Shore Leave

Absolutely out of topic, but I known some or most of us are long time interested in Theoretical Physics, Science Fiction and Cosmology. A friend of mine (incidentally, PsyOps Officer in the Spanish Army, a woman with a spiced madness touch, and I'm almost sure she ignores my interests in these matters) had sent me casually this link This documentary has remembered me the classical Powers of Ten (from the far 1968, from a world without Internet, GoogleEarth and almost without computers, but with hand-drawn animation and Cold War and Vietnam War in full activity), I don't remember very well when I saw it the first time, perhaps watching TV near 1970, and I think it wa…

Here a few pics of the French Navy missile tracking ship FS Monge which was in port here this week ...

From Macleans May 15, 2005 'We were abandoned' An elite unit of snipers went from standouts to outcasts -- victims, many say, of a witch hunt driven by jealousy and fear MICHAEL FRISCOLANTI Lying low beside the rifle, his stomach touching the ground, Cpl. Rob Furlong concentrated hard on his breathing. In, out. In, out. In, out. Deep, but not too deep. Slow, but not too slow. The tiniest twitch -- a heavy exhale, perhaps, or a breath held one second too long -- could jerk his weapon ever so slightly, turning a sure hit into a narrow miss. In the sniping world, where one shot should always equal one kill, steady breathing is just as crucial as steady a…

From Navy Times Skelton’s recommended military reading By Rick Maze - Staff writer Posted : Friday Jul 31, 2009 16:14:01 EDT The House Armed Services Committee chairman has come up with a new national security reading list of 50 essential books that he personally recommends for military officers and noncommissioned and petty officers, as well as his colleagues. Reading the list is not essential to testify before the committee, but Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who prepared a similar list in 2003, doesn’t mind if people think so. Skelton, an avid reader, said he feels strongly that officers and senior enlisted members need to read books about military strategy…

Welcome to Fight Club: Wargaming the Future (War on the Rocks)

Hoping your 2019 is a good one.

Seeing as I am great at crashing RC airplanes I thought I'd see how much quicker one can crash a helicopter. So far, with simulator time, and two runs thru the battery I've flown and not had any parts break, that will surely change but for now the helo is in tact. E Sky Honey Bee King 2 3D Copter (though I never plan to be a 3D flyer!) Belt driven tail is supposed to be more consistent than a separate tail motor, I should have spent less than half as much money and gone for a fixed pitch/dual motor copter. This one will be good IF I become a capable pilot before I ruin the thing.

A curious novel about the hypothetical mission of a Walter turbine powered German submarine in the last stages of WWII: http://jtmcdaniel.com/honour.html

The Simulation-Reality Mismatch By John Michael Loh Manned aircraft will be able to penetrate future advanced defenses. Now somebody tell the simulation gang. Historically, there has been a mismatch between the air combat attrition predictions of analysts’ computer models and the actual attrition experienced in major air campaigns. Simply put, the models have always erred on the pessimistic side. Understanding the sources of this mismatch is important today because many Air Force and Pentagon experts are at it again. This time, they are claiming that even stealthy fifth generation fighters and B-2 bombers cannot penetrate future threat arrays without unaccep…

Does anyone here have any experience with Bulldogs Away rules, by David Manley? I purchased, downloaded, and printed them last night. The rules depict Modern Fast Attack Craft actions from 1950-2010, and look very interesting. The author states that the rules "are intended for very quick deadly battles fought between post war Fast Attack Craft and patrol boats". In addition to the small combattants, the rules contain data for the integration of larger ships (FFG-7 for example) helicopters, aircraft, shore targets, and mine warfare. It is designed to play as miniatures on a 8x6 or 6x4 foot table. Thanks

Any opinions on the PBS Carrier series airing in the US at present? http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/ I watched the first 2 hours and found it mostly boring but worth the time anyway for some nice shots. Tonight was hours 6 and 7 here, of which I watched about 20 minutes of hour 6 and found it much more engaging than the first two hours (Nimitz made it to the Iraqi area of operations). While I don't think the series is a treasure trove of hard platform data, I think it sheds a lot of light on the people factor. One thing that struck me was, "gee, I wonder how much of the crew would be left if this were a Soviet Union crew from back when questioning the p…

For those of you not active on social media, you may not have heard that long time Harpoon community member Byron 'JClark' Audler passed away on 15 April. His notable contributions included being a knowledgeable ship fitter (irl), scenario author, HC2002 program manager, and HULL mailing list moderator, and a Lifetime Pooner award winner. His bio can be found at Ed Ladner's website Dr Who's Harpoon Pages here : https://www.harpoonpages.com/Bios/bio022.htm Fair winds and following seas.