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Cold War Air Power and other related topics | 🇺🇸
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Jan 10 17 tweets 10 min read
During the development of the Tomahawk Cruise missile, an airfield attack version was proposed.
This was to utilize runway-cratering submunitions as an alternative to manned missions or nuclear strikes to disable a Soviet airfield in a war.
This was MRASM BKEP, or AGM-109H.
🧵 Image MRASM BKEP was a sub-variant of MRASM, which itself was a subvariant of Tomahawk. AGM-109H (Photo 4) should also be distinguished from the AGM-109 variant proposed to compete with the Boeing AGM-86 (Photo 3) and the shorter tactical AGM-109L (Photo 2). Image
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Jan 5 29 tweets 9 min read
AAM-N-3 started life sometime in the early 1950s as a replacement for the beam-riding AAM-N-2 Sparrow I, which proved to be wholly inadequate. It featured an aerodynamic redesign and an active radar homing seeker.
Sparrow II was the odd one out.🧵
[Thread update] Image Developed by Sperry-Douglas, like the first one, the second Sparrow was primarily intended to provide a better guidance system to allow for successful intercepts of maneuvering targets, or from other angles besides directly ahead or astern of the target.
Jan 4 8 tweets 3 min read
In the dawn of the air-to-air missile, aircraft, radars and fire control systems were tied together. This allowed for optimization of the airframe to the missile and the missile to the fire control system. As this method of design has died out, the advantages have also been lost. Image After the success of the AIM-7, and the expansion of AIM-7 carriage from F-3B to F-4 to F-15 and F-16, AAM development has become largely uncoupled from airframe and fire control radar development. This has been mostly a positive, but there are some negative aspects as well. Image
Dec 31, 2024 21 tweets 7 min read
I often complain that USAF procurement has a history of choosing a cheaper product rather than a better product.
The Philco-Ford AIM-9E is a case study in how a price tag can influence the USAF. From the reports I can find, 9E was worse than the 9B.
A short🧵 Image Though the development history of the AIM-9E is somewhat murky, we have some information.
The USAF liked the low cost of the AIM-9B, and the much higher cost and somewhat protracted development of the Navy's advanced nitrogen-cooled AIM-9D frustrated the USAF.
Dec 29, 2024 17 tweets 10 min read
In 1986, the Kaiser Electronics Agile-Eye HMD was presented to the USAF for testing.
This HMD was unusually lightweight and had some advanced features, and it would eventually become the basis for JHMCS.🧵
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The most common issue with HMDs of the 1970s and 1980s was weight. Kaiser Electronics understood this problem, and set out to not only lower the weight of the helmet to below that of a conventional flight helmet, but also to adjust the center of gravity to be closer to the neck. Image
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Dec 27, 2024 19 tweets 6 min read
Now for a more coherent thread on my observations on the new Chinese planes.

The first thought is that these are not related aircraft at all. One appears to have optimized internal bay space and the other does not have the same internal bay optimization. Image
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The higher resolution images provide some interesting details about the first one.
There are two smaller bays, indicated by the green arrows. The central bays, indicated by white arrows are an extra third longer. Image
Dec 26, 2024 7 tweets 3 min read
Well. This isn't what I expected to see today.
Guess I'll make some observations? I can't provide explanations. Three engines. Why are there three engines? Why are two intakes below and one above? Maximizing weapon bay space?
Why does it look like these are splitter plate intakes and not DSIs? Assuming this is a Chengdu product, they should be very familiar with DSIs. Image
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Dec 25, 2024 16 tweets 5 min read
December 24, 1968, 2130E. The klaxon in the barracks of the 27th FIS sounds.
Pilots, awoken mere moments before, sprint towards their aircraft. F-106es.
Upon entering their aircraft, they don their helmets and start their engines, before exiting their hangar into the frigid air. Image Taxiing out onto the runway, they hold their brakes as they let their engines spool up. At full power, they engage their afterburners, and wait.
A little over a second later, a loud bang is accompanied by a jolt, as the afterburner engages and they begin their takeoff run. Image
Dec 18, 2024 32 tweets 11 min read
The irony of this comment is that the rejection of the F-35 and stealth technologies is just that -- a reflection of a lack of information in regards to battlefield realities.

I think this deserves a thread to inform.

Photo credit for all F-35 pictures used:@SR_Planespotter https://x.com/SR_Planespotter/status/1761047006582063351/photo/1 The first point to cover is radar stealth. Stealth is a bit of a silly term in some ways. A better term for this is "very low observable." What that means is that effort is made to reduce the radar signature of the aircraft, often combined with infrared signature reduction.
Dec 12, 2024 50 tweets 17 min read
The A-10 began development during the Vietnam War. Its first flight, in 1972, occurred a day after the start of Operation Rolling Thunder.

It was designed to fit into existing Close Air Support doctrine, but with little foresight into the changing CAS mission of the future. A🧵 Image Even before the American entry into Vietnam, Forward Air Controllers began operating in the theater. These were necessary to coordinate air support to ground troops in the dense jungle, which prevented pilots of larger, faster aircraft from effectively spotting their targets. Image
Dec 4, 2024 13 tweets 5 min read
What was going on with the pistol used in the NYC assassination?
I believe it was a Browning-Whiting tilting barrel action that was improperly configured to run subsonic ammunition.
A short 🧵 Image A Browning tilting barrel action is a short recoil action where, under recoil, the barrel unlocks from the slide and the rear tilts down on a pivoting link.

The locking lugs can be seen above the chamber fitting into the slide and the pivoting link can be seen below.
Nov 30, 2024 21 tweets 9 min read
During the development of the Airborne Missile Control System(AMCS) for the F-4 Phantom, interest was shown in an Infrared Search and Track(IRST) system to permit tracking of targets when the Radar could not detect them.
This produced the Avion AN/AAA-4, an F-4B exclusive IRST.🧵 Image The first thing to clear up is how to identify whether or not these IRSTs were fitted to an F-4. First, does the aircraft have a chin pod, and second, is the tip of the chin pod reflective or dull?
The AAA-4 had an IR anti-reflective coating that was reflective in visible light. Image
Nov 22, 2024 41 tweets 15 min read
In 1958, the semi-active AAM-N-6 Sparrow III (AIM-7C) entered service with the United States Navy. Despite being designed as an upgrade of the beam-riding Sparrow I (AIM-7A) bomber-intercept missile, it became one of the most prolific Air-to-Air missiles of the Cold War.

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The Sparrow I was a radar beam-riding missile. This meant that the missile would try to center itself within the radar beam during flight, which was locked to the gunsight's position. This can be seen in the spiral path flown by this Sparrow I.
Nov 11, 2024 16 tweets 7 min read
In 1958, a GAR-8(AIM-9B) Sidewinder was fired by an F-86 Sabre operated by the ROCAF. This missile, famously, did not detonate and embedded itself in a PLAAF MiG-17. This would then be sent to the USSR, who would copy it as the R-3S.
Why didn't the Sidewinder explode?
A🧵 Image Unfortunately, few images of this missile exist. However, what does exist helps greatly in identifying what it was and what went wrong. What also helps is a few identifying details on the R-3S that came out of it. Image
Oct 29, 2024 25 tweets 9 min read
Because this video is getting some attention, I want to cover the claims SmallArmsSolutions makes in it and the issues with his testing methodology and evidence.

This is a bit unusual, but I greatly dislike poor reporting/poor analysis from otherwise respected outlets.🧵 Image The first issue to cover is that he portrays M855A1 primarily as an "eco-round". This is technically true but it was not the primary motivation for its development. Issues with M855 such as poor performance on target at range initially spurred the development of M855A1. Image
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Oct 20, 2024 17 tweets 7 min read
So what DID we learn in Vietnam? First, slow planes were lost in far greater numbers than fast ones.

A-1 Skyraiders were shot down at incredibly high rates when compared to even F-100s over Vietnam.
(Ignore the F-105 in "overall"--most of its missions were over North Vietnam) Image What can be seen is the A-1 topping the charts in all theaters in which it saw service. The F-100 was not far behind in North Vietnam due to its low speed and thus "vulnerable time" to radar-directed AAA fire or other various types of ground fire including small arms. Image
Oct 5, 2024 35 tweets 16 min read
Over the years, much has been discussed about the development of the F-15 Eagle. A recurring theme in this is the importance of the MiG-25 in the development of the Eagle.

History, however, reflects a complete lack of influence over the F-15 program. 🧵 Image
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The first place to start is most definitely with the deficiency that generated the requirement for what would become the F-X program.
Sep 30, 2024 12 tweets 6 min read
Fabian is right here. The bunker hit in Lebanon is not a substantially hard target in the context of modern conflict, especially not when compared to Iranian targets.
However, we do have weapons that are FAR more capable than BLU-109.
GBU-28 with BLU-113 penetrator pictured. 🧵
Image Many elements between full-caliber armor-piercing shells and AP bombs are shared, including charge/mass ratio, AP cap design/thickness, oblique angle penetration, and utilization of base-fuzes.
Interestingly, some WW2-era AP bombs were repurposed/modified AP shells with fins. Image
Sep 26, 2024 15 tweets 6 min read
I want to dedicate this short thread to M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round(EPR) 5.56.

EPR is probably the best general-purpose 5.56 rifle round in existence right now, with performance equalling or EXCEEDING 7.62x51mm M80 ball.🧵
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M855 (SS109) has legendarily inconsistent performance at range. Most of its performance comes from yaw instability, which primarily occurs at short range.

Without yaw, it can pass harmlessly through a target, which was a significant issue encountered in Afghanistan.
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Sep 9, 2024 35 tweets 12 min read
Top speed and fighter aircraft: why lower top speed can be a benefit for an air superiority fighter.🧵 Image This discussion requires some background information and a discussion of intended roles as they changed over time. The first place to begin is with the F-86 Sabre. Image
Sep 1, 2024 47 tweets 19 min read
The RIM-8J was the last of the Talos missiles, and by far the best. With a range of up to 130nmi and a 465 pound warhead, the last model of Unified Talos could claim to be amongst the most lethal surface-to-air missiles of the Cold War, thanks in part to its Fire control System🧵 Image This thread will skip over the development side and skip straight to the juicy technical bits of the last Talos variant and shipborne radars. For a highly recommended overview including other variants, check out @VLS_Appreciator 's thread on the topic.