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BACN is a comms package flown on several platforms. It would be entirely unsurprising if there were not other capabilities on various BACN-equipped aircraft, but BACN is a comms package strapped into some avowed surveillance platforms like RQ-4s.
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Mar 7, 2019 00:09
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BACN goes well with just about anything.
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Mar 7, 2019 00:38
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Tremblay posted:If it was flying collection packages, and people here have knowledge of it. They probably wouldn't be writing about it here. Obviously, I am hypothesizing. If anyone here has direct knowledge (or even tangential knowledge that is privileged and allows a good guess) they shouldn’t say a drat thing.
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Mar 7, 2019 03:37
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I think I mentioned this once before, but years ago when I was working on a project out at Moffett Field, a WB-57 rolled up to our hanger. I've always been a plane nerd, so I was really puzzled when this plane with really long wings showed up and I had no clue what it was until I looked it up. Anyway, they'd had some kind of engine trouble, and made an emergency landing at Moffett on their way to JSC. Within a few hours they had the mechanics out there and dropped one engine out on the ramp that afternoon. A new engine was shipped in overnight and was installed first thing in the morning, and they were up and away before lunch. I have never seen NASA work that quickly before--it is part of the government after all--and I was super impressed.
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Mar 7, 2019 04:04
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This part seems unnecessary. They eventually fold that garnish into a dish right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywZevdHW5bQ&t=108s
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Mar 7, 2019 04:05
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mlmp08 posted:Comms packages. Putting a big ole, high endurance, high altitude aircraft up in the air for comms relays cam be effective. The WB-57 was only one of several aerial platforms sharing that comms mission. It was absolutely not primarily a comms relay.
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Mar 7, 2019 07:22
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Kebbins posted:Yeah it's also entirely possible that the original key mechanism was removed and replaced with something more generic from Ace Hardware during the deactivation of the silo. Oh don't get me wrong, I still think it's a neat as hell gift shop item, and while it could be a fake it would not surprise me if they really did use a generic elevator/service lock key for the activation.
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Mar 7, 2019 09:09
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Captain Postal posted:Although I can't think what moving target would require a 2000lb bomb instead of a 1000lb one. Maybe ISIS had a few Maus tanks or something?
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Mar 7, 2019 11:04
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The S-400 is probably Russia's biggest post-Cold War defense export. Now it's Qatar's turn. https://breakingdefense.com/2019/03/despite-us-threats-another-ally-mulls-russias-s-400/
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Mar 7, 2019 13:42
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evil_bunnY posted:Show me a tank where a 1000lbs hit is survivable. Hell show me a tonk where a 250lb hit is survivable.
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Mar 7, 2019 14:24
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Murgos posted:Obviously, I am hypothesizing. If anyone here has direct knowledge (or even tangential knowledge that is privileged and allows a good guess) they shouldn’t say a drat thing. Yup. Don’t gently caress up your clearances for Internet points folks. GiP has had some people gently caress up pretty spectacularly that way. Plus dealing with reports is bad enough. I’d really prefer to not have to talk to an IG or JAG or NCIS or FBI or whoever the gently caress else is investigating what gets said on a Web 1.0 comedy forum.
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Mar 7, 2019 14:43
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Cat Mattress posted:The S-400 is probably Russia's biggest post-Cold War defense export. Now it's Qatar's turn. Why have one monster task of setting up a SAM system training pipeline and figuring out all the manning, maintenance, comms, and tactics issues involved in that when you could possibly have two?! I kind of doubt this goes anywhere, but who knows?
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Mar 7, 2019 15:26
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Shaocaholica posted:This part seems unnecessary. They eventually fold that garnish into a dish right? That is how you know the US military is absurd. Ira Glass did a piece way back when, early in OIF/OEF aboard and aircraft carrier. He said that crew drills and aircraft didn't really drill into him just how much the US puts into the military. It was seeing the pilots in the officer's mess, each with a chair embroidered with their call-sign, being fed platters of chicken sandwiches and sides by enlisted personnel. USN culture regarding food/mess is very, very different from that of the USAF or Army, but I have seen Army dining facilities that go hog wild with garnishes that likely get tossed in the trash. quote is not edit 
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Mar 7, 2019 15:30
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I know a guy who is from sub Saharan Africa and joined the US Army after immigrating here. Cool dude. He has some stories that you kind of have to ponder over whether they’re on the  or  end of the spectrum. On more than one occasion he has talked about how floored he was at how much food they gave him, the variety of it, how much the native born Americans bitched about this amazing bounty, and how much of it was thrown away. Imagine this with a british west african accent : “I had hamburgers in Afghanistan! Real meat! And they were mad that they were out of steak! C’mon man!”
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Mar 7, 2019 15:46
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Unless it makes you ill, Army food is perfectly fine. Eating MREs for weeks starts to suck. I've had some really crummy food served up by Marines, but at least anything the Marines made with a base of "bland beans" or "egg cubes" can be made serviceable with enough hot sauce or salsa. Some DFACs suck, individually. Even on the same base, you might see the food go to poo poo in the DFAC that serves all the new trainees while being fine for permanent party and where senior people occasionally choose to eat based on avoiding the trainees. Had an off and on fight with a DFAC that liked to serve chicken undercooked, for instance, just to keep the line moving. Not cool to have people only eating the outermost layers of meat to avoid the "chicken tartare" center.
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Mar 7, 2019 15:55
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evil_bunnY posted:Show me a tank where a 1000lbs hit is survivable. Even 250lbs would gently caress up any tank with a hit or very near miss. With 44kg of high explosives plus a nice heavy steel shell it has around 3 times the bang of a 203mm artillery round and way more kinetic energy behind it. The challenge has traditionally been getting the bomb to land on or right next to the metal box on wheels, because otherwise you'll just detrack it, shatter some optics, and shake it around even with fuckoff huge bombs. Warbadger fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Mar 7, 2019 |
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Mar 7, 2019 16:05
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Big HE is REALLY bad for tanks. A regular old 155mm round hitting metal on metal isn't survivable for any tank. The crew might be ok depending on where it hits and what tank they are in, but the tank will be in no condition to fight. A direct hit from a 250 lbs bomb (or 1000 lbs bomb for that matter) is a gross overmatch for any vehicle. The tricky thing is actually hitting a tank with an artillery round...if you miss by even a little bit, the tank will be just fine.
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Mar 7, 2019 16:16
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Warbadger posted:otherwise you'll just detrack it, shatter some optics, and shake it around even with fuckoff huge bombs. What sort of damage would have been the goal for adequately knowing out opponent armor in the WWIII Fulda Gap Dogpile© ?
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Mar 7, 2019 17:10
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Cyrano4747 posted:I know a guy who is from sub Saharan Africa and joined the US Army after immigrating here. Cool dude. He has some stories that you kind of have to ponder over whether they’re on the That's amazing.
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Mar 7, 2019 17:14
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Potato Salad posted:What sort of damage would have been the goal for adequately knowing out opponent armor in the WWIII Fulda Gap Dogpile© ? Anything that disables it.
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Mar 7, 2019 19:28
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EvilMerlin posted:Hell show me a tonk where a 250lb hit is survivable. mlmp08 posted:Why have one monster task of setting up a SAM system training pipeline and figuring out all the manning, maintenance, comms, and tactics issues involved in that when you could possibly have two?! I kind of doubt this goes anywhere, but who knows? Warbadger posted:The challenge has traditionally been getting the bomb to land on or right next to the metal box on wheels, because otherwise you'll just detrack it, shatter some optics, and shake it around even with fuckoff huge bombs. Cyrano4747 posted:Imagine this with a british west african accent : “I had hamburgers in Afghanistan! Real meat! And they were mad that they were out of steak! C’mon man!” evil_bunnY fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 7, 2019 23:51
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Okay, I certainly wasn't starving, but I still maintain it was bullshit that when the galley ran out of pasta but had plenty of marinara sauce, they wouldn't put some sauce on my mixed vegetables, because "the sauce goes with pasta" despite the veggies and marinara being the only things they had left. On the other hand I would love to shake the hand of the CS who gave us "corned beef" on St. Patrick's Day that was literally ground beef with canned corn dumped over it.
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Mar 8, 2019 00:29
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Wingnut Ninja posted:On the other hand I would love to shake the hand of the CS who gave us "corned beef" on St. Patrick's Day that was literally ground beef with canned corn dumped over it. This owns.
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Mar 8, 2019 02:11
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But did the ‘corned beef’ at least taste good?
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Mar 8, 2019 02:58
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So..drone wingmen.
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Mar 8, 2019 10:56
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the future of our defense posture
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Mar 8, 2019 13:57
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Dante80 posted:So..drone wingmen. Yep, and its going to happen more and more. I'm going to say the F-35 is the last manned fighter we deploy (others will be pilot optional). Even the B-21 Raider is pilot optional.
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Mar 8, 2019 14:10
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What is the plan for these things btw (for air combat, for example)? Leave the radar out, put in a big FLIR, network them with the CAP fighters and serve as mobile AMRAAM stores? I assume that they would want to keep their emission profile tight, so as to act like stealthy extensions of the pilot in the actual F-22/F-35.
Dante80 fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 8, 2019 14:50
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Tangentially airpower but still neat. SpaceX’s uncrewed crewed dragon capsule test just successfully reentered and splashed down. This is huge as it’s a big hurdle and clearing it makes having non-Soyuz crewed access to space as early as next year a very real possibility. It also probably fucks Roscosmos up pretty bad as they make a loving KILLING charging for seats in the Soyuz.
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Mar 8, 2019 14:56
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I honestly wonder about the future of Russia's space program. It's barely operating correctly as is. SpaceX destroyed their commercial market, exploding Protons basically finished the job. The US is going to giving them less cash for hitching a ride now.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:00
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Dante80 posted:What is the plan for these things btw (for air combat, for example)? Leave the radar out, put in a big FLIR, network them with the CAP fighters and serve as mobile AMRAAM stores? I assume that they would want to keep their emission profile tight, so as to act like stealthy extensions of the pilot in the actual F-22/F-35. Yep. They are just going to be missile boats connected via network to a manned fighter or control aircraft. Think about just putting up one fighter with a decent avionics package, and three of these out about 200km from the home aircraft...
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Mar 8, 2019 15:05
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Alaan posted:I honestly wonder about the future of Russia's space program. It's barely operating correctly as is. SpaceX destroyed their commercial market, exploding Protons basically finished the job. The US is going to giving them less cash for hitching a ride now. Yeah. Proton is marred in quality control scandals, Angara is almost dead in the water for the same issues, Baikonur has to close down, the whole sector is majorly constricted due to the lack of funding (and the rather abysmal utilization of any funding due to serious corruption inside the industry) and Vostochny is..well..just read this. T_T The space program had been riding on the coattails of Soviet assets for a couple of decades. They cannot keep doing that forever though.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:09
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Alaan posted:I honestly wonder about the future of Russia's space program. It's barely operating correctly as is. SpaceX destroyed their commercial market, exploding Protons basically finished the job. The US is going to giving them less cash for hitching a ride now. Russia was gouging NASA 75 MILLION dollars per astronaut flight and now its even more... And a lot of these price increases are retaliation for not using Russian engines in the future And based on previous Russian fuckery, I'm willing to make a bet that LOTS of greedy fuckers are taking money from this and running with it. 
EvilMerlin fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 8, 2019 15:10
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Dante80 posted:So..drone wingmen. Remember, stick with Trigger and you'll make it.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:13
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Yeah the short version is they’re totally hosed without a massive capital infusion to cover new R&D and facilities. I’m sure they will keep a limited capacity to launch nations security assets but it wouldn’t surprise me if even that starts to degrade. The reality is that they’re already eclipsed by China. It’s sad, they had an amazing space program, but it’s also hard to have much sympathy given how it’s been run for the last few decades. The one way out that I see is if some oligarch pulls a Musk and starts KocmocX but that’s a Hail Mary at best.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:14
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EvilMerlin posted:Russia was gouging NASA 75 MILLION dollars per astronaut flight and now its even more... The other big hurdle is that all NASA astronauts have to learn Russian before they can go up. All the Soyuz controls are in Russian so they need to be able to read poo poo and communicate with the ground if poo poo goes sideways. Like, I dunno, maybe a booster loving up and the crew capsule getting to test out the emergency separation system. (That’s automated but you get the gist). It’s a significant training hurdle, especially given that Russian isn’t a common second language among the people that get tapped for astronaut work.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:17
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Cyrano4747 posted:Yeah the short version is they’re totally hosed without a massive capital infusion to cover new R&D and facilities. I’m sure they will keep a limited capacity to launch nations security assets but it wouldn’t surprise me if even that starts to degrade. The reality is that they’re already eclipsed by China. It’s sad, they had an amazing space program, but it’s also hard to have much sympathy given how it’s been run for the last few decades. Yep, 100% agreed. Another thing a lot of people don't understand is almost all of Russia's modern rocket development happened with a lot of involvement of the Ukraine. This is another reason why Russia is having issues with turbines of all types... most of them had been built or designed in the Ukraine.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:20
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Cyrano4747 posted:The other big hurdle is that all NASA astronauts have to learn Russian before they can go up. All the Soyuz controls are in Russian so they need to be able to read poo poo and communicate with the ground if poo poo goes sideways. Like, I dunno, maybe a booster loving up and the crew capsule getting to test out the emergency separation system. (That’s automated but you get the gist). Dual language proficiency will remain a requirement for the life of the ISS.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:23
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Cyrano4747 posted:The other big hurdle is that all NASA astronauts have to learn Russian before they can go up. All the Soyuz controls are in Russian so they need to be able to read poo poo and communicate with the ground if poo poo goes sideways. Like, I dunno, maybe a booster loving up and the crew capsule getting to test out the emergency separation system. (That’s automated but you get the gist). You ain't kidding. Its important to note they don't just have to learn Russian, they have to be fully fluent in Russian (What the Russians call Intermediate High). And different crew positions on the Soyuz flight require different levels of Russian.
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Mar 8, 2019 15:23
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Platystemon posted:Dual language proficiency will remain a requirement for the life of the ISS. English is the operating language of IIS. The ONLY reason non-Russian astronauts were forced to speak Russian is being on Soyuz. And honestly I think it was just another way of getting more money for the flights. "YANKEE MUST LEARN MOTHERLAND'S LANGUAGE" But I would think as long as Soyuz spacecraft are used as escape boats, I would have to agree with you because the Russians are going to force that. There is no reason that Soyuz spacecraft cannot have had its control decks translated...
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Mar 8, 2019 15:26
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