Indiana Solo
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
They need something to listen to on the way home.
Regarding drone motherships, the Navy used to use C-130s to launch recon or target drones. They couldn't catch them again, of course. And then there was that baby Blackbird drone they used to launch from SR-71s.
rollin' on dubs
The C-130 and Firebee drones were a launch only system. Firebees had to land in the water and be recovered by helicopter or ship.
The SR-71 and D-21 drone never worked right. A drone smacked it's mothership and both crashed. The drones messed with the fly characteristics of the Blackbird. So the carrier was changed to the B-52.
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
And even then, wasn't the D-21 a one use only affair? I remember reading that they rigged up a C-130 with something to catch the film pallet the D-21 would eject before self-destructing.
rollin' on dubs
It was designed for aerial and water recovery, but again, it was a failure like the reconnaissance Firebee.
Almost two decades later, a former Soviet official presented Lockheed's Ben Rich with a piece of a D-21 drone that had crashed close to the USSR. The Soviets believed it to be a piece stealth technology when in fact the F-117 was a generation ahead.
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
rollin' on dubs
Is mystery Russian spacecraft a satellite-killer?
Is it watching the watchers? Russia has launched a spacecraft that is whizzing around low Earth orbit visiting satellites, it emerged this week. The mystery craft has renewed fears that Russia has revived its interest in developing anti-satellite weapons, a programme thought to have been abandoned in the 1980s.
Space object 2014-28E was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on 23 May alongside three communications satellites. The US Air Force Space Command is believed to be monitoring it closely.
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
Hmm, I thought the new Russian ASAT program involved tying big missiles to their upgraded Mi G-31s.
This sounds much cooler.
Oh really when?
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
A weaponized Russian satellite? Kind of makes Space Cowboys a bit Harsher in Hindsight doesn’t it? 
Putin plays Call of Duty. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
V
Kosmos 2499 is probably an updated version of an old Soviet idea, rather like the failed Polyus spacecraft.
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
At the very least those neat little plasma thrusters sound really neat.
Oh really when?
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Are there any synonyms for "armed conflict" as a general term for large-scale use of (para)military violence between any kind of (semi-)organized groups to achieve a purpose, whether said purpose concerns territory, political issues, or any other reason? And when is an armed conflict not considered a "true war", in technical terms? Is the "war" in "civil war" a misnomer, in the light of the previous question?
Yes, I know, there is probably no consensus on the answers to these questions. But I'd be surprised if, for each question, there is not a plurality if not majority of military experts who are more or less in general agreement on what the answer is.
edited 21st Nov '14 2:47:53 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
HGW XX/7
War is something real countries do to each other, if you want the most condensed version.
When something is a "war" and not merely a conflict is quite important for international law for determining things like war crimes.
edited 21st Nov '14 2:48:36 PM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der Partei
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Yeah, well, I think we can agree that international law is not the end-all-be-all for determining proper terminology, because it's not guaranteed that all military/legal experts in the world would agree with the international-law definitions of what is and is not "war" (or any other type of "armed conflict"). Heck, do they even consult a panel of experts in the relevant fields when they do the defining, without any interference from diplomats or politicians?
Speaking of which, how many "major" types of armed conflict are there?
edited 21st Nov '14 2:52:20 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
わからない
It is the end-all be-all whether you consider it such or not. And if you're looking for a guarantee that ALL should agree with the definitions, this is relevant.
rollin' on dubs
The problem is that people assume peace = no violence (or no "war).
If it's a "police action", "aid work", "relief mission" or some other "operation", soldiers are just as dead when the enemy attacks.
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
"Peacekeeping"
Oh really when?
Show an affirming flame
"Low-intensity conflict" is one you see a lot in the literature.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
The British post-war enjoyed the term "military emergency" to define their Cold War interventions (i.e Aden, Malaya, Oman).
V
rollin' on dubs
Aviation week roundup:
- USAF Punishes Former Top General Over Defunct Airship Project: Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula faceplants...
- Japan Prepares Designs For Its Next Fighter: Moe little sister to the F-22's Cool Big Sis..
- Opinion: Abandoning Kiowa Is A Huge Mistake: I agree! Pity big Army wants to send the monies elsewhere.
- Raytheon Flies Prototype Next-Generation Jammer Pod: And they hope the Navy likes jammin' too...
- Boeing Stays In F-16 Upgrade Race: Boeing tries to drink Lockheed and BAE's milkshake...
- Opinion: Pentagon Moves Complicate Fighter Plans: The DOD gets all Teen Girl with it's fighter plans.
rollin' on dubs
X-posted from the Sky High Aircraft Thread:
The Missile Men of North Vietnam
What does it feel like to push a button, launch a surface-to-air missile, and blow a B-52 bomber out of the sky? Ask Nguyen Van Phiet. As a young North Vietnamese military officer, his SA-2 rockets were credited with downing four of the giant Boeing Stratofortresses during U.S. raids on and around Hanoi in December 1972.
More than 40 years later, sitting in his comfortable Hanoi rowhouse, the wizened, soft-spoken Phiet, 76, a retired lieutenant general and former deputy commander of Vietnam’s air defense force, shows little emotion when recalling those deadly days. “The Americans were disturbing our freedom,” he says in Vietnamese as we sip tea from delicate china cups at his dining room table. “I was fulfilling my responsibility to the nation.”
わからない
Give us Kiowas pl0x. LOL
I think you'll find that the Kiowa's mission can be carried out by the F-35.
There is a very good reason the Swiss are officially neutral...
Keep Rolling On