RichVR
1873
The major issue is fuel consumption. They pretty much have a half hour of flight. As in don’t get too high. Your fuel is good for 15 minutes of flight and then 15 minutes of getting back down. You know bingo fuel? It’s not so bad for fighter pilots. They have a bit of a reserve. These things do not. Imagine taking too much time flying around, and at the last part, dropping from only 300 feet up.
pyrhic
1874
oh screw the arm thing, i want a hoverboard!
Matt_W
1875
We used to test the Phalanx on the aircraft carrier by hiring some pilot to fly a Leerjet by towing a target. At one point (I’m told because I was belowdecks during the test) the system took out the target, then started tracking the tether back toward the jet.
I once stood on one of the sponsons outside the bridge directly above the CIWS when it fired during another test. The sound fills your mouth and nose–feels like pepper and makes you sneeze.
And the beat goes on…
CNN reports a Space Force officer is being removed from command for going on a podcast and nattering about alleged Marxist ideologies taking over the US military. Those so-called Marxist heresies? The 1619 Project, of course! Never mind that nothing about the project is actually Marxist, or that as a whole the 1619 project represents pretty much the most commonly accepted historical interpretation of early American history these days, academically speaking. This officer felt that by claiming the founding of the US was rooted in slavery, the project was somehow treasonous.
How he got from this curriculum and study project to Marxists overrunning the US military is, well, left to the interested student to puzzle out on their own I suppose. Apparently though he also may not have gone through the proper channels to get his book approved, either; that’s being investigated.
I guess it’s been going on for a while, but I’m now seeing people railing against the 1619 Project in my Front Porch Forum of all places, as school boards look into the curriculum. Of course, 99% of the people ranting about it have zero clue what’s actually in it. And most have about the same level of ignorance about every other aspect of our history.
Edited to change “not” to “now.”
When we did a test on the Nashville, the pilot towing the drone asked us about 100 times to verify the CIWS was in safe mode. Wise man.
How much ammo does a CIWS chew through? Man, it must eat like a locust.
Iirc 2000rounds a minute. Firing times for gattling guns are measured in seconds. On a ship perhaps they have more ammo and ample cooling so probably longer than on a fighter jet. The 520 rounds you get on a viper are good for about five very short bursts. Brrraaarrp.
Well, damn, so much for mounting one on the roof to scare away pigeons.
Just put a 40foot container full of ammo in the yard to feed it. Perhaps make it a smaller calibre such as .22, make less of a mess and you’d only have to swap in a new container every other day.
and they’re full of bullets
My thought goes something like
CNN reports a Space Force officer is being removed from command for going on a podcast and nattering about alleged Marxist ideologies taking over the US military. Those so-called Marxist heresies? The 1619 Project, of course!
What a tool this guy…
CNN reports a Space Force officer is being removed
a Space Force officer
…wait Space Force is still around?
Biden still has work to do I see.
Menzo
1885
I think it takes a bit of effort to uncreate an entire military branch, effort that is probably best spent elsewhere.
It was created by Congress and signed into law by Trump, so Biden simply can’t undo it. Remember the Dems were willing to go on board because it was packaged with something they wanted.
Timex
1887
Space force isn’t going anywhere, I don’t think.
RichVR
1888
How hard would it be to rename it?
IIRC, Biden said Space Force would remain, and really, if you strip away the bizarro-Trumpist bits it is not a bad idea to have a branch dedicated to space stuff. I mean, is it essential? No, because we have been doing ok with the Air Force and Navy, primarily, handling that stuff. But it’s not an insane idea in principle.
Timex
1890
Yeah, unifying space operations so you don’t have a bunch of disparate commands in different services, makes sense.
It reminds me of the professor in futurama…
The notion of a space force is less stupid, though trump did it in a profoundly stupid way.
It is obvious that Space Force is the predecessor to Star Fleet (which SpaceX is building). If we don’t have Star Fleet than there will a break in the space time continuum, and lots of really good TV shows, movies and iconic characters will disappear as will as the Paramount streaming service.
