e2janes

F-5 Tiger (thing) by Hatshepsut Tue Jun 03 2003 at 23:57:37

The True Story of the Birth of a Little Tiger
The story of the F-5 Tiger begins in 1954, when a Northrop team toured Europe and Asia in order to determine the defense needs of NATO and SEATO countries. The answer? A 1955 company design study outlined plans for a lightweight supersonic fighter that would not only be capable of operating out of short runways and aircraft carriers, but would also be easy to maintain and relatively inexpensive. The design was given the designation N-156F, after the specs went through several overhauls. The Air Force was not initially impressed because it hadn’t been in the market for lightweight fighters. But it appeared that all was not lost for the F-5, because the Air Force did need a new training aircraft to replace the Lockheed T-33.

In 1956, the Air Force announced that it would acquire a different design, the two-seater trainer N-156T, under the designation T-38, and the name Talon was chosen. The construction of three prototypes was authorized. Unfazed by this turn of events, the Northrop company decided in 1958 to continue with the development of the N-156F as a private venture. The inaugural flight of the prototype version of the newly designated F-5 aircraft took place in July of 1959. Three years later, the Department of Defense announced its choice of the F-5 as the aircraft for its Military Assistance Program (MAP). America’s NATO and SEATO allies would be able to acquire a reasonably priced supersonic warplane of world-class quality, and of course, that plane was the F-5A Freedom Fighter. Initial deliveries of the F-5 were made to Iran in 1965, and other countries, attracted by its low cost and reliability, were soon snapping up the feisty little aircraft.

An agile and tricky air-combat opponent that was never meant for anything other than MAP distribution, the F-5A nonetheless was quickly recognized as something special and in 1965, the Air Force borrowed twelve combat-ready F-5As Freedom Fighters from MAP supplies. They sent the planes to Vietnam with the 4503rd Tactical Fighter Wing for operational service trials in a program code named Skoshi Tiger, or Little Tiger, and so it was during the aircraft’s short tour of duty that its nickname was earned. Which is odd, considering that the F-5’s time in Vietnam was the only time the Air Force let the aircraft see active duty. The Tiger is unique in that it has never been part of the USAF’s tactical forces.

But it prospered in a number of other ways. The Northrop F-5 was one of the most successful US aircraft industry exports due to the same qualities that the guys at Northrop and licensed foreign producers of the F-5 such as Canadair of Canada, CASA of Spain, FFA of Switzerland, Hanjin of South Korea, and AIDC of Taiwan (but not Fokker) wouldn’t overlook: it was reliable, easy to maintain, and while it did not always have the performance of some of its more costly contemporaries, it was still a lot of plane for a little money. Very few American planes have enjoyed as much success in allied air forces as the Little Tiger has over the course of its career and the F-5 is still a part of many foreign air forces.

Just Tell Me About The Goddamn Plane
Ooh, so sleek, so sexy! In case you didn’t hear it the first time, the F-5 is a easy-to-fly, easy-to-fix, lightweight and inexpensive supersonic fighter. To get technical in ways even I don’t understand, this baby is a “low-wing monoplane equipped with an all-moving horizontal tail mounted in the low position.” For maximum flying enjoyment, the fuselage has been carefully contoured in accordance with the “transonic area rule.” (Are you getting hot yet?) Side-mounted inlets supply air to two General Electric J85 afterburning turbojet engines. (I know I am!) Just for the curious, the 4.8 percent thick wing has “twenty-four sweepback at the quarter chord line” and the trailing edge is almost straight. Speed breaks are mounted in the bottom of the body of the plane.

Popular opinion holds that the F-5 Tiger handles well and does not have a propensity for entering unintentional spins. Perhaps that’s because its turning performance is enhanced by an “aileron-rudder interconnect system” and handling characteristics are improved by “artificial damping about the pitch and yaw axes.” (This is an aeronautical orgasm waiting to happen.)

While the F-5 was originally designed for daytime use as an air-to-air fighter, it has also been extensively used as a ground-attack aircraft. Photorecon versions of the Tiger have also been produced. Armament for its air-exclusive combat role consists of two 20 mm cannons and two Sidewinder missiles. But wait! That’s not all! For those just in case situations, five pylons carry up to 6,200 pounds of weaponry, such as 20 unguided rockets or four air-to-air missiles, or external fuel tanks. Truly, a supreme machine.

And then?
Who could ask for anything more? Maybe they wanted their pylon to carry 7,000 pounds. Or a service ceiling that is 1,300 feet higher. And 156 more miles of range when flying with maximum fuel and engines providing more than twenty-three percent more power! On November 20, 1970, a Northrop design was presented to the USAF, who had been looking for a fighter able to fly air superiority missions against planes like the Soviet-built MiG-21. The design? An advanced F-5 that came to be known as the F-5E Tiger II. An order was placed for 325 production aircraft, the first of which came gliding off the tarmac in 1972. But it wasn’t until 1973 that the USAF accepted the Tiger II for service and a year later, its two-seater counterpart, the F-5F, was born.

You may be wondering what these planes were good for. Well, like we said, the design was made to be at least as good as the Soviet MIG-21, and the two planes do share some characteristics. That made them perfect for use as an aggressor aircraft meant to represent enemy fighters in simulated combat. In fact, the top air combat training schools in the US, the Navy’s Fighter Weapon School and the Air Force’s Aggressor Squadron, both use F-5Es in their combat training. Estimates show that an F-5 can be operated at roughly one-third the cost of operating an F/A-18. Yeah!

The final production tally was more than 1,400 aircraft for more than thirty customers. Most were built by Northrop, but licensed production also took place in South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan. But even a fine wine will eventually sour and the beautiful and dependable F-5 Tigers are gradually being put to sleep.

Vital Stats
Aircraft type: F-5E/F-5F
Aircraft manufacturer: Northrop
Length: 14.40 m / 15.48 m
Span: 8.60 m
Height : 4.07 m / 4.02 m
Radar type: AN/APW-159, Emerson
Jet engine manufacturer: General Electric
Jet engine type: 2 / J85-GE-21 A/B
Fuel capacity without auxiliary fuel tank: 2648 L
Max. speed at low altitude: M 1.04 / M 1.03
Max. Mach number: M 1.63 / M 1.56 Max. thrust without/with afterburner: 15'575 N / 22'250 N Admissible G-load: -3 to +7.3
Service ceiling: 15'000 m / 15'200 m
Air-to-air missiles: 2 SIWA LL-63/92
Aircraft gun: 2 20mm Flz Kan 76 (M39A3)
Empty weight: 4900 kg / 5180 kg
Take-off weight without external loads: 7062 kg / 7443 kg
Max. take-off weight : 10'312 kg / 10'550 kg

SO YOU WANT TO SEE THIS THING??
http://www.flygplan.info/images/Northrop_F-5_tiger_II.gif

Project #941 PLARB - NATO Code Name Typhoon

The Project 941 class submarine (hereafter referred to as the Typhoon for ease of typing and Western familiarity) is believed to be the world's largest submarine. The class, PLARB, is a Russian acronym standing for Podvodnaya Lodka Atomnaya Raketnaya Ballisticheskaya. This translates roughly into English as "Submarine, Nuclear-powered - Rocket, Ballistic." It is the equivalent of the NATO SSBN.

The first hull was laid down at the 402 Sevmash shipyard by the Soviet Navy on March 3, 1977. It was launched 3.5 years later, on Sept. 23rd 1980. The fleet eventually numbered around six, all based at Polyarnyy, near Murmansk in the North Fleet oparea. This boat is noteworthy both for its capabilities and its dimensions. The Typhoon was the first boat to deploy the Soviet R-39 SLBM (known to NATO as the SS-N-20 Sturgeon). This missile was the first solid-fuelled Soviet SLBM to have long enough range to hit its targets from its home port waters, increasing the perceived threat to NATO.

The Typhoon is notable for having a dual pressure hull structure, with the pressure hulls side-by-side. This is responsible for the sizeable beam of the ship. The bulge around the base of the sail is an escape compartment designed to separate from the ship and carry the entire crew to the surface in the event of an emergency. It is nuclear powered, with twin reactors and steam turbines, producing 190 MW of power. This drives its twin screws with enough power for the ship to attain submerged speeds of approximately 25-27 knots.

This ship class was introduced to the Western public by the work of fiction writer Tom Clancy. His fictional submarine Red October was a Typhoon class boat - if it was the lead boat of the class, its Soviet navy designation would have been TK-208, the actual first hull. It is, however, not propelled by magnetohydrodynamic propulsion, as Clancy's version was. It was a worry to NATO navies for many of the qualities that Clancy described: extremely long range missiles, quieter operation than its predecessors, and generally more modern systems. In addition, it was capable of operating under ice. This, along with its extremely long missile range and self-defense systems likely pushed U.S. Navy planners towards a particular doctrine of 'storming the bastions.' This was (IMHO) a most unwise doctrine, but seemed to drive a great deal of U.S. Navy ASW planning during the 1980s and early 1990s, including the design of the SSN-21 Seawolf, a blue-water pure ASW platform. It was called the Maritime Strategy and its shortcomings can be discussed elsewhere.

In essence, the Typhoon was designed with the weaknesses of the Soviet Navy clearly in mind, and the submarine's primary purpose as well. The Soviets were quite aware that the NATO navies would exert all available force to dominate the Atlantic Ocean and its approaches. This made their missile submarines useless as long-range, wandering assets since they would be heavily outnumbered and up against navies much better trained than they, and trained on the battleground itself in Atlantic NATO exercises. They could and did station some PLARBs on the Pacific, but the situation there was even worse with Japan and the U.S. holding joint naval dominance, plus the lack of access to blue-water ports out of easy reach of Western surveillance and interdiction.

As a result, the likely doctrine of the Soviet (now Russian) PLARB fleet was to run for the polar icecap in the event of war, with accompanying fast-attack boats (SSN) for protection. Operating under ice is not easy; submarines have to be designed to do so (most are) and train to do so (some do). Even then, finding an opposing submarine whose mission is simply to remain undetected, all the while fighting cat and mouse games with opposing attack submarines close to their home turf is not something the NATO submarine forces looked forward to. The Typhoon was able, likely, to surface through ice or at least hide up against the bottom of the icepack, given that it was able to handle 'under-ice operations.' This would have made things even harder.

This whole operation was designed to protect the Soviet PLARBs, in order to preserve their nuclear arsenal as a secure second-strike asset for the Soviet leadership in the event of a confrontation. The Typhoon looked to be very good at this sort of run-and-hide game, and that made NATO a bit nervous.

Some Specs courtesy of the Federation or American Scientists, Jane's Fighting Ships and conversations with crew:

Length: 171 meters
Beam: 23+ meters
Draft: 11+meters
Max. Speed: 14 kts surface/26 kts submerged
Number of ships in class: 6 (one to three presently active, likely one)
Displacement: around 24,000 tons dwt. on the surface, and between 33,000 and 48,000 tons dwt.submerged. For comparison, a modern U.S. Aircraft Carrier displaces just under 100,000 tons; a World War II fast battleship of the U.S. Iowa class displaces approximately 45,000 tons.
Max. Diving Depth: Unknown, probably around 500 meters
Crew size: Approx. 145 men

M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge (thing) by in10se Tue Apr 01 2003 at 19:01:21

linked by Chase

The M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC) is a United States Army combat engineering system first placed in production in 1989. In short, a MICLIC is a rocket propelled minefield breacher. A MICLIC is usually placed on a trailer, and towed by an M9 ACE or similar engineering vehicle. It can also be mounted in pairs on a modified AVLB chassis (i.e., an AVLM). Each engineering company has from 2 to 6 MICLICs, depending on whether they are designated as a "light", "mechanized", or "heavy" unit.

When a convoy needs to pass through an area known to be covered in land mines, the MICLIC is moved to the front of the line so that it can be prepared. Once ready, it is launched with a solid fuel rocket, sending a 100 meter (~350 feet) line out over the mine field. Surrounding this line is approximately 5 pounds per linear foot of Composition C (C-4) or Composition A (A-4) for a total of about 1750-1850 pounds of this plastic explosive ^{1}. Suitable cover is taken, and the entire line is electrically detonated causing a chain reaction of all the mines in an 8-14 meter wide lane to detonate as well. Mines that are not pressure sensitive (e.g., magnetic sensitive mines) may not explode after the MICLIC is detonated, however, the mines are usually thrown clear of the lane that was created. For this reason, the lane is then plowed and smoothed, and the edges are marked, allowing the convoy to safely pass through. This system allows the combat engineering squad to clear a minefield from the safety of their vehicles, allowing them to be protected from small arms fire, artillery, and shrapnel. It is obviously much safer than clearing a minefield on foot even when not under enemy fire, as there is less chance of accidents.

At the core of the Line Charge is a 3/4-inch nylon rope woven with 3 strands of electrical leads and a steel towing cable. Attached to this rope are 2-3 strands of PETN Detonating Cord. All of this is surrounded by the above mentioned explosive. After firing the rocket, the explosive is armed mechanically by being pulled taut, and the electricity used to detonate the explosive is generated by a manual pump.

Specifications

Entire Assembly
Length:                       93 in  (236 cm) 
Width:                        54 in  (137 cm) 
Height:                       28 in   (71 cm) 
Weight: (C-4)               3000 lb (1360 kg) 
Weight: (A-4)               3200 lb (1454 kg)
    
Line Charge
Length:                      350 ft  (107 m) 
Weight (C-4):               2042 lb  (926 kg)
Weight (A-4):               2242 lb (1017 kg) 
Explosive weight (C-4):     1750 lb  (794 kg) 
Explosive weight (A4):      1950 lb  (886 kg)
Method of initiation:       Electrical (10 blasting cap or
                            higher capacity blasting machine)

Other Combat Engineering Vehicles

Notes

^{1}

Total weight and explosive type depends on the year of production.

References

http://www.bamberg.army.mil/82nd/archive/miclic/gallery.htm
http://www.adtdl.army.mil/atdl/docs/cm/miclic/webpages/overview.htm
http://mcdweb.pica.army.mil/miclic.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m58-miclic.htm

M9 Armored Combat Earthmover (thing) by in10se Thu Oct 10 2002 at 20:47:06

linked by Chase

To describe the United States Army's M9 Armored Combat Earthmover (ACE) to someone who has never seen one, I'd have to say it is the combination of a tank, a dump truck, a bulldozer, and a low rider. This might sound like a strange combination, but it makes for a great combat engineering vehicle.

The M9 ACE is a highly mobile, air-transportable, amphibious, fully tracked combat vehicle used primarily to prepare firing positions for tanks, artillery, and other weapons systems including other combat engineering vehicles such as the M728 CEV. It can also be used to create or eliminate other obstacles such as tank ditches, berms, roadblocks, and minefields; or maintain and repair roads, supply routes, and temporary air fields. It is used extensively for both offen sive and defen sive operations including dozing, scraping, grading, excavating, hauling, towing, and winching.

The ACE features a front-mounted dozer blade behind which is a 26.1 cubic foot (6.7 cubic meter) scraper bowl. When a particular job requires a machine heavier than 37000 lbs (17000kg), the blade can be hydraulically lifted, and the scraper bowl can be filled with up to 9 tons of ballast bringing the vehicle weight up to 55000 lbs (25000kg). The rear has a two-speed winch capable of 25,000-pound line pull.

What makes the M9 most unique is its hydropneumatic suspension system. The vehicle has eight high-pressure hydraulic rotary actuators that connect to the roadwheels. It can tilt forward to dig steep trenches; backward to dig upward from a lower position or to help climb obstacles; or to either side for slanted digging. It's amazing to see this huge vehicle contort so smoothly - it puts any lowrider to shame.

A single driver operates this tracked vehicle, so his only method of contact with other members of his unit is by radio communication. The driver's cupola is located at the rear of the vehicle, and can be completely sealed for combat operations and chemical or biological attacks. When the hatch is closed, the driver operates and navigates with the help of numerous vision blocks much like small periscopes. For additional protection and concealment in combat situations, the vehicle is equipped with two smoke grenade launchers.

Technical Specifications

General

Date of First Acceptance: 1986
Manufacturer: BMY Combat Systems and United Defense LP
Unit Cost: $710,194

Dimensions and Measurements

Travel Weight: 37000 lbs (17000kg)
Combat Weight: 55000 lbs (25000kg)
Length: 20ft 5in (6.2m)
Width: 9ft 2in (2.79m)
Height: 9ft 11in (3m)
Ground Clearance: 13in (33cm)
Bowl Capacity: 8.7 cubic yards (6.7 cubic meters)
Fuel Tank: 134gal (507L)

Performance

Maximum Ground Speed: 30mph (50kph)
Maximum Swim Speed: 3mph (5kph)
Cruising Range: ~200mi (~320km)
Maximum Dig Grade: 60 degrees
Maximum Trench Crossing: 62in (1.6m)
Maximum Vertical Wall Crossing: 18in (46cm)
Turning Radius (Geared Steering): 45ft (13.7m)
Turning Radius (Clutch Brake): Pivot

Automotive

Engine: Cummins V903C; eight cylinder, vee diesel
Horsepower: 295 at 2600rpm
Transmission: Clark 13.5 HR 3610-2, 6 speeds forward, 2 reverse

Armor

Assembly: Welding and Bolting
Type: Aluminum Armor, Steel and Aramid Laminate Plates

Suspension

Type: Hydropneumatic
Road Wheels: 4 individually sprung per track
Drive Sprockets: Rear Drive

Track

Width: 18in (46cm)
Ground Contact Length: 105in (2.67m)

Other Combat Engineering Vehicles

References

I have driven and performed maintenance on (though not dug with) an ACE
http://peocscss.tacom.army .mil/pmCMS/m9ace/descrip.htm
http://www.militaryhp.com/vehicle/tracked/m-9.htm
http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/acem9.html
https://155.147.190.23/equipment/BRCH_ACE.htm
http://www.uniteddefense.com/prod/ace.htm

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Venerable members of this group:

Project #941 PLARB - NATO Code Name Typhoon

Specifications

Technical Specifications