I can't shake the feeling that I'm looking at a max level Call of Duty player's TAR.
They´ve reached Max Prestige Level on their MTAR? Damn, i only managed to get to level 6.
https://youtu.be/g_3AoDf7CeE
This thing is legitimately one of the most Australian gun development stories ever. Local kid makes gun in shed, leaves it outside, and his neighbor manages to convince the army to adopt the gun for multiple decades.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bf/38/ac/bf38acfe39c51666bbaed8694d8f87b9.jpg
And here's some of the prototypes that were made of this thing, the one on the top right was what was actually found in a sugar sack leaning up against the Owen family's house, and is made from a 22 rifle stock/barrel and some car parts.
Leave it to Australia to put the magazine on upside-down
That's some very cool history behind the gun, though.
Actually less recoil than call of duty what the fuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hsOrULshco
That sound is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp8DQMJIOPE
Muhreens are adopting the M18 (compact P320) as their new sidearm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuRxqhMCqwo
https://twitter.com/TheWoracle/status/1128320207280332800
This is a wind tunnel model, but it made me wonder what an unmmaned Apache would be like.
Grumman did make some drone conversions of existing helicopters starting around 2000, they call them "Fire Scouts"
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/MQ-8C_Fire_Scout_flying_over_Webster_Field_Annex.jpg
This one here, in testing with the US Navy, is built on a Bell 407 helicopter
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Bell_407_-N23986.jpg
Really the only externally visible alteration is the removal of all glass windows and the addition of the view camera to the nose.
That being said making just a straight conversion of an existing aircraft design to an unmanned vehicle doesn't really work that well. Manned aircraft have to balance aerodynamics with the fact that they contain a pilot, and it turns out that a seated human is not particularly aerodynamic (they also weigh a couple hundred pounds and require various accommodations). If you just dispose of the crew compartment entirely that opens up a lot of opportunities for aerodynamic or at least space/weight saving design features that can't really be done by just modifying an existing craft (assuming you want to preserve the most expensive parts). Hence why the only thing an MQ-1 Predator has in common with manned fixed-wing aircraft is having wings and a motor.
This is also why Grumman's earlier design for a helicopter drone had a very short and much more aerodynamic fuselage than either the final model, or the helicopter it was built from (a Sikorsky S-333)
https://defpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/MQ-8B-Fire-Scout-COBRA.jpg
It really is just the age old problem of attempting to adapt old equipment to serve new roles: the closer you get to squeezing the same performance out of your conversion as you'd get from purpose-built new equipment, the closer you get to the cost of just buying new equipment. They're really just good for figuring out the mechanics behind the features of the new technology.
northrop grumman shill mode activated
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https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/58207/d8cf29ad-9687-4b15-b3ed-de469cb74c03/image.png
The Northrop Grumman X-47B, built as a tech demo to demonstrate carrier-based operations with unmanned combat air vehicles. A platform based on the X-47B design was entered for the US Navy's UCLASS program, but was withdrawn when the program changed from a mainly ISR-based platform to an aerial refueling platform.
I can't take those drone conversions seriously, not because of the tech or purpose, but just because they look like unpainted airfix models
I do love me some Grumman designs, their old Naval planes are really nice.
https://www.flightjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A_Prowler_lands_aboard_USS_George_H.W._Bush.1-e1431885760872.jpg
They also made the best god damn truck ever
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Grumman_LLV_Front.png
Seriously, these motherfuckers are an impressive piece of engineering, they run all day every day for 32 years carrying heavy loads.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6xeO3fUEAAHD36.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6xeQuXUcAI4mHG.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6xeSdEUYAEYQrh.jpg
US Army 173rd Airborne practicing helo inserts with AT weapons in Romania. It's interesting to see them geared to fight a "peer adversary" again.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6v2NRGUcAAC_rI.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6v2ObTUYAANrsF.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6v2SxKUcAAW3q-.jpg
Some Italian and Slovenian forces on that exercise as well.
Honestly, as someone that drives the LLV for a living, I prefer the FFV.
https://live.staticflickr.com/3528/3305242469_9b87a613dc_b.jpg
It has a V6 engine instead of a wimpy four-cylinder, a window so you can actually see oncoming traffic from difficult angles, and the rear isn't slanted, so that if it's raining you're less likely to get stuff wet while loading from the back.
Obscure German VTOLs time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q613kD_lrjo
Like most VTOLs of the Cold War, the primary objective of this thing was to operate dispersed and dish out nuclear retaliation without being dependent on airfields and perhaps operating from the Autobahn. But I find its accompanying transport design, the Dornier Do 31, to be even more interesting
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Dornier_Do_31_in_1968.jpg
http://soldiersystems.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1E700916-3374-4287-A2E9-4D00755B9C5E.jpeg
http://soldiersystems.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/A042D878-1966-4149-B029-B401C1B55C42.jpeg
Sig's prototypes for a 6.8mm Next Gen SAW and Carbine. The Machine Gun weighs 11.97 lbs, while the Carbine is 8.1 lbs with no Optic or Suppressor.
http://soldiersystems.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CAAAC41D-4428-4A1D-B257-6DBF14B4876B.jpeg
The Carbine also has a side charging handle in addition to the regular T-shaped rear CH for reasons.
Begone ghost page
http://soldiersystems.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/img_9166.jpg
If anyone remembers the HuntIR grenades from ArmA ACE mod, this Drone-40 is like a more advanced version of that. It is shot from a grenade launcher to get it airborne and then it deploys its helicopter rotors to keep aloft and move.
Payloads include camera, anti-armor, fuel-air, HE/frag, diversionary, smoke, counter-UAS,
With these mixed of payload types, Drone-40 can be used individually, paired, or as a swarm, to a variety of effects. For example, a team could launch one or more ISR configured munitions along with a swarm of anti-armor payloads and loiter over an ambush spot, waiting for a vehicle column. With Multi-Round Simultaneous Impact mode, multiple effects can be acheived at once, depending on the types of payloads delivered.
http://soldiersystems.net/2019/05/24/sofic-19-defendtex-drone-40/
