Discussion of Military, real or fictional

[mlooney 3,417]

12 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

This tech was adapted for civilian use by the pizza industrial complex.

 

Nike did have a surface to surface mode, so some sort of delivery would be possible, however the warhead would tend to scatter the toppings.

4 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I think drones would be better. Gentler on the recipient and more likely to arrive with the pizza still in a state to eat.

This, of course, was before the widespread use of drones.  While there were unmanned aerial vehicles they tended to be just targets. 

[Darth Fluffy 302]

5 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Some of them got five draft deferments and called the people who went to fight 'stupid.'

I cannot understand how Republicans could support this cretin and still claim to be 'supporting the troops.'

He even attended a military school. He will not be missed, not by my cohorts.

People of my generation blamed the military for their involvement in Vietnam, and treated the troops like dirt when they returned. This is entirely misguided, the military does not get to choose where it is employed. I guy deployed to a war zone who is being shot at is going to shoot back. Blame the damn politicians who created a false narrative and sent them there. Politicians start wars, not the military.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

17 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

He even attended a military school. He will not be missed, not by my cohorts.

People of my generation blamed the military for their involvement in Vietnam, and treated the troops like dirt when they returned. This is entirely misguided, the military does not get to choose where it is employed. I guy deployed to a war zone who is being shot at is going to shoot back. Blame the damn politicians who created a false narrative and sent them there. Politicians start wars, not the military.

I would like to thank you on behalf of my wife, whose father went to Vietnam only to suffer from Agent Orange poisoning. He too only served as a convenient scapegoat upon his return home. My wife was born paraplegic due to her father's Agent Orange poisoning, a casualty of war before she was born.

The Republican Party, of course, just pushed through cuts to her medical support using the reasoning that as a family member she is not a 'real' veteran. I am certain that veterans will feel heartened by the support of having their families hung out to dry should they suffer injuries during their service and be unable to support them themselves.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 minute ago, The Old Hack said:

I would like to thank you on behalf of my wife, whose father went to Vietnam only to suffer from Agent Orange poisoning. He too only served as a convenient scapegoat upon his return home. My wife was born paraplegic due to her father's Agent Orange poisoning, a casualty of war before she was born.

The Republican Party, of course, just pushed through cuts to her medical support using the reasoning that as a family member she is not a 'real' veteran. I am certain that veterans will feel heartened by the support of having their families hung out to dry should they suffer injuries during their service and be unable to support them themselves.

That sucks. Given the rationale for her disabilities, she could probably take it to (unfortunately, a US) court, if you both were so inclined. You would probably need evidence that her condition is a result of Agent Orange, though. I'm not disagreeing, just saying, if you did go to court, you'd need more than just hearsay. Do you have documentation?

A true thing in our military is that if you get any kind of injury or condition as a result of your duties, speak up and go to sick call and get it documented. My one daughter was in the back of a truck that flipped in Germany, and she has back issues now. She sought help right away, so when she got out she had a documented disability that the VA covers. She gets seen regularly for back pain. Too many guys just tough it out and don't say anything, then years later, they have to build a case and backtrack and try to prove their issues are service related.

With no disabilities, I found out I'm still eligible to use the VA, I just have to pay for it, like a regular doctor visit. This has been very convenient on a few occasions. I can get my COVID shots through the VA, although it is a hassle to get there, but early on, they had the shots before Walgreen and CVS.

The US military tends toward conservative. I was when I was in. There is peer pressure, of course. But I very much agree with you, the GOP has done few favors for vets nor the active duty service men and women. You'd think that would count for something.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

5 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

That sucks. Given the rationale for her disabilities, she could probably take it to (unfortunately, a US) court, if you both were so inclined. You would probably need evidence that her condition is a result of Agent Orange, though. I'm not disagreeing, just saying, if you did go to court, you'd need more than just hearsay. Do you have documentation?

Plenty of it. This is a well documented condition. Around a hundred thousand children with deformed spines were born in Vietnam post introduction of Agent Orange to the war. Not to mention countless stillborn ones. Unfortunately court action is expensive and a class action suit is difficult to form when more than 99% of those born with Agent Orange-caused prenatal damage are no longer among us.

9 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

The US military tends toward conservative. I was when I was in. There is peer pressure, of course. But I very much agree with you, the GOP has done few favors for vets nor the active duty service men and women. You'd think that would count for something.

My wife knows a few surviving Vietnam veterans. Every single one of them utterly despises the draft dodging traitor that spent four years squatting in the Oval Office. Possibly it was not his most tactful idea ever to order disabled veterans to leave ceremonies he attended because he didn't like to look at them.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 minute ago, The Old Hack said:

Possibly it was not his most tactful idea ever to order disabled veterans to leave ceremonies he attended because he didn't like to look at them.

Granting that he is a shallow-minded pea brain, (Sorry, peas. You are a great part of a healthy diet. Your size just happened to be suitable for illustration.) how is that even a thing he can do? Does he have his thugs remove them?

[The Old Hack 2,448]

4 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Granting that he is a shallow-minded pea brain, (Sorry, peas. You are a great part of a healthy diet. Your size just happened to be suitable for illustration.) how is that even a thing he can do? Does he have his thugs remove them?

Nah, this was while he was POTUS. So he just told the Marines and Secret Service to show them the door, or exit, or whatever.

[mlooney 3,417]

[Darth Fluffy 302]

That has got to be photoshopped.

[mlooney 3,417]

10 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

That has got to b photoshopped.

Given some of the things that Russia has, in fact, put on MT-LBu chassis, I'm not 100% sure that it's photoshopped.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

12 hours ago, mlooney said:

Given some of the things that Russia has, in fact, put on MT-LBu chassis, I'm not 100% sure that it's photoshopped.

If it was actually a hundreds of years old siege cannon, its value would be prohibitive. You wouldn't risk it on a stunt.

[mlooney 3,417]

3 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

If it was actually a hundreds of years old siege cannon, its value would be prohibitive. You wouldn't risk it on a stunt.

They have put some WWI machine guns on vehicles (the Ukrainians have done this as well), plus mounted WWII naval AA turrets on MT-BL.  While this one is probably photoshop, you can't rule it out completely.  The biggest reason I would say this isn't real is the recoil of the gun would likely break the carrier.  Plus the lack of range and the hard time in getting ammo for it.  Add in that these types of cannon are made for attacking stone walls, there really isn't a call for it.   

[Darth Fluffy 302]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

They have put some WWI machine guns on vehicles (the Ukrainians have done this as well), plus mounted WWII naval AA turrets on MT-BL.  While this one is probably photoshop, you can't rule it out completely.  The biggest reason I would say this isn't real is the recoil of the gun would likely break the carrier.  Plus the lack of range and the hard time in getting ammo for it.  Add in that these types of cannon are made for attacking stone walls, there really isn't a call for it.   

It's likely is rotted enough from age that structural integrity of the gun would be an issue. This is not a rapid fire device either; notice it loads from the front. You'd need a specialist who knows what wadding and how much powder (and you'd need a lot per shot) and yes, custom ammo . . . as you said, "Why?" There are easier ways to breach walls today.

WW II and WW I guns are more reasonable. Our mainstay 50 Cal is a WW II gun, developed shortly after WW I. If you had access to a lot of WW I & II hardware, and nothing better to do, these are reasonable choices. The armor, OTOH, not so great.

Hell, a WW II fighter would not stand up well to a modern fighter, but they make great ground attack planes. The slower speed is somewhat of a plus in that role. Roughly filling a gunship role.

May be a moot point if Russia fights its own civil war with the Wagner Group.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

4 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

May be a moot point if Russia fights its own civil war with the Wagner Group.

I have to admit that if I were a dictator about to fight a civil war, I'd probably just hire my own mercenary group to fight itself. Winning side gets to be the new Praetorian Guard on the condition that whenever they depose a dictator, they themselves get to clean up the mess left behind. That sort of civil war would be a lot less bloody and destructive, and I bet it wouldn't even exact all that many casualties. If I remember my Italian history correct, if you set mercenaries to fight other mercenaries they typically settle it by either boasting, a war of maneuvers, a drinking contest or a best of three in rocks-paper-scissors.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

34 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I have to admit that if I were a dictator about to fight a civil war, I'd probably just hire my own mercenary group to fight itself. Winning side gets to be the new Praetorian Guard on the condition that whenever they depose a dictator, they themselves get to clean up the mess left behind. That sort of civil war would be a lot less bloody and destructive, and I bet it wouldn't even exact all that many casualties. If I remember my Italian history correct, if you set mercenaries to fight other mercenaries they typically settle it by either boasting, a war of maneuvers, a drinking contest or a best of three in rocks-paper-scissors.

Sounds like a plan.

[mlooney 3,417]

 

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Adam Savage is awesome, always has an interesting story to go with what he's doing in his video.

[mlooney 3,417]

This is like the 4th or 5th in a series that he's done dealing with the Met's arms and armor collection. 

[mlooney 3,417]

You have heard of cope cages. Now meet the cope roof.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

With Putin raising the maximum enlistment age to 70 I am seriously wondering how long he has left. As I recall it, Hitler did something similar in 1945 when he mustered teens of down to age 16 and old men up to age 64 into Volksturm militia units. How are you supposed to fight at that age? I am only 57 but I am not really in the kind of shape required to function on the front lines any more. At least teens are pretty energetic.

[mlooney 3,417]

I would say the senior citizen troops would fill rear area job, but then again, as shown with their terrible logistics in Ukraine, they don't really seem to have that. 

[Darth Fluffy 302]

6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

With Putin raising the maximum enlistment age to 70 I am seriously wondering how long he has left. As I recall it, Hitler did something similar in 1945 when he mustered teens of down to age 16 and old men up to age 64 into Volksturm militia units. How are you supposed to fight at that age? I am only 57 but I am not really in the kind of shape required to function on the front lines any more.

Young whipper snappers! You kids get off my lawn!

I tried to carry one of my four year old grand kids yesterday. I tired out quickly.

 

6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

At least teens are pretty energetic.

Also, with little life experience to guide them, you can convince many of them your bullshit is the real deal.

 

3 hours ago, mlooney said:

I would say the senior citizen troops would fill rear area job, but then again, as shown with their terrible logistics in Ukraine, they don't really seem to have that. 

To be fair, they could probably use the drivers. Assuming they have something, like trucks, available to drive.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

3 hours ago, mlooney said:

I would say the senior citizen troops would fill rear area job, but then again, as shown with their terrible logistics in Ukraine, they don't really seem to have that. 

I would say the biggest rear area they have is the chair occupied by Putin's backside, but it already seems to be filled to capacity.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

18 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I would say the biggest rear area they have is the chair occupied by Putin's backside, but it already seems to be filled to capacity.

They could do with somewhat less kissing of it. Those smooches seem to keep his ego overinflated.

(Said to oligarch, "Nice of you to drop by!")

[mlooney 3,417]

The T-14 is still a parade only tank.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-tank-armata-t-14-1814899