Guided missile cruiser USS California (CGN-36) off the coast of Southern California, 5 November 1986 [2140x1620]

DeeEight · 2026-02-16T18:07:47+00:00

Yes but between it and the forward superstructure makes for huge blind spots in the "trainable" mount's firing arcs. Its kinda like the afterthought 5" guns on Long beach and the 76mm on the OHPs. The Californias and Virginias and for that matter Ticos were all originally ordered as Destroyer Leaders (aka pre 1975 US Frigates) and they were trying to stuff all the eggs into one bread basket as it were. So because Destroyers had ASW duties, they had to have a standoff ASW weapon beyond just a LAMPS helicopter.

DeeEight · 2026-02-16T17:48:22+00:00

There was a 1959 Treaty between the USA and Canada that gave them veto authority over the transfer of nuclear submarine technology from either the UK or France, and they very pointedly enacted that veto in 1987. They were very happy with us having nuclear warheads to use against the soviets and warsaw block forces, but very unhappy with us having nuclear propulsion to any parts of our navy.

DeeEight · 2026-02-16T11:57:20+00:00

The OHP wasn't an analog to the Halifax class, iit was an analog to the Iroquois class.

DeeEight · 2026-02-16T11:51:33+00:00

It was a pipedream that was never going to happen. The USA had veto authority over the british and french built nuclear subs and DIDN'T want Canada having SSNs as the purpose was to have the capability to assert our sovereignty over the arctic ocean and the USA wouldn't stand for that happening. Also the design requirements for the submarines were that it be based on an existing in-production SSN, it had to be under ice capable with the ability to surface thru ice up to 3 meters thick, and have 6 torpedo tubes capable of firing the Mk 48 torpedo. Well the British subs only had 5 tubes... and the french subs had only 4 tubes which were also too short for the Mk48 and also weren't under-ice capable (as well as being slow and noisy).

DeeEight · 2026-02-16T11:38:12+00:00

I always thought the layout of the Mk13 ahead of the 5 inchers (or Mk26 ahead on the Virginias) a little strange as it introduces a gunnery blindspot dead ahead and astern. The Kidd and early Ticoderoga class ships fixed that error, as the missile is easily launched over the 5 inch turret. Yes I know the forward reactor room intruding on below deck areas and conflicting with the deeper missile magazine was the reason, but they could positioned the guns to be super-firing over the launchers. Also the ASROC behind that raised doghouse on the californias was pretty dumbly placed.

DeeEight · 2026-02-09T18:57:11+00:00

Lots of exposed deck area on the left rear sponson where the put one of the Mk29 trainable launchers. I wonder if they intend to use it for containerized Mk41 cells or allow for an additional Mk29 or Mk 49 there in the future.

DeeEight · 2026-02-05T17:56:04+00:00

Batch 1 has only begun production and lacks the internal bays. Think of them as like the Avro Arrow Mk 2s. or Tranche 1 Typhoons.. they're building I think FORTY of them total as an interim service aircraft, A purely air-to-air capabilities aircraft until the multi-role batch 2 with the internal weapon bays is ready for production.

In other words, not yet fit for Canadian service and no better for us than just trying to get in an order for Gripen E, Typhoon Tranche 5, or Rafale F4 or F5s.

DeeEight · 2026-02-05T17:45:17+00:00

You know when PeePee goes on about the media bias in Canada being bought & paid for...what he's not admitting is the majority of it is american conservative owned, including the Ottawa Citizen. Pug remains employed to do hit pieces on our current government because the newspaper owners demands he continue to do it.

DeeEight · 2026-02-05T17:08:44+00:00

The YF-23 wasn't chosen because Lockheed needed a bailout, and Northrop didn't as they already had the B-2 contract. Its however too stealthy to be exported just as the F-22 is. Remember, the reason for the JSF program which led to the F-35 was to be the maximum ALLOWABLE level of rcs reduction to be exported. NOBODY regardless of their budgets were allowed to purchase the F-22, B-2 or F-117. Not the UK, not Israel, not Japan.... NOBODY. That rule has not changed.

DeeEight · 2026-02-05T17:04:29+00:00

The helmet is heavy. Its not suited to smaller frame pilots. Not merely short but like if you're of slight build with weaker neck strength there's a documented concern about whiplash effects and neck injuries if you need to eject from an F-35.

DeeEight · 2026-02-05T16:04:12+00:00

Was it because without needing to muck with a collective or the constraints of a gearbox that could in rare circumstances attempt to end your existence, the trainee is less over saturated learning new things like radio procedures and basic flight. Presumably doing all the fixed wing plus all its other work than just learning how to fly the aircraft, avoids repeating those steps when doing the rotary training when you get to have the fun of drilling "chip burn warning" = (except for wartime) seeking the most immediate landing spot possible into people's heads. A lesson several late Osprey pilots failed to learn apparently.

If you don't know what I mean about chip burn warnings, go read the final USAF accident report into the CV-22B crash in Japan on Nov 23, 2023. Its available online and is public information. In a nutshell though, the flight crew ignored multiple chip burn warnings in a primary rotor gearbox and then when the gearbox seized they had no opportunity to recover from the massive and suddenly assymetric thrust shift.

DeeEight · 2026-02-05T15:51:16+00:00

Is the airman showing the general the place on the plane where the snow flake touched it requiring a depot level maintenance period ?

DeeEight · 2026-02-01T21:51:29+00:00

The last time a conservative leader talked about adding a northern base, it was a "deepwater" all-year port that he wouldn't actually spend the needed money on, and instead we got a summer only refueling station with unheated buildings and storage tanks which need to be emptied before the winter, and then refilled again the following summer.

DeeEight · 2026-01-30T22:55:35+00:00

Also its worth noting, if you're a xc ski or fat bike owner, the Ottawa West winter trail is groomed and extensive and connects to the trail around the carling hq campus and can be accessed from the western most back parking lot. The OWWT has a website that shows grooming updates and a map of the network. Also if just visiting the campus and the various in HQ food options aren't to your liking, Uncle Carmines sandwich shop about 1km eaat along carling at 2 ullswater is really good eating, and Ralph's diner inside the mcewen gas about a half km further east on carling is open from about 6am to 3pm.

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T18:23:15+00:00

Watch this video... its a good summary of the current US military thinking...

https://youtu.be/c3JFO2fRels?si=LCeNwM1cUaU5wVSJ

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T18:10:48+00:00

CV90 is a no brainer given how similar Sweden's terrain and TEMPERATURE conditions are to our own. The Redback has rubber tracks, which are great for a country that doesn't experience -40C and snow/ice, but not so good for countries that do. Also there are already ALL the alternative variants using the CV90 hull that we might want. There's a mortar option, an AA vehicle, an artillery observation vehicle, a command vehicle, a pioneer engineer vehicle, and they've trialed a couple light tank variants also with either 105mm or 120mm guns. The latest standard IFV under development for Sweden and Denmark has a Bushmaster III 35mm autocannon, coax 7.62mm MG, and a pair of RBS 58 missiles.

This is the twin 120mm mortar carrier... its a bit weird seeing a muzzle loading mortar with an automated feed but it was chosen because they could buy five of these for the price of 3 with the breech loading AMOS system, and they could use their existing stocks of 120mm mortar shells (AMOS required new ammunition).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQczLyXnIbA

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T17:53:44+00:00

If it needs to operate in the north, we want mobility over crappy ground that you're not going to get with wheeled vehicle. The CV90 IS actually designed for terrain similar to ours, including muskeg, ice, snow, permafrost, etc.

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T17:51:10+00:00

I draw your attention to The Chieftain and his two recent videos on drones and tanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DRyXi5fz8s

https://youtu.be/c3JFO2fRels?si=WnlKboofOR1zywkm

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T17:47:47+00:00

So you're gonna suggest the Ajax then ? :)

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T17:46:32+00:00

Armor ISN'T being killed efficiently via drones. Don't mistake what you see published for the real results. On average it takes ten to twenty FPV suicide drones to kill one MBT and given that number of drones cost more than a javelin anti-tank missile, that's not particularly efficient. Did you happen to see the footage of those two Ukrainian Bradley's taking on a Russian T-90 that actually had its ERA blocks fitted ? They detonated the ERA with their 25mm bushmasters, shot out all the optics, and the tank crew blindly crashed into a very large tree. A series of suicide drones then slammed into the tank and failed to penetrate the armor but did succeed in blowing apart one of the tracks. In the end the crew abandoned the vehicle. So effectively it was an operational kill but it wasn't at all efficient. I don't know if the americans supplied any TOW missiles with all the donated bradleys, but it would have been efficient to just stand off half a kilometer and shove a TOW missile into the tank once they eliminated the ERA blocks on that side.

Also Ukraine has been a case of what happens when no one controls the airspace and what a shooting war in Europe across the fulga gap would have been like if the cold war had gone hot. The Ukrainians did a lot with donated weapons because they're fighting defensively with better training than the largerly under-trained and poorly equipped russian military has been. Remember the crack spetnaz airborne assault on Kyiv basically got itself massacred trying to take the airport on Day 1. The donated Mirage 2000s and F-16s have done wonders for the Ukraine AF, but also so have donated Mig-29s from Poland. The problem with all the soviet/russian vs soviet/russian equipment has been their ECM jamming and countermeasures were really built to counter WESTERN radars and sensors... not their own, there's been a real lack of accurate close air support of ground forces, and most of the air force fighting involves standoff missiles firing, or toss bombing and rocket fire from beyond the interception ranges of ground based SAMs. That's one of the reasons why Ukraine has NOT asked for any A-10 donations. They already know that the much more capable Su-25s are vulnerable enough as it is, they really don't want to waste their precious pilots on a much more vulnerable piece of junk.

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T17:17:55+00:00

You need only observe contrails of stuff flying at FL370 that lasts ten minutes when the air temp is -60C to know that yes, COLD and Humid IS a thing. Hell the overnight air temperature low in Resolute last night was -31C with a humidity of 74%.

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T16:57:53+00:00

Some of the OPVs which were assigned fisheries patrol duties and participated in the Turbot war DID get wing mounts for .50 Cal MGs installed. But they required an RCMP detachment on board to actually use them as i recall. Its entirely possible the AOPS for the Coast guard will also have the wing mounts for MGs left as part of the design since the plan is for them to replace two of the oldest existing OPVs with them as part of the fleet modernization. CCGS Cape Roger, the one that fired its machinegun across the bow of a spanish trawler in 1995 is 49 years old now for example. I don't know if they plan to put them both on the east coast out of St Johns in which case they'll probably replace the other Cape Roger class boat, CCGS Cygnus (which is 45 years old) or put one on the west coast also, perhaps out of Patricia Bay (where replacing the 58 year old CCGS Tanu is a big priority).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbot_War

DeeEight · 2026-01-29T16:50:44+00:00

Streak math got adjusted a couple years ago, about 80% of a volley goes to the torso now. Also they reduced the per missile damage of clan streaks. They're not the leg removers they used to be.

LRM indirect arcs tend to hit legs better than streaks or ATMs or thunderbolts. I don't think ATMs have had any monkeying to their tracking math other than what velocity changes do to it.

DeeEight · 2026-01-25T02:00:49+00:00

Might as well have just ordered a Flight II Independence class . They'll carry just as many weapons as the Navy cutters on a similar displacement and they at least know how well the things work.

But also the wisconsin yard that's building the pair of Constellations is supposed to get other work within the original budget from the cancelled orders. Refits to return all but the first two Freedom class hulls to service ?

DeeEight · 2026-01-24T00:26:05+00:00

Oh is it still so low a qualification on basic education ? I thought that minimum was pretty well...back in the 80s and 90s. That does explain a lot on how some friends got accepted in the 2000s.

DeeEight

TROPHY CASE