Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

I haven't written anything about II WW military so here you go. As you see planes are my favorite thing in whole warfare. But this one is special. In fact it didn't fight in Europe, but its main role was in North Africa. That's why it isn't well-known.

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by the air forces of 28 nations, including those of most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war. P-40s first saw combat with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the Desert Air Force (DAF) in the Middle East and North African campaigns, during June 1941. The Royal Air Force's No. 112 Squadron was among the first to operate Tomahawks, in North Africa, and the unit was the first Allied military aviation unit to feature the "shark mouth" logo.

 

It's more dangerous than you think!

AH-1 Cobra

I think Vietnam War can be called the last big war so far. Helicopters played a big role in it and I don't know what would happen if Americans hadn't had them. I'll write about one of them. The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a two-bladed, single engine attack helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It shares a common engine, transmission and rotor system with the older UH-1 Iroquois. The AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake.

The AH-1 was the backbone of the United States Army's attack helicopter fleet, but has been replaced by the AH-64 Apache in Army service. Upgraded versions continue to fly with the militaries of several other nations. The AH-1 twin engine versions remain in service with United States Marine Corps (USMC) as the service's primary attack helicopter. Surplus AH-1 helicopters have been converted for fighting forest fires.

 Awesome!

MiG-35

Modern aircrafts are really technologically advanced, the best European jet fighter so far is  Russian MiG-35. The Mikoyan MiG-35 (Russian: Микоян МиГ-35, NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-F) is a further development of the MiG technology. It is classified as a 4++ generation jet fighter. The first prototype was a modification of the aircraft that previously served as MiG-29M2 model demonstrator. 10 prototypes have been built so far and are currently subject to extensive field trials. The MiG-35 is now classed as a medium-weight aircraft because its maximum take-off weight has increased by 30 percent, exceeding its previous criteria of classification.
MiG Corporation first officially presented the MiG-35 internationally during the Aero India 2007 air show. The MiG-35 was officially unveiled when the Russian Minister of Defence, Sergey Ivanov, visited Lukhovitsky Machine Building Plant "MAPO-MIG".The single seat version is designated MiG-35 and the two-seat version is MiG-35D. The fighter has vastly improved avionics and weapon systems, notably the new AESA radar.

Future of Russian Air Force

Fully armed

Harrier

Now something about a great innovation to aircrafts. I'm sure you know it from CoD or other games. The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) operations. The Harrier family is the only truly successful design of this type from the many that arose in the 1960s.
There are four main versions of the Harrier family: Hawker Siddeley Harrier, British Aerospace Sea Harrier, Boeing/BAE Systems AV-8B Harrier II, and BAE Systems/Boeing Harrier II. The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is the first generation-version and is also known as the AV-8A Harrier. The Sea Harrier is a naval strike/air defence fighter. The AV-8B and BAE Harrier II are the US and British variants respectively of the second generation Harrier aircraft.
Historically the Harrier was developed to operate from ad-hoc facilities such as car parks or forest clearings, avoiding the need for large air bases vulnerable to tactical nuclear weapons. Later the design was adapted for use from aircraft carriers.

How cool is that?!

Westland Lynx

Now something about the fastest helicopter of the world. Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants. The Lynx went into operational usage in 1977 and was later adopted by the armed forces of over a dozen nations, primarily serving in the battlefield utility, anti-armour, search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare roles. In 1986 a specially modified Lynx set the current Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's official airspeed record for helicopters. In 1972, a Lynx broke the world speed record over 15 and 25 km by flying at 321.74 km/h (199.92 mph). It also set a new 100 km closed circuit record shortly afterwards, flying at 318.504 km/h (197.91 mph).

Looks really light, doesn't it?

 

Helicopter about to land.

 

MSBS Radon

I'm Polish, so I support my army, which isn't in good condition right now. Anyway, a new assault rifle is currently being worked on. It's called MSBS Radon.

 

It looks like this:

 It doesn't seem any different from other modern weapons, does it?

It is 720mm (28in) bullpup and 980mm (39in) normal. Cyclic rate is around 700-750 RPM and effective rate is around 90-100 RPM It will use standard 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition, which means the cartridges will be interchangeable with M16. That's a really good thing in my opinion. It's going to be build in 5 varieties including carbine, sniper rifle and light machine gun. First prototypes have already been produced. It will enter the service around 2014. It will be used instead of outdated rifle Beryl (its production was started back in 1997), which was made to replace old Soviet rifles.

So, keep fingers crossed for Polish army!

Sources:

Polish and English Wikipedia and polish military sites. My own translation, that's why it may have some mistakes :3

Welcome!

Hi everybody!

My name is Philip and this is is my blog about military. I've plenty of hobbies but this is my favourite one. I also like underground rail, which is kind of strange.

Have fun!