1/ #avgeek#aviation#airplanes#USAF - April 20, 2016: A quartet of Lockheed F-22 Raptors salute the OTD 100th Anniversary of the Lafayette Escadrille over the Lafayette Escadrille Monument, just west of Paris. The first squadrons to get the F-22... @Sylvia70485099@kadonkey
@Sylvia70485099@kadonkey 2/ were the 94th and 27th Fighter Squadrons. The 94th carries the Lafayette Escadrille's legacy, which is actually quite sad since it buried it. Here the French Air Force buzzes the same with some Mirage 2000s and a Rafale.
3/ The USAF's abandonment of the Lafayette Esacrille is truly disgraceful. France, however, honors the Lafayette Escadrille. Beyond the monument, the commemorative Dassault Mirage 2000 N, it actually has a Escadron de Chasse 2/4 La Fayette at BA 113. Merci, France!
@Armee_de_lair@USAFacts@USAFReserve@AFmuseum 4/ For the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Lafayette Escadrille, here two #USAF F-35s and two @Armee_de_lair (French Air Force) Rafales stealthfully overfly the Lafayette Escadrille Monument, May, 2021. 🇫🇷🇺🇸
@Armee_de_lair@USAFacts@USAFReserve@AFmuseum 5/ Feb. 1918: The Lafayette Escadrille becomes the USAS (now USAF) 103rd Aero Squadron↖️. Post WWI, it's disbanded. 94th Aero Squadron's Eddie Rickenbacker↗️ gets the 103rd's legacy transferred to the 94th↙️. The Sioux head is used instead of the Hat in the Ring↘️.
6/ In 1942, the 94th reverts to the Hat in the Ring but still retains the 103rd's legacy. The Lafayette Escadrille has never been reconstituted and is effectively forgotten, though it is America's first combat fighter squadron and first combat squadron of any kind.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
#PoliceReform#TyreNichols#Tyre#Video#Riots - Bodycam footage pf Tyre Nichols' murder by 5 police officers is due for release tonight. Police across USA are bracing for riots and violence. But violence will only harm and destroy communities with NO benefit. Please don't do it.
#RodneyKing#TyreNichols + Memphis, HELL NO trend. 1992's Los Angeles Rodney King riots did great harm. This was both the immediate damage and massive subsequent economic devastation as companies and customers stayed away. What do #riots do to the communities they devastate?
3/ #PoliceBrutality#TyreNichols: People have every right to be angry. I'm angry. 😠😠😠But for once, the system actually seems to be working. The five #Memphis#police officers have been fired and arrested. Quickly.
#FirepowerFriday#WW2#ships: #Germany's mighty and handsome 52,600-ton 8x15" battleship Tirpitz at speed↖️ and Tromso fjord, #Norway↗️. ↙️↘️Perhaps on November 12, 1944 when she was sunk by RAF Lancasters. Her clean lines betray a lack of AA. Photo: ACME.
3/ Tirpitz was, of course, the second and last ship of the Bismarck-class battleships. These diagrams from forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/199855-t…, etc., show her gentle evolution over time, especially ↖️↗️↙️where we see improvements in AA, radars and camo. ↘️ is similar to ↗️.
T-34 #military#history – The apex of Soviet Christie suspension #tanks is the 33 mph T-34/85 with the L/55 D-5T 85mm main gun. Note: the larger vehicles (T-34/76, T-34/85, British A-27 and A-34) had five wheels a side).
#military#history – The most-famous Christie suspension vehicle is the Soviet T-34/76. It lacked the hybrid solid rubber tire road wheel/track configuration but just superb wide traction tracks helping it sprint over terrain its opponents couldn’t handle.
3/ #TankTuesday I'll post four T-34 interior shots in a moment as a reply to this later model T-34/85 with the larger gun, larger turret, and five-man crew instead of the original T-34/76’s four-man crew.
#RussiaUkraineWar#Challenger2#UkraineArmy Challenger 2 tank: 447 built 1998-2002. World's best tank? L/55 120mm barrel. Crew: 4. Armor: 2nd gen. Chobham. 63 long tons! 1,200 bhp; V12 diesel; 37 mph. Ukraine to get 14. Great video from @PhilLoder. 1/
@PhilLoder 2/ Challenger 2 has digital fire control computer, laser rangefinder, 8 periscopes and 2 x 7.62mm machine guns. How would it fare vs. #RussianArmy's T-72B3, T-90 / T-90M or T-14 Armata? @Burntime0101's great photos show Megatron emitting a smoke screen!
@PhilLoder@Burntime0101 3/ Challenger 2 is based on the similar looking Challenger 1 but shares only 3% of the parts! At the gun’s root is the big boxy Thermal Observation and Gunnery Sight II (TOGS II) for night vision. It relays to the gunner's and commander's monitors and sights.
#USNavy#USAF#avgeeks#aviationlovers - NATF-22? Yes, there could have been a navalized F-22 stealth a la F-14 Tomcat with swing wings, Mach 2.25 supercruise, heavier landing gear, and so much more. So why did the US Navy opt for the F-18 and F-35 instead? I'll tell you... 1/
2/ Congress wanted the NATF-22 but the US Navy pushed back. The swing wings would have compromised stealth and added to the maintenance woes. As it was, the F-14 was already far too expensive especially in the absence of the #USSR's military, which is why the F-14 was retired.
3/ The naval F-22, aka Sea Raptor, would have been slower than the F-14 and cost more. The F-22's unit cost was, ballpark, $138 million. A navalized one surely would have cost at least 20% more based on F-14 vs F-15 costs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_…
#Hurricane#USNavy#OTD: December 18, 1944, Admiral Halsey catastrophically orders the US Navy’s vaunted TF38 into #TyphoonCobra. TF38 has seven fleet carriers, eight battleships, ~60 light carriers, cruisers, and destroyers. In all, USA loses three... 1/
2/ destroyers on Dec. 18 killing 790 sailors. USS Iowa @ussiowa, CL Miami, etc., damaged. Light carriers Langley and Cowpens (above tweet) roll through 70 degrees, sending airplanes overboard or into each other, starting big fires. 146 aircraft lost!!!
3/ In contrast, USA lost 123 aircraft in June 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea. Destroyers Hull↖️, Monaghan ↗️ and Spence ↙️ sink. Maddox ↘️ and others are pounded but survive. 30 US Navy warships sunk or damaged total! #disasters#WW2#Pacific#Weather