Cant recall ever seeing a thread on this topic so i thought it was time we had one... this thread is dedicated to military weaponry of any kind, from any era or nation.
There is a seemingly endless array of novel, fascinating, revolutionary or even ill-fated hardware out there so subject material shouldnt be a problem.
Originally Posted by Easy 6:
The Valkyrie looks very Russian with that arcing fuselage and nose, very SU-35ish... gotta admit I kinda like that look, kinda like a huge wasp, Russia has some good looking fighters
I wonder what aerodynamic/performance characteristics it actually provides
yeah, when I first saw the Fulcrum and Flankers, I thought they were some of the baddest looking fighters I'd seen. (This was back in around '97 for me) especially the 27/35s. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Easy 6:
Indulge us with that story, that makes Crocodile Dundees knife look like a toothpick
That is a kriegsmesser aka war knife.
See back in high middle ages Germany, the peasants couldn't walk around in public with a sword* but you could with a knife because a knife is a tool. For protection, the knives got longer as a longer blade protects you better. Eventually, they became the size of sword but were still constructed like a knife even usually blunt on one side. Eventually, the nobility picked them up as the messer and kriegsmesser actually brought new features to sword form like the knuckle and hand guards. Basically, the sword sized knife became so popular as a form of protection that the nobility couldn't ban it rather they rules lawyered it away as a knife and adopted it for their own use because of the features introduced to it.
*Unlike the east, peasants in middle ages Europe were expected and required to have arms as they would be called up in the local militia or as a peasant levy. They were not allowed to go armed in public normally though. [Reply]
British Major General Percy Hobart served during WWII and was tasked by Lord Alanbrooke (the British version of George Marshall) and Winston Churchill with designing tank modifications that could overcome various obstacles/ impediments/ problems in the D-Day landings. The results were interesting, bizarre and sometimes effective. Indeed, some were then used by teh US, and others, not used by the US, resulted in criticism, when they arguably could have saved soldier's lives.
The whole group of whacky designs became collectively known as "Hobart's Funnies".
