US Coast Guard

Ensing of the Coast Guard

Seal of the Coast Guard

I'm going to write about about one of less popular branches of US Armed Forces - that is US Coast Guard.

The modern United States Coast Guard was started on January 28, 1915 when the U. S. Congress ordered the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service to be put together
.

It is a part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard's purpose is to protect the people, environment, industry and security of the United States on seas, lakes and rivers. To do this, the Coast Guard uses boats, ships (also called cutters), helicopters (eg. HH-60 Jayhawk and HH-65 Dolphin) and airplanes  (eg. HC-130H Hercules and HC-144A Ocean Sentry) to stop crime and terrorism, and to rescue ships and boats in danger.

LGM-30 Minuteman

Time to start my blog again!

The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile. Each can carry up to 3 nuclear warheads The letter “L” in “LGM” indicates that the missile is silo-launched; the “G” indicates that it is designed to attack ground targets; the “M” indicates that it is a guided missile. The name “Minuteman” comes from the Revolutionary War’s Minutemen - a revolutionary militia. It also refers to its quick reaction time of the missiles, as they can be launched within minutes of a valid launch order. Currently US Air Force owns 450 of these. They are located in missile silos in airbases in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Our guarantee of mutually assured destruction.

If you are interested in this topic you should check this out.

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.