Military

Picture of the Day

November 10, 2022 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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Picture of the Day

September 8, 2022

The Hellfire R9X aka “ninja bomb” that was used to kill Al-Qaeda’s leader, it doesn’t explode (no warhead). Instead slices and cuts its target into pieces to minimize collateral damage.

This missile has become the US weapon of choice for killing leaders of extremist groups while avoiding civilian casualties.

The missile is fired from a Predator drone. It has no warhead, but deploys six blades which fly in at high speed, crush and slice the targeted person.

This is the reason why it’s called the “flying ginsu”, after the 1980 TV commercial for Japanese kitchen knives that would cut cleanly through aluminum cans and remain perfectly sharp.

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Picture of the Day

May 27, 2022 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

March 22, 2022

Ukrainian troops are now deploying Panzerfaust-3IT anti-tank weapons received from Germany. These systems can reputedly kill any Russian tank in service.

The Panzerfaust 3 series of launchers is a compact, lightweight, shoulder-fired, unguided antitank weapon series. It consists of a disposable canister with a 110-mm warhead and reusable firing and sighting device.

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Picture of the Day

March 10, 2022

One of the world’s best snipers has arrived in Ukraine. The French-Canadian “Wali” from the Royal Canadian 22e Régiment made his reputation during tours in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

The 40-year-old, who became a computer scientist after two deployments to Afghanistan as a sniper with the Canadian Armed Forces between 2009 and 2011, will join an ever-growing contingent of foreign fighters responding to a call launched Saturday by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky:

“All foreigners wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupiers and protect international security are invited by the Ukrainian government to come to our territory to join the ranks of our territorial forces.”

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Picture of the Day

February 24, 2022 Leave a Comment

kiyv ukraine

The people of Kiyv, Ukraine evacuating the capital after Russia begins their invasion

Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine’s government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a “full-scale war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the world.

In unleashing Moscow’s most aggressive action since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, President Vladimir Putin deflected global condemnation and cascading new sanctions — and chillingly referred to his country’s nuclear arsenal. He threatened any foreign country attempting to interfere with “consequences you have never seen.”

(article)

Picture of the Day

January 13, 2022 Leave a Comment

This is a picture of Abu Tahsin al-Salhi, an Iraqi veteran sniper who is credited with killing over 384 ISIS members during the Iraqi Civil War, receiving the nickname “Hawk Eye.” The leader of ISIS was so afraid of him, he put a bounty of $250,000 on the sniper.

Abu Tahsin al-Salhi (1953 – 29 September 2017) was an Iraqi veteran sniper. A volunteer in Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, he is credited with killing over 380 ISIS members during the Iraqi Civil War, receiving the nicknames "The Sheikh of Snipers" and the "Hawk Eye".

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Picture of the Day

October 25, 2021 Leave a Comment

max schreck nosferatu

Max Schreck relaxing behind the scenes of Nosferatu, 1922

Little is known about Max Schreck’s life and film career, a fact to which his biographer, Stefan Eickhoff, can attest. According to Eickhoff, the actor’s colleagues regarded him as a “loyal, conscientious loner with an offbeat sense of humor and a talent for playing the grotesque.” The star of over 40 motion pictures, Schreck is best remembered for his haunting portrayal of Orlok in Nosferatu.

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Picture of the Day

October 19, 2021 Leave a Comment

Ghost Robotics strapped a sniper rifle to its robot dog

The US military may be getting a dog-like quadruped robot armed with a sniper rifle.

The robot, developed by Ghost Robotics of Philadelphia, is a new version of its Vision series of legged robots. The US Air Force is currently testing an unarmed version of these robots for use as perimeter security at the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.

Ghost Robotics displayed the armed version at the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army held in Washington DC this week. The robot is fitted with a Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle pod from Sword Defense, with a powerful 6.5mm sniper rifle. This has day and night cameras and an effective range of 1200 metres.

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Picture of the Day

September 9, 2021 Leave a Comment

Medal of Honor recipient, Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez. He had 37 puncture wounds, exposed intestine, broken jaw, and eyes caked in blood. He was pronounced dead until he spit in the face of a doctor who was zipping him up in a body bag.

A devout Catholic, Benavidez was attending prayer services on May 22, 1968 when he heard a desperate radio plea, “Get us out of here! For God’s sake, get us out!” The cry for assistance came from a 12-man Special Forces Recon team. They had stumbled upon an entire infantry battalion of the Vietnam People’s Army (NVA) of perhaps 1,000 men.

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