Weapons around the World

Da Vincis Tank

2011-03-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

I think, this is the most famouse invention of Da Vinci.

His tank. He was born in a time of big trouble. So he made some war-machines.

Imagine, you are a soldier in the 15/16th century and this strange, unknown thing rolls up to you and you cant do anything against it.

At the bottom I have a "short" video about a freaky team who builds and testes this machine after the original plans.

So, this is perhaps one of the most famous of Da Vinci’s projects. His idea of reaping panic and destruction among enemy troops was envisioned in this tortoise-shaped vehicle, reinforced with metal plates, and ringed with cannons. In a job application to the Duke of Milan, Da Vinci boasted "I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the close ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that they will not break through them. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition." Da Vinci’s precursor to the modern tank surely could have created "shock and awe" on the 15th-century battlefield, the design contained some serious flaws. Even with several modifications to the original plans he continued to be faced with a number of unresolved problems and eventually abandoned the project.

The biggest Battleship the world has ever seen!

2011-03-24T05:53:00.000-07:00

THE YAMATO

Some datas about this huge Battleship

Nation: Japanese Empire

Type: Battleship
Shipyard: Kure Naval Dockyard
Laid Down: November 4, 1937
Launched: August 8, 1940
Commissioned: December 16, 1941
Fate: Sunk in action North of Okinawa, April 7, 1945

Specifications:
Displacement: 72,800 tonnes
Length: 862 ft. 6 in. (overall)
Beam: 127 ft.
Draft:: 36 ft.
Propulsion: 12 Kampon boilers, driving 4 steam turbines and 4 propellers
Speed: 27 knots
Range: 7,145 miles at 16 knots
Complement: 2,767 men

Armament (1945):

Guns:
9 x 18.1 in. (3 turrets with 3 guns each)
6 x 6.1 in.
24 x 5 in.
162 x 25 mm anti-aircraft
4 x 13.2 mm anti-aircraft

Aircraft:
7 aircraft using 2 catapults

Construction:

Naval architects in Japan began work on the Yamato-class of battleships in 1934, with Keiji Fukuda serving as the chief designer. Following Japan's 1936 withdrawal from the Washington Naval Treaty, which forbade new battleship construction before 1937, Fukuda's plans were submitted for approval. Initially meant to be 68,000-ton behemoths, the design of the Yamato-class followed the Japanese philosophy of creating ships that were bigger and superior to those likely to be produced by other nations.

For the ships' primary armament, 18.1" (460 mm) guns were selected as it was believed that no US ship with similar guns would be capable of transiting the Panama Canal. Originally conceived as a class of five ships, only two Yamatos were completed as battleships. With the approval of Fukuda's design, plans quietly moved forward to expand and specially prepare a drydock at the Kure Naval Dockyards for construction of the first ship. Veiled in secrecy, Yamato was laid down on November 4, 1937.

In order to prevent foreign nations from learning the actual size of the ship, Yamato's design and cost were compartmentalized with few knowing the true scope of the project. In order to accommodate the massive 18.1" guns, Yamato featured an extremely wide beam which made the ship very stable even in high seas. Though the ship's hull design, which featured a bulbous bow and a semi-transom stern, was tested extensively, Yamato was unable to achieve speeds higher than 27 knots making it unable to keep up with most Japanese cruisers and aircraft carriers.

This slow speed was largely due to the vessel being underpowered. In addition, this issue led to high levels of fuel consumption as the boilers struggled to produce enough power. Launched with no fanfare on August 8, 1940, Yamato was completed and commissioned on December 16, 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Entering service, Yamato, and later its sister Musashi, became the largest and most powerful battleship ever built.
Operational History:

Two months after its commissioning, Yamato became the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. That May, Yamato sailed as part of Yamamoto's Main Body in support of the attack on Midway. Following the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, the battleship moved to the anchorage at Truk Atoll arriving in August 1942. The ship remained at Truk for much of the next year largely due to its slow speed. In May 1943, Yamato sailed to Kure and had its secondary armament altered and new Type-22 search radars added.

Returning to Truk that December, Yamato was damaged by a torpedo from USS Skate en route. After repairs were completed in April 1944, Yamato joined the fleet during the Battle of the Philippine Sea that June. In October, Yamato fired its main guns for the first time in battle during the Japanese defeat at Leyte Gulf. Though hit by two bombs, the battleship aided in sinking an escort carrier and several destroyers off Samar. The following month, Yamato returned to Japan to have its anti-aircraft armament further enhanced.

After this upgrade was completed, Yamato was attacked by US aircraft with little effect while sailing in the Inland Sea on March 19, 1945. With the Allied invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, Japanese planners devised Operation Ten-Go. Essentially a suicide mission, they intended to have Yamato sail south and attack the Allied invasion fleet before beaching itself on Okinawa as a massive gun battery. Once the ship was destroyed, the crew was to join the island's defenders.

Departing Japan on April 6, 1945, Yamato's officers understood that it was to be the vessel's last voyage. As a result, they permitted the crew to indulge in saki that evening. Sailing with an escort of eight destroyers and one light cruiser, Yamato possessed no air cover to protect it as it approached Okinawa. Spotted by Allied submarines as it exited the Inland Sea, Yamato's position was fixed by US aircraft the next morning.

Attacking in three waves, US dive bombers pummeled the battleship with bombs and rockets while torpedo bombers assaulted Yamato's port side. Battered and listing, the order to abandon ship was given around 2:00 PM. As Yamato began to capsize, a massive explosion tore through the after part of the ship as fires reached the stern magazines. Of the ship's crew of 2,778, only 280 were rescued. The US Navy lost ten aircraft and twelve airmen in the attack.

Pic of the Yamato after a bomb hits the ammunition in the front magazine

Modelpicture of the wreck after discovering it in 1982.
It lies 290 kilometres southeast of Kyushu under 340 metres of water in two main pieces, as you can see in the picture below.

The V3 - The "England-Canon"

2011-03-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

The V stands for "Vergeltungswaffe" engl. something like "Repayment-weapon"

After Conquering France Hitler don't want to invade Britain, because he wants to fullfill his plans for conquering the east.
He also knew that the Russian army grew from day to day and that it will come to a conflict between Russia and Germany in the near future.
So he wanted to demoralize the Britons by bombing the shit out of them to force them to a peace-treaty.
But after loosing the "Airbattle for England" he needs a new weapon which is able to target London.The search for an alternative reminds Hitler of the old railguns from the first World War, with which the Germans bombed Paris. But the range of the best railgung of that time was about ~70 kilometers. But London was something like 160 kilometers away from Calais. So, he needs a new sort of gun.

Picture of the profile

In 1943, German engineer August Cönders, of Röchling Stahlwerk AG, proposed an electrically initiated multiple-charge weapon. Thanks to the success of Cönders's other projects, including the "Röchling shell", major figures in the Nazi establishment took notice of him, most importantly Albert Speer, the Minister of Munitions.
Cönders was ordered to produce a prototype of the Hochdruckpumpe and duly constructed one in 20 mm calibre, which proved satisfactory. At this point, Adolf Hitler, who had been following the project with interest, took a hand and decided that a battery of 50 full-size guns would be sited in northern France for bombarding London.
Cönders had constructed a full-calibre gun at the Hillersleben proving ground near Magdeburg, but by the end of 1943 he had encountered severe problems both in putting the gun's basic principle into operation and in producing a feasible design for the shells it was to fire. Even when everything worked, the muzzle velocity was just over 1,000 metres per second (3,300 ft/s), which was nowhere near what had been promised. Nonetheless, plans were proposed to build a single full-size gun with a 150 metres (490 ft) barrel at Misdroy on the Baltic island of Wolin, near Peenemünde, while construction at the Mimoyecques site in France (which had already been attacked by the USAAF and the RAF) went ahead. By March 1944, with no good news from Misdroy, the Heereswaffenamt (Weapon Procurement Office) took control of the project, and Cönders became one of the engineers working on the three chief problems: projectile design, obturation, and ignition of the secondary charges.
Six different companies, including Krupp and Skoda, produced satisfactory designs for projectiles. Obturation problems were solved by placing a sealing piston between the projectile and the initial propellant charge, which in turn prevented the flash from the charge from getting ahead of the projectile and solved the problem of controlling the initiation of the secondary charges. By the end of May 1944, there were four designs for the 150-mm finned projectile, one manufactured by Fasterstoff (designed by Füstenberg), and three others by Röchling (Cönders), Bochumer (Verein-Haack), and Witkowitz (Athem).
Trials were held at Misdroy from May 20–24, 1944 with ranges of up to 88 km being attained. On July 4, 1944, the Misdroy gun was test-fired with 8 rounds (one of the 1.8 meter long shells travelled 93 km). The gun burst during the testing, putting an end to the tests.

photo of remains of V-3 in Zalesie

(Testing Area)

The gun used multiple propellant charges placed along the barrel's length and timed to fire as soon as the projectile passed them, to provide an additional boost. Because of their greater suitability and ease of use, solid-fuel rocket boosters were used instead of explosive charges. These were arranged in symmetrical pairs along the length of the barrel, angled to project their thrust against the base of the projectile as it passed. This layout spawned the German codename Tausendfüßler ("millipede"). Unlike conventional rifled weapons of the day, the smooth-bore gun fired a fin-stabilized shell, dependent upon aerodynamic rather than gyroscopic forces to prevent tumbling, which resulted in a lower drag coefficient.

Some short stuff about knives

2011-03-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

here is a short informative Post about Knives for you
I hope you enjoy it.
I'm fully back after my examn has finished on thursday this week.
My next post will be about the winner of the vote ---->

Update on March the 13th

2011-03-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
sorry for didn't updateing my blog since last wednesday.
I was really busy in studying for my examn next week.

And also thanks for more than 250 followers!
I'm really happy about this :')

I hope, I can post some new stuff as soon as possible.

btw don't forgett the vote on the right side ------------------->

War Tank on One Wheel

2011-03-09T03:26:00.000-08:00

Look what crazy thing I found.
The Idea is, that one man, armed with a machine gun, fastly can drive through a battlefield.
Back in the WW I this little machine would have been very frightend battlemachine.
The picture shows an English Wheel tank. The Germans also invented some Wheeltanks, but this tanks were only prototypes, because they would have been not wery effectiv in a a battlefield withe the new "real" tanks (like the British "Mark tanks" or the German "A7V")

War Tank on One Wheel OPERATED BY ONE MAN
Suddenly, through the drifting smoke of a hard-fought battle, rush weird, one-man fighting tanks. They have the appearance of disk wheels and roll like hoops across the battlefield. Pouring out machine-gun fire, they leap over trenches, vaulting across on strange steel crutches to pursue the disorganized enemy.
Such is the startling vision foreseen by a New York inventor. He has just obtained a patent upon a unicycle-type tank which he believes will revolutionize battlefield tactics.

Housed inside the armored body, the operator will steer the single main wheel by means of two small auxiliary wheels at the rear. A turn of the handlebar lifts one stabilizing wheel and lowers the other, shifting the balance of the machine and turning it to one side or the other. An internal gear mechanism, operated by a motor inside the body, drives the wheel ahead at remarkable speed.
By a simple process of inverting the streamlined pants on the stabilizing wheels, so they form balancing floats, and attaching propelling fins to the main wheel, the tank can be turned into an amphibian capable of plunging into a stream and rolling to the other side.
One of the oddest features of the revolutionary machine is formed by the steel-tube crutches that project ahead on either side like medieval lances. As the tank rushes upon a trench or obstruction, the operator will drop the tubes so they dig into the earth and the whole machine will vault through the air to the other side. An open-type form of the vehicle, which is shown on our cover, has also been devised by the inventor. Without the armored body or the crutches, it is designed for highway use.
In various parts of the world, recently, engineers have been reviving the idea of the unicycle. Attracted by the economy and compactness of a one-wheeled vehicle, they have been attacking anew the problems of balance and propulsion which have been the stumbling blocks in the path of the inventors.
In England, an Italian inventor has just demonstrated a single-passenger unicycle in which he claims to have reached speeds of 100 miles an hour and to have made 280 miles on a gallon of gasoline. In the near future, he plans to bring the machine to the United States and demonstrate its adaptability to American highways. Perfected after more than ten years of experiment, this odd machine rests solely upon one huge pneumatic tire encircling the driver, and dispenses entirely with exterior steering apparatus. The metal rim within the tire supports the frame and driver’s seat and is rotated by a motor of one and three-fourths horsepower. To guide the vehicle to left or right, a steering wheel tilts the central frame with respect to the wheel, shifting the driver’s weight and thus steering the hoop. Models of various sizes are contemplated, the diameter of the hoop being suited to the height of the driver, so that a tall man, according to the inventor, would use a larger unicycle than a short man.

The russian "Tsar Tank" - prototype of WW1

2011-03-07T01:19:00.000-08:00

The german "Go 229" also named Horton HO IX 229

2011-03-05T07:51:00.000-08:00

length: 7,47 m

wing spread: 16.76 m

height: 2.81 m

crew: 1

engine: 2 Jumo 004 B-2 engine with 900kp

max. speed: ~1000 Km/h

operating distance: ~1900 km

The Go 229 jet aircraft was the first operational flying wing airplane equipped with jet engines. In the history of aviation, it deserves a special place, along with the Me 262 and the Me 163. But the Go 229 is certainly the one that looked the more out-of-this-world.

The German started researching the flying wing aircraft concept in the Twenties. This idea had been explored by Alexander Lippisch, and was further developped by the Horten brothers.
At the end of the Thirties, a few prototypes of the aircraft had been built, with "pusher" propeller engines. The first flights were made in 1937. The beginning of the war served as a catalyst, accelerating the design.

In December, 1944, the German were still working on this strange aicraft, aiming at manufacturing a fighter-bomber equipped with Jumo jet engines. The end of the war in Europe prevented the Nazi from using the airplane against Allied targets.

Had it been used to attack the United Kingdom (which at the time was getting early warnings of invading aircraft thanks to the recently invented radar), the Go 229 jet aircraft would have been totally invisible to the radar waves. The German engineers knew it and so they can be considered as the inventors of the stealth aircraft concept, which would later on be developped by the Americans.

Reached the 100 Followers mark

2011-03-03T04:35:00.000-08:00

Today, I got over 100 Followers!

Thanks to every single of you
keep posting and following ;)

next aim: 200 Followers

The HK G11

2011-03-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Caliber: 4.7 mm caseless
Action: Gas operated, rotating breech
Overall length: 750 mm
Barrel length: 540 mm
Weigth: 3.6 kg empty
Magazine capacity: 50 or 45 rds

Rate of fire: ~2000 rounds/min. (3-rounds burst)

The German government decided at the end of the 1960's to replace the G3.

The initial studies lead to the idea of the small-caliber, rapid-fire rifle that fires caseless ammunition. To ensure sufficient stopping/killing power for small-caliber bullets used, the rifle should had have the three-round bursts capability and high capacity magazine.

Early prototypes featured one 50 rounds polymer magazine, while latest versions featured 45 rounds magazines - one in the loaded position within the movable housing and two spare magazines on the top of the rifle, asides from the loaded magazine.

The rifle features unique cylinder breech/chamber system that rotates 90 degrees. The cartridges in the magazine are located above the barrel, bullets down. Prior to each shot, first cartridge is pushed down from magazine into chamber and then breech/chamber rotates 90 degrees to align the cartridge with the barrel (see pic).

The firing cycle process is roughly:

-As the cocking handle on the side is rotated clockwise by the weapon operator

-A round is dropped into the revolving chamber vertically (a loading piston assists this process).

-The chamber rotates 90° until it is lined up with the barrel. This completes the chambering of the round and cocking of the firing pin.

-When the trigger is pulled, a firing pin ignites the primer, which then ignites a powder booster charge that pushes the bullet into the barrel. The solid block of propellant is broken up to increase the ignition surface area and ignites, accelerating the bullet out of the barrel.

-As the projectile is accelerating up the barrel, recoil forces drive the barrel, magazine, chamber and operating mechanism rearwards within the weapon, dissipating energy for single shot and fully automatic modes but allowing burst mode to deliver three projectiles downrange before buffering occurs.

-Gas tapped off from the barrel rotates the chamber and actuates the loading mechanism then rotating the chamber back to the vertical original position until it is lined up with the feed mechanism and the process repeats.

The caseless ammunition in its early appearance was designed as a block of the propellant, coated with flammable laquer, with bullet and primer "glued on" the propellant. Final ammunition design DM11, that appeared in the mid-1980s, featured "telescopic" design, when bullet was fully enclosed in the block of the propellant. The cartridge propelled the bullet that weights 3.25 gramms, to the 930-960 meters per second.

Early prototypes were prone to the ammunition cook-offs during the sustained fire, but later Dynamit Nobel solved this issue.

In the late 1980s the Bundeswehr (West German Army) began the field tests of the pre-production G11s. After the initial tests, some improvements were devised, such as removable optical sight, mounting of two spare magazines on the rifle, and bayonet/bipod mount under the muzzle.

The modified variant, called G11K2, was tested in 1989, scoring at least 50% better combat accuracy when compared to G3 rifle. Initial batch of some 1000 G11K2s was received by Bundeswehr in 1990 or so, but due to some reasons the whole programme was cancelled by German Government. Main reasons of this cancellation were, in my opinion, the lack of fundings after the re-union of the West and East Germanies, and the general NATO policy for unification of the ammunition and even magazines for the assault rifles.

The slightly modified G11 was also tested in the USA under the ACR (Advanced Cobat Rifle) programme, in 1990. The ACR programme was not intended to result in adoption of the new rifle for the US Army, just to test new technologies and designs, and the G11 proved itself as a very accurate, comfortable to handle and fire, and reliable weapon.

And a little Video

XM 29 project

2011-02-28T05:18:00.000-08:00

The XM29 is a project by the US-Army and Heckler&Koch

Out of this projects is the well known Gun "XM 8" from Battlefield BC2

(the Kinetic part of the project)

The XM29 and its different parts/project-types

The XM8 and its variations

Caliber: 5.56 mm NATO (KE) and 20x85mm (HE)
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt (KE), unknown (HE)
Overall length: 890 mm
Barrel length: 250 mm (KE) 460 mm (HE)
Weight: ca 5.5 kg empty; ca 6.8 kg loaded
Magazine capacity: 20 or 30 rounds box (KE) and 6 rounds box (HE)

More detailed vew of the single parts

The history of the one of the most ambitious projects in the history of small arms, known as the OICW, short for "Objective Individual Combat Weapon", began late in the 1986, when the US Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning published a military paper, named "Small Arms System 2000" (SAS-2000). Despite the current trends towards the caseless and fleschette ammunition and appropriate weapons, researched and developed under the ACR program this paper stated that the conventional small arms already reached its technological peak, and the only way to increase the hit probability in the small arms is to introduce a weapon that will fire explosive and fragmentation warheads, combined with the smart fusing and sighting / aiming technologies. While the most small arms research during the late 1980s in the USA was conducted under the ACR program, the idea first developed in the SAS-2000 was supported by another US military paper, published in 1989 by the US Army TRADOC (Training & Doctrine) center. This paper, called "The Small Arms Master Plan" (SAMP), requested for a family of infantry "Objective" weapons, namely the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), Objective Personal Defense Weapon (OPDW), and the Objective Crew Served Weapon (OCSW). The SAMP stated that such weapons must utilize the latest developments in computers and visual technologies, as well as in the small arms, and combine both high explosive warheads and traditional bullets fire capabilities in a single weapon, that should be fielded circa 2000. Of cause, the timelines and most of the weight and cost requirements set in this paper looked unrealistic from the start, but the development of the Objective weapons began in the early 1990s.

During the early stages of research and development in the mid-1990 one out of the two teams was selected as a winner for further development contract. This team is lead by the US based Alliant Techsystems corporation (ATK), with the Heckler-Koch (Germany), Brashear and the Omega companies (both of USA) as the other team members. The ATK is responsible for system integration, and also develops the 20mm Air Burst munitions; HK is responsible for both the 5.56mm rifle and the 20mm grenade launcher; Brashear works on the sighting equipment and Omega provides the training means. The resulting weapon was type-classified by the US Army as the XM-29 circa 2002, and is scheduled to enter the service during the year 2008 in limited numbers. It will be then consequently upgraded with the new technologies then available. Present plans for fielding the M-29 are to issue four units per one infantry squad of 9 men. Early in the 2002 the XM-29 test weapons were successfully tested with the newest 20mm HEAB (High Explosive Air Bursting) munitions, which will be a major "kill factor" for the M-29 weapon. At the same time the "kinetic energy" part of the XM-29 was type-classified as the XM-8 light rifle, and, in the near future, could possibly replace the current Colt M4 carbines as a standalone compact conventional small arms.

XM-29 OICW Description.
The XM-29 is a combination weapon, which has the 20mm semi-automatic, magazine fed grenade launcher as its primary part, and the 5.56mm compact assault rifle as its secondary part. Both parts are assembled into the single one-man portable unit, with the addition of the target acquisition / fire control system (TA/FCS), which is an essential part of the whole system. The XM-29 will become an integral part of the future Land Warrior system, capable of communicating with the other parts of this system, including the tactical computers and helmet-mounted displays.

The grenade launcher is capable to fire in semi-automatic mode only, and is gas operated. It has a bullpup layout with the detachable box magazine located in the butt of the weapon. The rifled barrel is used to launch the 20mm grenades up to the 1000 meters range with good accuracy. In the standard configuration most of the fire controls for the grenade launcher part are located on the rifle part, including the single trigger for both firing modules. It is quite possible, however, that the separate stock will be developed for the grenade launcher part, so it will be possible to use it without the rifle part attached. The launcher has the provisions for the TA/FCS system to be mounted on its top, and the appropriate interfaces, so the data provided from the TA/FCS can be used to program the 20mm grenade fuses. These fuses, used for the 20mm HEAB ammunition, has multiple mode of detonation, including the direct impact mode and the Air Burst mode. In the latter mode the fuse is pre-programmed to explode the warhead at the preset range, which is calculated during the flight by counting the number of the grenade rotations. This allows do defeat targets without the direct impact, using the blast and fragmentation effect of the high explosive warhead. This is a major advantage over the present small arms, which in most cases require the direct hit on the target to be effective, as it allows for greater aiming errors, and also makes possible to defeat targets in defilade, like the trenches and so. The high explosive warhead also has the advantage of not being dependent on its velocity to be effective, so unlike with the bullets, its effectiveness does not decreased with the increase of range. The disadvantages of this system is the extreme complexity of the electronic fuses, which results in the high price of a single round of ammunition. The present plans stated that the one HEAB round must cost about US $25, and it is still to be seen which will be an actual price when the M29 system will be fielded. It is interesting that the present design of the HEAB ammunition actually has two small HE warheads at the front and at the rear of the projectile, with the electronic fuse module located between them. While the HEAB is considered a primary round for the 20mm grenade launcher, it is entirely possible do develop a low cost, direct hit only anti-armour 20mm round with Shaped Charge warhead, which will be effective against lightly armored vehicles (APC, MICV and alike) and various hardened targets.

The rifle, or "kinetic energy" part of the XM-29 system, on the other hand, is a fairy conventional, short-barreled assault rifle, derived from the Heckler&Koch G36 assault rifle. The basic "rifle" part of the XM-29 has no buttstock and no own sights, and thus can be used separately from the whole system only as emergency, personal defense weapon. While being mounted to the whole system, it can be used for a close quarters work, both defensive or offensive (the 20mm grenade launcher has it minimum range of fire of about 50-100 meters), or as an low-cost, low intensity medium range offensive weapon. Most of the XM-29 system controls are built into the "rifle" part, around the trigger guard.

The target acquisition / fire control system (TA/FCS) is the most expensive and complicated unit of the whole system, since it must combine day and night vision capabilities, laser rangefinding unit, ballistic computer and various interfaces to the grenade launcher and external systems. It is used to find the targets in any light and weather conditions, determine the range to the target, calculate and display the aiming data, so the grenade or bullet could be fired to the desired point of impact, and then supply the data to the grenade launcher, so the range could be preset into the grenade fuse. In the case of damage to the TA/FCS the 20mm grenade launcher still can be used in the direct impact mode, as well as the rifle part of the system.

The current research and testing showed that the XM-29 can be up to 500% more effective than the present small arms, but it is still to be seen if all the requirements will be met in the resulting system, especially regarding to the reliability of electronic components, weight, and, at last but not at least, the unit price.

And here is a little video

Something about the AK

2011-02-19T04:34:00.000-08:00

During World War II , the Germans first pioneered the assault rifle concept, based upon research that showed that most firefights happen at close range, within approximately 300 meters. The power and range of contemporary rifle cartridges was excessive for most small arms firefights. As a result, armies sought a cartridge and rifle combining submachine gun features (large-capacity magazine, selective-fire) with an intermediate-power cartridge effective to 300 meters. To reduce manufacturing costs, the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge case was shortened, the result of which was the lighter 7.92x33mm Kurz (kurz=german for "short")
The resultant rifle was the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG44). An earlier firearm, the Italian Cei-Rigotti combined similar features but suffered poor reliability and ejection mechanism, as well as inferior magazine capacity. Towards the end of the war, the Germans fielded the StG44 against the Soviets; the experience deeply influenced Soviet military doctrine in the post-war years.

this picture shows the different versions of the Stg.44

The main difference betwen the AK-47 and the Stg.44 is that the they have a different interlocking system.

The system of the AK-47 is much more effective than the system of the Stg.44.

Kalashnikov didn't simply just copy the Stg.44, he only gets inspired by this weapon to make his own, better weapon to protect his Land against every enemy who wants to conquer and destroy his land.

Some datas:
There were built more than 100 million AK-type rifles.

Weight with empty magazine: 4.3kg
Barrel length: 415mm
Cartridge: 7.62x39mm
Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
Effetive range: ~300 meters (full-auto)
~400 meters (semi-auto)

Anti-Tank Rifle

2011-02-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

An anti-tank rifle is a rifle designed to penetrate the armour of vehicles, particularly tanks. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in WW I and until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armour became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other targets, though shapped-charge weapons such as the bazooka were also introduced for infantry close-defense against tanks. Anti-material rifles of today, such as the Barett M82, are a development of the Second World War technology.

The first Anti-Tank Rifle was the German "Tankgewehr 1918" against the British Mark-tanks.

Their rifles was a new version of the big game hunting rifles of the 19th century.

cal 13.2x92mm

At the beginning of the second World War the A-T Rifles were very effectively used by the Polish Army against the German tanks (lighter Tanktypes like the PzKpfW I,II and III).

They used their A-T Rifle, the "Wz. 35 Anti-Tank Rifle"

the cal was 7.92 x 107

Later as armour became thicker on the newer models, the effectiveness of a man-portable rifle lessened. A notable exception was against the light tanks employed by the Japanese in Malaya, where the British Boys rifle was used with some success.

After WW II the A-T Rifle was useless because of the thick armour of the newer tank models, so the military set their interesses on heavier ant-tank weapons like the upcoming shoulder firing rockets of the bazooka and "Panzerschreck".

Todays A-T Rifles are more used as Heavy Sniper Rifles.

Some well-known rifles are:

The "Barrett M82A1" of the U.S.A. (cal .50 BMG)

or the Hungarian "Gepard" (cal aslo .50 BMG)

EDIT:

Video of the Finnish "Lathi 20mm"
The Rifle with the biggest caliber in WW II which you can shoot "from the shoulder".
Even its magazine weighed almost ~7 kilogramms. The whole weapon weighed some 50 kilograms and it was usually towed by horses, but could be carried by several men.

German Super-Battleship "Der Führer"

2011-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

There is the battleship "Bismarck" for comparison.

The plans were awesome but many considered them fool hardy, but no one wanted to tell this to Hitler. He wanted the biggest battleship in the world and indeed the design was drawn up for this monster. It was to displace 122,000 tons, have eight 21 inch guns and travel at about 30 knots. The problem was that this ship would have been almost twice the size of the Yamato and no docking facility was big enough for it. It would also be very hard to maneuver. Worst of all was the fact that the steel it needed for its construction would have meant that nothing else could have been built during its construction. As the war neared its end, Hitler finally gave up on its construction

More about the details:
Displacement: (700,000 tons planned) 462,750 tons light; 484,920 tons standard; 560,057 tons normal service; 617,927 tons full load
Dimensions:
Length: 2,000’ (609.60m)
Beam: 300’ (91.44m)
Draft: 55’ (16.75m)
Armament:
Main: 8 – 31.5” (80cm) Gustav siege guns (4 x 2)
Secondary: 12 – 9.45”/73 (24cm) Long Range AA guns (12 x 1)
Tertiary: 24 – 5.04”/60 (12.8cm) AA guns (12 x 2)
Light: 5.5cm/77 Gerat 58, 30mm AA guns
(Broadside = 131,574 lbs/59,631 kg)
Aircraft: 15 aircraft
Armor:
Belt: 14.96” (380mm) Deck: 14.96” (380mm)
Turrets: 25.96” (660mm) Conning tower: 24.8” (630mm)
Machinery: 8 shafts, (480,000 shp planned) 498,735 shp/372,057 kw
Performance: 28 knots; Range: 30,000 nm @ 20 knots
Complement: (5,000 planned) 10,236 – 13,307
Distribution of weights:
Armament: 16,425 tons = 2.9%
Armor: 158,660 tons = 28.3%
Machinery: 11,931 tons = 2.1%
Hull, fittings & equipment: 274,955 tons = 49.1%
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 97,307 tons = 17.4%
Miscellaneous weights: 750 tons = 0.1%

This is a 700,000 ton German battleship built to carry a battery of eight 80 cm/31.5 guns, the siege gun Gustav. This is strictly a flight of fancy taken from remarks made by Hitler that he wanted to mount 80 cm guns on the H-class. It was estimated that it would take a 700,000 ton ship to mount them.

Rate of fire for the main battery would be quite slow, one round per gun every five minutes or more while the AA defense would be much more rapid. The AP shell weighed over 15,000 lbs with 441 lbs of burster while the HC shell weighed over 10,000 lbs with 882 lbs of burster.

The 24 cm/73 AA armament was based upon a Kriegsmarine late war study to develop a land based high altitude gun firing a 300 plus pound shell up to 59,000 feet. It is possible that a 700,000 ton ship could carry twelve of these in single double purpose mounts, partly to make up for the slow rate of fire of the 80cm main battery and to engage cruisers.

The 5"/60 were probably Germany's best AA weapon at the end of the war and would have served this mastodon well.

There is no detail information regarding the ship’s power plant. The total SHP required for a ship of this size dictated at least 8 shafts. Based on the extended range of these ships it would appear that a portion of the power plant was diesel.

Eventhough Schwere Gustav and Dora had caliber lengths of 40 calibers.
The Fuhrer uses the naval standard 52cal 800mm guns.

The German Submarine Type XXI

2011-02-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

The Birth of the Bazooka

2011-02-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

Its a very nice picture about the long way from the beginnings to the bazooka we know today.
btw it's called "Panzerwurfmiene" (woithout an "ü")