Military

Picture of the Day

May 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

M82A91 “Silver Bullet” Tank Shell

For those that aren’t familiar, these are referred to as APFSDS shells (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot). The working bit is an extremely long, extremely thin, extremely dense fin stabilized “dart” (the bright silver thing running up the middle), which is why they are also sometimes referred to as LRPs (long rod penetrators).

This is held centered in the barrel by a multi-piece “sabot” (the darker grey bit) that separates from the dart when it leaves the gun.

The sabot is made of relatively light material, but increases the surface area that the chamber pressure can work on, which means that the dart exits the barrel much much faster than it would with a smaller diameter barrel.

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Picture of the Day

March 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

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M1928 Thompson submachine gun in custom violin case

They were originally designed as a trench sweeper and a replacement of slow firing bolt-action rifles, of course it was between the wars and so it was never used as such. (Except for the mob, that is)

The gun got adopted due to the endorsement of some bigger branches of the military liking its quality, but it was always regarded as weapon which was too expensive.

The biggest issues with the M1 was that it was well over-designed, meaning production was slow and whilst it was reliable, it was an extremely expensive weapon to push enough models to arm enough hands.

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Picture of the Day

February 9, 2021 Leave a Comment

Lockheed Martin Gen III Helmet

The helmet shell combines Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests, and carbon-fiber cloth, formed by applying resin under high heat to a synthetic fiber. The checkerboard pattern comes from a plain weave of the carbon fiber interlaced at 90-degree angles to form a product that is ultralight – 4.8 pounds – and 50 times stronger than carbon steel. The helmet’s polycarbonate visor protrudes like a light bulb, but the shell is otherwise more streamlined than previous helmets and integrates features such as night-vision goggles, which once required fixing separate hardware to an external attachment point. The helmet’s foam inner shell requires at least four hours of custom fitting to each pilot before it’s cut by laser; the precision ensures that its eye tracking and visor display stay aligned even during high-G maneuvers.

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Picture of the Day

February 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

Anzio 20mm Anti-Material Rifle – Designed to be used against light vehicles and equipment

One of the very few options in the Western world, and perhaps the only one in the USA, if you want a new-build rifle in a caliber bigger than .50 cal.

Each rifle is hand built to order, they cost $13000-20000 and weigh 59-130lbs depending on configuration. They use match grade hand-lapped barrels and can be chambered for 4 calibers

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Picture of the Day

January 5, 2021 Leave a Comment

B-17 Ball Turret Gunner

While anyone who flew on a B-17 bomber during World War II had a pretty dangerous job, the ball turret gunner was undoubtedly put in the most-precarious position.

“You literally had your knees up to your chest and in between you had the machine guns,” said Gary Lewi, spokesman for the American Airpower Museum based at Republic Airport. “You really had to have pretty tough nerves to be in there.”

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Picture of the Day

December 28, 2020 Leave a Comment

kaiten submarine

(photo: Nick-D)

A “Kaiten”, Japanese suicide torpedo. A soldier would enter and direct the weapon to its target, sacrificing his life.

Kaiten (回天, literal translation: “Turn the Heaven”, commonly rendered as “turn of the Heaven’s will”, “the heaven shaker”) were manned torpedoes and suicide craft, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II.

Kaiten pilots were all men aged between 17 and 28. Initial training consisted of sailing fast surface boats by periscope and instrument readings alone.

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Picture of the Day

December 9, 2020 Leave a Comment

how does a grenade work

The Inside Of A Frag And Practice Grenade

How does a grenade work?

Operating the hand grenade is a relatively simple task as there are few moving parts.

The operator uses one hand to hold the safety lever firmly against the grenade body, whilst the other hand is used to remove the safety pin. Providing the operator does not release the safety lever the grenade will not explode.

Once the operator has thrown the grenade, the safety lever will be released, and the striker spring will rotate the striker, until it impacts upon the primer.

The primer ignites a chemical delay fuse, which will burn for approximately four seconds. The delay burns until it reaches the detonator, at which point the detonator will explode and cause an even larger explosion as it ignites the charge.

The contents explode, fragmenting the outer casing (which holds all the explosive inside). These fragments then move outward as shrapnel, damaging the surroundings.

Picture of the Day

December 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

bazooka vespa

(photo: R.I.V.A.R.S. Registro Italiano Veicoli Abitativi Ricreazionali Storici, foto di C.Galliani)

Bazooka Vespa – The Vespa 150 TAP scooter was intended for use by French paratroops and armed with a 75 mm recoilless rifle

The 150 TAPs mounted a M20 75 mm recoilless rifle, a U.S.-made light anti-armour weapon. It was very light in comparison to a standard 75 mm cannon but was still able to penetrate 100 mm of armour with its HEAT warhead. The recoil was counteracted by venting propellant gases out the rear of the weapon which eliminated the need for a mechanical recoil system or heavy mount.

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