Wonders of Destruction 2

[MadScot]

Some aircraft:

A vehicle which doesn't like aircraft!

And some other vehicles:

thought it was time to bump up the thread a bit

edit: uploads3, dammit!!

 

[MadScot]

Some ships of the Soviet/Russian navies:

The carrier "aviation ship?" Kuznetsov:

The "large cruiser" Ushakov:

The cruiser Grozny:

Interesting the names the Soviets/Russians give their large warships . Guess they don't want them stuck in the Black Sea!

 

[CurtSibling]

Soviet ships always looked quite intimidating!

They "Bristle with armaments!"

Here is another bristling battleship, this time from the other side of the Iron Curtain.

The powerful USS California!

 

[CurtSibling]

A beast that might have been....

An artist's impression of the planned German 'H Class Battleship!'

Armed with 8 hideous 280mm cannon, and weighing almost twice the tonnage of the Nimitz,
these huge super BBs would have presented 'a bit of a threat'...

If the Axis had conquered Europe, you would have seen a few of these babies being constructed!

Luckily they didn't...so you won't see any 'H Class' BBs around today.

 

[MadScot]

Originally posted by CurtSibling
Soviet ships always looked quite intimidating!

They "Bristle with armaments!"

Here is another

I thoroughly agree - you look at some western ships and wonder where the weapons actually are. It's not as bad now, since many ships have CIWS or similar, but the early 80s were dreadful - DDs with one gun and one missile rail???

 

[MadScot]

...but this is intimidation at its best!

BB61 USS Iowa in 1987

BB62 USS New Jersey in 1990

BB63 USS Missouri in 1990

BB64 USS Wisconsin in 1988

Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of Missouri firing as well, which ruins the "set". Still, how many 16" shells does it take to ruin your day, anyway.

 

[MadScot]

A range of russian (Soviet) ships with a surface warfare bias. They don't skimp on the missiles...

Kirov class 'Ryotr Veliky' BCGN - 20 P-700 Granit NATO: SS-N-19 Shipwreck

Slava-class CG - 16 P-500 Bazalt NATO: SS-N-12 Sandbox

Sovremenny DDG - 8 P-270 Moskit NATO: SS-N-22 Sunburn
RS Osmotritelny

UnID firing Sunburn

Nanuchka PGG - 6 P-120 Malakhit NATO: SS-N-9 Siren

Warhead weights of 700lb to one ton; ranges of 50 to 300 nm.
For comparison, Harpoon has a 500lb warhead, Tomahawk in anti-ship guise 1000lbs and Exocet MM38, which was so effective in the Falklands, only 350lbs or so. All 3 western missiles are decidely subsonic - the Russian missiles are, with the exception of Siren, supersonic, making them that much more effective.
edited to slightly reduce picture sizes and to add some useless info!

 

[MadScot]

Here are a couple of rather unusual aircraft types.

First off, the German Mistel-2. It's a model, rather than the real thing; I guess there aren't too many real photos?
The pilot in the parasite Fw190 would aim the Ju-88 "missile" at the target and fly off.

And two Soviet Ekranoplans - wing-in-ground-effect vehicles, one almost hesitates to say 'aircraft'

First, the KM-1 Caspian Sea Monster
300ft long, all-up weight over 500 tons, max speed of 270 knots.

Developed after the KM-1, the A-90 Orlyonok was intended as an assault carrier. 'Only' 200ft long, she carried up to 20 tonnes of payload - perhaps 250 troops. The Soviets planned a fleet of 120 of these monsters - enough to move a division or more in one lift - for the Baltic Fleet. Cruising speed of 200kts.

Developed also (no pictures yet) was the Lun' anti-ship Ekranoplan. Not dissimilar to the KM-1, she mounted 6 SS-N-22 Sunburn missiles on her back. Only one ever flew, but did fire missiles in trials. In anti-ship terms, each would have been at least as capable as the Sovremenny class DDs.

It's hard to give credence to the propaganda regarding slavish Soviet copying of brilliant Western designs when one considers the inventiveness of some of their equipment.

 

[MadScot]

Anyone getting suspicious that I like Russian equipment?

Another couple of shots of the A-90 Orlyonok assault transport, including one with the fuselage cargo door opened and what I believe is a BTR-60PA of a Soviet Naval Infantry Regiment - weighing so 10 tons, it's likely the A-90 could have carried at most two, perhaps only one APC each.

And some shots of the Lun' Anti-ship ekranoplan. The six Sunburn canisters are plainly visible. In the last shot she is test firing a missile.

And finally, for something slightly different...
Soviet BMD-3 air assault APC. 30mm autocannon and AT-5 Spandrel ATGM. Rough equivalent to the BMP-2.

Good thing these guys couldn't run an economy for toffee!

 

[Archbob]

No, I think what is know as "hip-hop-music" is the worst wonder of destruction today.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

MadScot: I agree. As far as I am concerned the Russians were far more elegant in design and innovation, with the notable exception of electronics.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Here we go, a true marvel of destruction (on a bit of a different note). The Ebola Virus.

 

[Archbob]

I believe he common cold and its variations has taken more lives this century than any disease.

 

[insurgent]

Yeah, I'd consider the Ebola quite a failure. Luckily, it's ineffective, kills itself, and has never really managed to kill many humans. AFAIK it only erupts in some African village with an interval of about 10 years, and then dies again.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Yeah, I'd consider the Ebola quite a failure. Luckily, it's ineffective, kills itself, and has never really managed to kill many humans. AFAIK it only erupts in some African village with an interval of about 10 years, and then dies again.

Oh sure, from a strategic perspective, it has not been a very 'destructive' disease. But it's certainly deadly for those who contract it. I suppose that HIV might be a better 'marvel of destruction' from the strategic point of view.

 

[MadScot]

A couple of Russian ASW-oriented ships...

The Kara-class - debatable whether you should call it a cruiser or a destroyer, the trend has been for the West to call these cruisers, but the Russians don't use the same classifications as we do.

And two shots of the Udaloy class. Curiously, the West calls these destroyers, yet the Russians regard them as being in the same role as the Karas.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Nice little tin cans of Ivan's there, but not really my style.
The picture of the USS Missouri says BB62 on the side - the USS New Jersey.

 

[Suki]

Originally posted by insurgent
Yeah, I'd consider the Ebola quite a failure. Luckily, it's ineffective, kills itself, and has never really managed to kill many humans. AFAIK it only erupts in some African village with an interval of about 10 years, and then dies again.

and even the most violent straines only kill 9/10 infected WFT... and those straines weren't even passible by air...

how do you spell vulerent?

but have you all seen the popular science special edition "21st century soldier" the stuf that will be doing the destruction 5, 10, 20, years from now... brutal

so many ways to die...

 

[MadScot]

Originally posted by Simon Darkshade
Nice little tin cans of Ivan's there, but not really my style.
The picture of the USS Missouri says BB62 on the side - the USS New Jersey.

How odd - the picture came from here and was identified as Missouri. I did think the number looked like a "2", but convinced myself that it must be "63". My apologies, I should be more sceptical.
This is definitiely Missouri:

I'd have thought the Kirovs were large enough to fit into your "style" - people have used the "BC" designation for them after all.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Nay, size does not matter.
They are slightly larger than usual tin cans. They are designated Raketny Kreysers - "Rocket Cruisers", or Heavy Guided Missile Cruisers.
Naming them after Fisher's Folly is not correct by an stretch of the imagination - they are unarmoured, carry but a few guns, and their main armament is missiles. Their role is different from that of a battlecruiser quite markedly. And while they may look pretty, even the battlecruisers have a better operational record and value for money than them.
I am decidedly not a starry eyed fan of Soviet ships, being decidedly underwhelmed by many of their features, etc.
The Sovremenny's and Kirov's do have some nice lines from afar and from certain angles, but a cluster of plain missiles lacks the beauty of big guns and missiles (personally, I prefer to keep the buggers in VLS cells and ABLs - smoother lines and cleaner profile, both for aesthetics and practicality)