Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: headdie on October 07, 2010, 11:35:09 am
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http://jalopnik.com/5657142/sikorskys-motorized-sleigh-and-other-forgotten-soviet-snowmobiles?ref=nf
figured a few ppl here might find it interesting/amusing
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Thats awesome. Especially the one that looks like a AT-ST.
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When the Winter War broke out between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939, the intense cold and rough conditions favored the Soviet Army and their fast aerosleds, which were used as ambulances and as patrol vehicles in isolated areas.
Huh? What sort of history rewriting is this? The war just happened to break out between Soviet Union and Finland? Just like that? It really was a surprise attack initiated by Soviet Union - unlike the Continuation War where some blame can be put on Finland too. Also it turned out that the winter certainly didn't favor Soviet Army, and the theater of operations doesn't permit any sort of large scale usage of the aerosleds.
I never heard of them having been employed. As a patrol vehicle or an ambulance perhaps, but definately not near the front lines. And it would make a rather inefficient reconnaissance platform since I think it would make a lot of noise. Also useless on more hilly regions. In flat regions it could work, but it sounds rather fuel inefficient too. How come this is the first time I hear about these machines when I'm living next to Russia? Nor do I recall having ever read that such machines would have been captured, despite a number of other cannons, tanks and ammunition.
However, I do know that they employ the large tracked vehicle as a troop transport that is shown at the end.
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Nor do I recall having ever read that such machines would have been captured, despite a number of other cannons, tanks and ammunition.
Because Finns are good at capturing Father Christmases not AT-STs cockpits mounted on skis, propelled by aircraft engines.
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Because Finns are good at capturing Father Christmases not AT-STs cockpits mounted on skis, propelled by aircraft engines.
So does that make the aerosled even more rare than Father Christmas then?
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Because Finns are good at capturing Father Christmases not AT-STs cockpits mounted on skis, propelled by aircraft engines.
So does that make the aerosled even more rare than Father Christmas then?
Well I've known about Father Christmas for a while, this was the first I've heard of aerosleds...
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(http://i53.tinypic.com/33djd3b.jpg)
Prototype for a Soviet space fighter. At least, it was supposed to be..
http://rainparaglide.livejournal.com/139732.html
Can find more on it here, since most of us don't speak Russian, and it being written in Cyrillic doesn't exactly help either: http://www.buran-energia.com/spiral/spiral-project-desc.php
In short, the fighter was carried on board a larger supersonic launch vehicle, which would detach the fighter at an altitude of 28-30km and return to base. The fighter itself carried an auxiliary rocket which would bring it to some 120-130km altitude and detach. The fighter could make around two orbits before returning to base; this was initially just meant for recon, though I remember reading somewhere there were some ideas later on for an armed variant which could take out satellites, ideas that never came to be.
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:wtf: But the really awesome looking bit is just the booster, not the actual fighter. I mean the space vehicle looks like a garage kit based on plans from a Popular Mechanics.
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Also, this thing here, from the same (initial) site:
http://jalopnik.com/5490236/the-nuclear-warhead+equipped-ekranoplan-soviet-invasion-machine
So... many... engines...
(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/03/007ef5wk_01.jpg)
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Oh hai Caspian Sea Monster!
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having looked at all the pictures of that ^ thing. i count 6 tubes for cruise missiles, presumably nuclear tipped. two turrets in the front and back. i wouldnt doubt there are more in the sides somewhere. this ****ing thing is a monster. it belongs on hlp threatdown.
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Ah, an ekranoplan, don't see many of those... Pretty cool. Something else, though:
(http://i51.tinypic.com/2607m94.jpg)
A Beriev Bartini VVA-14. Wingless in the above shot, looks like it came out of Star Wars - though it's not really far off with wings either :)
http://www.testpilot.ru/russia/bartini/vva/vva_e.htm
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Looks a bit like a giant Apollo, too.
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Looks a bit like a giant Apollo, too.
....Vaguely....
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Also, this thing here, from the same (initial) site:
http://jalopnik.com/5490236/the-nuclear-warhead+equipped-ekranoplan-soviet-invasion-machine
So... many... engines...
(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/03/007ef5wk_01.jpg)
I was looking at that. Really cool, in a mildly scary way.
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Focke-Wulf Fw Triebflügel. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqqQ48KFXJE) It's not Cold War related, but I thought it'd fit in with the theme of interesting vehicular design.
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Increasing icebergs' repertoire for sinking things... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk)
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I wonder if pykrete has ever actually been utilized. There have been ideas for applying it but I don't think it's actually been used in a construction project.
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Focke-Wulf Fw Triebflügel. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqqQ48KFXJE) It's not Cold War related, but I thought it'd fit in with the theme of interesting vehicular design.
Heh, awesome. Like a helicopter, but... different.
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Focke-Wulf Fw Triebflügel. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqqQ48KFXJE) It's not Cold War related, but I thought it'd fit in with the theme of interesting vehicular design.
Cool. Looks like the AF Charlatan from Nukemod.
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The Heinkel Lerche (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pDWXEpUp9U) was another similar design.
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However, the brits were the first ones to actually build an aircraft with motors on the rotator tips: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Rotodyne
Also, in terms of fun cold war designs, let's hear it for PROJECT PLUTO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto) and the SLAM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersonic_Low_Altitude_Missile).
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While not exactly Cold War stuff, here's a WWII story called Night of the bombers (http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2History-NightOfTheBombers.html). Think of the nerve required to pull something like that off. Get in the middle of enemy formation in the middle of night and bomb them on final approach.
There's a wonderful story related to the aerial defense of Helsinki from the ground perspective in WWII, but there is no English translation. The result was that of 20 000 bombs dropped on the city (about 2/3 of the amount dropped in Dresden), about 3% ever hit it... There was even a Soviet Air Marshal who got a medal for flattening the city of Helsinki, only to find out that it actually wasn't when he personally visited it.
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Increasing icebergs' repertoire for sinking things... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk)
I've been to the lake where they tested the scale model for that!
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/DavyCrockettBomb.jpg/750px-DavyCrockettBomb.jpg)
For those who don't recognize it, it's a nuke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_device%29).
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But a very bad idea nuke.
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/DavyCrockettBomb.jpg/750px-DavyCrockettBomb.jpg)
For those who don't recognize it, it's a nuke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_device%29).
its a thing of beauty