dominated by several large plantations, the remains of which survive as archaeological sites. The land played a role during the Civil War with activity limited to the posting of pickets along the Tennessee River bank. Following the war, many of the plantations were increasingly divided into smaller parcels owned by small farmers. By the start of the 20th century, many of the farms were owned by absentee owners, with the land being worked by tenants, the remains of hundreds of tenant and sharecropper houses still dot the landscape around the installation. As part of the leading to U. S. involvement in World War II, Huntsville Arsenal was established in 1941 to create a second chemical weapons plant in addition to one in Edgewood. Over 550 families were displaced when the Army acquired the land, including over 300 tenants, most of the landowners were allowed to salvage their assets and rebuild elsewhere. The remaining buildings were almost all razed by the War Department, a land-use agreement was arranged with the Tennessee Valley Authority for the Army to use about 1,250 acres of land along the Tennessee River. The name Redstone drew on the red rocks and soil. In its early years, the produced and stockpiled chemical weapons such as phosgene, Lewisite
4.
Vertical stabilizer
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It is analogous to a skeg on boats and ships. On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards and these are also known as the vertical tail, and are part of an aircrafts empennage. If the vertical stabilizer was mounted on the underside, it would produce a positive feedback whenever the aircraft dove or banked, the trailing end of the stabilizer is typically movable, and called the rudder, this allows the aircraft pilot to control yaw. Often navigational radio or airband transceiver antennas are placed on or inside the vertical tail, in all known trijets, the vertical stabilizer houses the central engine or engine inlet duct. Vertical stabilizers, or fins, have also used in automobiles, specifically in top level motor sports. A few aircraft models have a fin under the rear end. Normally this is small, or can fold sideways, to allow landing, the vertical stabilizer is mounted exactly vertically, and the horizontal stabilizer is directly mounted to the empennage. This is the most common vertical stabilizer configuration, a T-tail has the horizontal stabilizer mounted at the top of the vertical stabilizer. It is commonly seen on aircraft, such as the Bombardier CRJ200, the Fokker 70, the Boeing 727, the Vickers VC10 and Douglas DC-9. T-tails are often incorporated on configurations with fuselage mounted engines to keep the horizontal stabilizer away from the engine exhaust plume, T-tail aircraft are more susceptible to pitch-up at high angles of attack. This pitch-up results from a reduction in the horizontal stabilizers lifting capability as it passes through the wake of the wing at moderate angles of attack and this can also result in a deep stall condition. T-tails present structural challenges since loads on the stabilizer must be transmitted through the vertical tail. The cruciform tail is arranged like a cross, the most common configuration having the horizontal stabilizer intersecting the vertical tail somewhere near the middle, the PBY Catalina uses this configuration. Falconjets from Dassault always have cruciform tail, rather than a single vertical stabilizer, a twin tail has two. These are vertically arranged, and intersect or are mounted to the ends of the horizontal stabilizer, the Beechcraft Model 18 and many modern military aircraft such as the American F-14, F-15, and F/A-18 use this configuration. A variation on the tail, it has three vertical stabilizers. An example of configuration is the Lockheed Constellation. On the Constellation it was done to give the maximum vertical stabilizer area while keeping the overall height low enough so that it could fit into maintenance hangars
5.
Rocket artillery
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Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars. Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers, the use of rockets as some form of artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used. Fire arrows were used in multiple launch systems and transported via carts. Devices such as the Korean hwacha were able to fire hundreds of fire arrows simultaneously, the use of medieval rocket artillery was picked up by the invading Mongols and spread to the Ottoman Turks who in turn used them on the European battlefield. The use of war-rockets is well documented in Medieval Europe, in 1408 Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy used 300 incendiary rockets in the siege of Liège. The city dwellers coped with this tactic by covering their roofs with dirt, the earliest successful utilization of rocket artillery is associated with Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Tipu Sultans father Hyder Ali successfully established the powerful Sultanate of Mysore, Tipu Sultan used them against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars especially during the Battle of Pollilur. Although the rockets were quite primitive, they had an effect on the enemy due to the noise. Although the hammered soft iron he used was crude, the strength of the container of black powder was much higher than the earlier paper construction. Thus a greater pressure was possible, with a resultant greater thrust of the propulsive jet. The rocket body was lashed with leather thongs to a bamboo stick. Range was perhaps up to three-quarters of a mile, although individually these rockets were not accurate, dispersion error became less important when large numbers were fired rapidly in mass attacks. They were particularly effective against cavalry and were hurled into the air, after lighting, or skimmed along the hard dry ground. Hyder Alis son, Tipu Sultan, continued to develop and expand the use of rocket weapons, in battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British. The Indian rocket experiences, including Munros book of 1789, eventually led to the Royal Arsenal beginning a military rocket R&D program in 1801, several rocket cases were collected from Mysore and sent to Britain for analysis. The development was chiefly the work of Col and he was told that the British at Seringapatam had suffered more from the rockets than from the shells or any other weapon used by the enemy. In at least one instance, an eye-witness told Congreve, a rocket had killed three men and badly wounded others. In the Battle of Pollilur and in the battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with effect against the British
6.
MIM-14 Nike Hercules
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The Nike Hercules was a surface-to-air missile used by U. S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, but could also be fitted with a warhead for export use. Its warhead also allowed it to be used in a secondary role. It evolved into a larger missile with two solid fuel stages that provided three times the range of the Ajax. Deployment began in 1958, initially at new bases, but it took over many Ajax bases as well. At its peak it was deployed at over 130 bases in the US alone, Hercules was officially referred to as transportable, but moving a battery was a significant operation and required considerable construction at the firing sites. Over its lifetime, significant effort was put into development of solid state replacements for the vacuum tube-based electronics inherited from the early-1950s Ajax, none of these were adopted, in favor of much more mobile systems like the MIM-23 Hawk. Another potential development was a version of the Hercules for the anti-ballistic missile role. Hercules would prove to be the last operational missile from Bells Nike team, Zeus was never deployed, Hercules remained the US primary heavy SAM until it began to be replaced by the higher performance and considerably more mobile MIM-104 Patriot in the 1980s. Patriots much higher accuracy allowed it to dispense with the nuclear warhead, the last Hercules missiles were deactivated in Europe in 1988, without ever being fired in anger. Like the Germans and British before them, they concluded the only successful defence would be to use guided weapons, as early as 1944 the US Army started exploring anti-aircraft missiles, examining a variety of concepts. That is, whether the missile operated more like an aircraft or a rocket, GAPA moved to the US Air Force when that branch was formed in 1948. In 1946 the USAAF also started two early research projects into anti-missile systems in Project Thumper and Project Wizard, in 1953, Project Nike delivered the worlds first operational anti-aircraft missile system, known simply as Nike. Nike tracked both the target and the missile using separate radars, compared the locations in a computer, to increase range, the missile was normally boosted above the target into thinner air, and then descended on it in a gliding dive. Similar systems quickly emerged from other nations, including the S-75 Dvina from the USSR, even as the Nike was undergoing testing, planners grew concerned about the missiles ability to attack formations of aircraft. Given the low resolution of the tracking radars available at the time, launched against such a formation, the Nike would fly towards the center of the composite return. Given the Nike warheads relatively small radius, if the missile flew into the middle of the formation and exploded. Improving performance against such targets would require much higher resolution radars
7.
Cluster munition
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A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons. Some submunition-based weapons can disperse non-munitions, such as leaflets, because cluster bombs release many small bomblets over a wide area, they pose risks to civilians both during attacks and afterwards. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and/or unintended targets long after a conflict has ended, Cluster munitions are prohibited for those nations that ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin, Ireland in May 2008. The Convention entered into force and became binding international law upon ratifying states on 1 August 2010, as of 1 October 2015, a total of 118 states have joined the Convention, as 98 States parties and 20 Signatories. The first cluster bomb used operationally was the German SD-2 or Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg and it was used in World War II to attack both civilian and military targets. The technology was developed independently by the United States, Russia, the US used the 20-lb M41 fragmentation bomb wired together in clusters of 6 or 25 with highly sensitive or proximity fuzes. From the 1970s to the 1990s cluster bombs became standard air-dropped munitions for many nations and they have been produced by 34 countries and used in at least 23. Artillery shells that employ similar principles have existed for decades and they are typically referred to as ICM shells. The US military slang terms for them are firecracker or popcorn shells, a basic cluster bomb consists of a hollow shell and then two to more than 2,000 submunitions or bomblets contained within it. Some types are dispensers that are designed to be retained by the aircraft after releasing their munitions, the submunitions themselves may be fitted with small parachute retarders or streamers to slow their descent. Modern cluster bombs and submunition dispensers are often multiple-purpose weapons, containing mixtures of anti-armor, anti-personnel, the submunitions themselves may also be multi-purpose, such as combining a shaped charge, to attack armour, with a fragmenting case, to attack infantry, material, and light vehicles. Modern multipurpose munitions may also have an incendiary effect, recently submunition-based weapons have been designed that deploy smart submunitions, using thermal and visual sensors to locate and attack particular targets, usually armored vehicles. Weapons of this include the US CBU-97 sensor-fuzed weapon, first used in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Incendiary cluster bombs are intended to start fires, just as conventional incendiary bombs and they are specifically designed for this purpose, with submunitions of white phosphorus or napalm, and they often include anti-personnel and anti-tank submunitions to hamper firefighting efforts. When used in cities they have often preceded by the use of conventional explosive bombs to break open the roofs. One of the earliest examples is the so-called Molotov bread basket first used by the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-40 and this type of munition was extensively used by both sides in the strategic bombings of World War II
8.
LGM-30 Minuteman
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The LGM-30 Minuteman is a U. S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missile, in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. As of 2016, the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States, development of the Minuteman began in the mid-1950s as the outgrowth of basic research into solid fuel rocket motors which indicated an ICBM based on solids was possible. Such a missile could stand ready for extended periods of time with little maintenance, in comparison, existing U. S. missile designs using liquid fuels required a lengthy fueling process immediately before launch, which left them open to the possibility of surprise attack. This potential for immediate launch gave the missile its name, like the Revolutionary Wars Minutemen, Minuteman entered service in 1962 as a weapon tasked primarily with the deterrence role, threatening Soviet cities with a counterattack if the U. S. was attacked. However, with the development of the U. S, the Minuteman-II entered service in 1965 with a host of upgrades to improve its accuracy and survivability in the face of an anti-ballistic missile system the Soviets were known to be developing. Minuteman-III was the first multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle ICBM to be deployed, each missile can carry up to three nuclear warheads, which have a yield in the range of 300 to 500 kilotons. By February 2018 this will be reduced to 400 armed missiles, with 50 unarmed missiles in reserve, the Air Force plans to keep the missile in service until at least 2030. It is one component of the U. S. nuclear triad—the other two parts of the triad being the Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile, and nuclear weapons carried by long-range strategic bombers, Minuteman owes its existence largely to the efforts of then Air Force Colonel Edward N. Hall. Solid fuels were already used in rockets, but strictly for short-range uses. But Hall was convinced that they could be used for a true ICBM with 5,500 nautical miles range, to achieve the required energy, that year Hall began funding research at Boeing and Thiokol into the use of ammonium perchlorate composite propellant. Adapting a concept developed in the UK, they cast the fuel into large cylinders with a hole running along the inner axis. This allowed the fuel to burn along the length of the cylinder, rather than just the end as in earlier designs. The increased burn rate meant increased thrust, in comparison, older designs burned primarily from one end to the other, meaning that at any instant one small section of the fuselage was being subject to extreme loads and temperatures. Guidance of an ICBM is based not only on the direction the missile is travelling, too much thrust and the warhead will overshoot its target, too little and it will fall short. This appeared at first to be a problem, but in the end was solved in almost trivial fashion. A series of ports were added inside the nozzle that were opened when the guidance systems called for engine cut-off. The reduction in pressure was so abrupt that the last burning fuel ejected itself, the first to make use of these developments was not the Air Force, but the Navy. They had been involved in a joint program with the US Army to develop the liquid-fueled Jupiter missile and they felt that liquid fuels were too dangerous to use onboard ships, and especially submarines
9.
Imperial War Museum Duxford
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Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britains largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery. The site also provides space for the museums other collections of material such as film, photographs, documents, books. The site accommodates several British Army regimental museums, including those of the Parachute Regiment, based on the historic Duxford Aerodrome, the site was originally operated by the Royal Air Force during the First World War. Duxford remained an active RAF airfield until 1961, after the Ministry of Defence declared the site surplus to requirements in 1969 the Imperial War Museum received permission to use part of the site for storage. The entirety of the site was transferred to the museum in February 1976, in keeping with the sites history many of Duxfords original buildings, such as hangars used during the Battle of Britain, are still in use. The site also features several purpose-built exhibition buildings, such as the Stirling Prize-winning American Air Museum, the site remains an active airfield and is used by civilian flying companies, and hosts regular air shows. The museum opened in 1920, by which point it had renamed the Imperial War Museum. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the terms of reference were enlarged to include the conflict. The museums terms of reference was broadened again in 1953 to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces were engaged. Although the museums south London home had been extended in 1966, Duxford featured three double bay hangars of First World War vintage, which together provided over 9000 m2 of space. Within two years, ten of the aircraft had been brought to Duxford, and were being restored by volunteers of the East Anglia Aviation Society. While the museums own aircraft were not restored to flying condition, further air shows followed, with a display in June 1976 attracting an audience of 45,000 people. The runway was bought by Cambridgeshire County Council in 1977, the success of these shows provided a valuable source of revenue, and complemented the efforts of volunteers, so that the museum applied for the permanent transfer of the entire site to its use. Permission was received in February 1976 and Duxford became the first outstation of the Imperial War Museum, initially open from March–October, Duxford received 167,000 visitors in the 1977 season, and 340,000 in 1978. Two million visitors had been received by 1982 and Duxford welcomed its ten millionth visitor in August 2005, with the outbreak of war in September 1939 Duxford was home to three RAF squadrons engaged on coastal patrol duties. From July 1940, Duxford saw considerable action during the Battle of Britain as a station of RAF Fighter Commands No.12 Group. In the middle years of the war Duxford was home to specialist units, such as the tacticians, in April 1942 the first Typhoon Wing was formed at Duxford
10.
Fort Hood
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Fort Hood is a U. S. military post located in Killeen, Texas. The post is named after Confederate General John Bell Hood and it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles from each, within the U. S. state of Texas. Fort Hood is an installation of the United States Army and is the largest military base in the world more than 215,000 acres. Its origin was the need for space to test and train with World War II tank destroyers. The War Department announced the location in January 1942, and the completion was set for that August. As originally constructed, Fort Hood had an area of 158,706 acres, the main cantonment of Fort Hood had a total population of 53,416 as of the 2010 U. S. Census. Fort Hood is the most populous U. S. military installation in the world, the main business area is in Bell County, with the training countryside area of the post in Coryell County. In April 2014, the Fort Hood website lists 45,414 assigned soldiers and 8,900 civilian employees with Fort Hood covering 214,000 acres, during World War II, tank destroyers were developed to counter German mobile armored units. These were mobile anti-tank guns on armored halftracks or specially developed tanks, wide-open space was needed for the tank destroyer testing and training, which Texas had in abundance. Andrew Davis Bruce was assigned to organize a new Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center, the War Department announced the selection on 15 January 1942. An initial acquisition of 108,000 acres was made, and it was estimated that the camp would cost $22,800,000 for the land, facilities, the date of completion was set for 15 August 1942. About 300 families had to move from their homes to make room for the area and the communities of Clear Creek, Elijah. The old Sugar Loaf community, historically called the Cradle of Killeen, all that remains of the community is the mountain from which it took its name, located in the Fort Hood area. To lessen the burden of moving, the Army agreed to land to be used for grazing for a nominal grazing fee. This grazing arrangement still continues today, in mid-August the camp was occupied and the official opening took place on 18 September 1942. Camp Hood was named for the Confederate General John Bell Hood, the original facilities provided housing and training sites for nearly 38,000 troops. In January 1943, an additional 16,000 acres in Bell County and 34,943 acres in Coryell County near Gatesville, the site near Gatesville was known as the sub-camp and later as North Camp Hood. During the war years, North Camp Hood housed nearly 40,000 troops and 4,000 prisoners of war, and was the site for the southern branch of the United States Disciplinary Barracks
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