[Korenwolf]

OK, I know no politics allowed, but this one popped into my inbox earlier and was too good not to share -

Gavin Williamson: Drone 'swarm squadrons' to be deployed by military

The defence secretary has said the specially-adapted drones could be in operation by the end of 2019.
He also warned in a speech that the UK needs a bolder and stronger armed forces prepared to use "hard power".
Labour has said the military's role on the international stage had been "completely undermined" by Tory cuts.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47192232

One wonders whether some bright spark saw what chaos one (possible) UAV was able to bring about at Gatwick over Xmas....and imagined what a 'swarm' do to the Russian airfields

[Leodisflyer]

Is he the one that was calling for the dispatch of HMS QE to the China Sea with two squadrons of fully operational F35s?

[OCB]

Available on Aliexpress...no the irony of China supplying working RC models of the F-35 isn't lost.

[stevelup]

Seems to have had a small downgrade to twin pusher props though.

[OCB]

Seems to have had a small downgrade to twin pusher props though.

...downgrade?...or improved endurance, lower running costs - and the fact you can buy it now and operate it in 3-4 weeks depending on postal service

not sure if it’s true, but I remember a story about the F-117 Stealth, it got a public outing but it’s tail was covered. At the same time Airfix released a scale model kit, with the correct tail configuration...

[kanga]

..

not sure if it’s true, but I remember a story about the F-117 Stealth, it got a public outing but it’s tail was covered. At the same time Airfix released a scale model kit, with the correct tail configuration...

ISTR from late '50s that before the USS George Washington, the US' first SSBN, had been launched, let alone become operational, there was a detailed and allegedly accurate Revell kit available. I think questions were asked in Congress ..

[Colonel Panic]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47192232

I love the way the BBC include a photo of a Reaper drone - which cost ~USD16.9 million each - in an article which states that the UK will deploy drones by the swarm at a total cost of ~ £7m.

[Dave W]

... the fact you can buy it now and operate it in 3-4 weeks depending on postal service

RAF/FAA F-35B Initial operating Capability declared 10 January 2019.
I know it's the fashion to knock the F-35B (and Queen Elizabeth Class carriers) but I find it tiresome and out-dated now, and almost always poorly informed. Well, that's my opinion, driven by knowing quite a few people who have worked extremely hard and achieved impressive things on both programmes - which they very rarely get credit for from the public, and I think they should.

not sure if it’s true, but I remember a story about the F-117 Stealth, it got a public outing but it’s tail was covered. At the same time Airfix released a scale model kit, with the correct tail configuration...

This is not correct. The DoD released the first (misleading) photo of the F-117A in November 1988. (I happened to be in the US at the time, and remember it well).

At the time, and for some time afterwards, the only kit of a "stealth fighter" was from Testors, who called it the "F-19" and which looked nothing whatsoever like the F-117A, tail configuration included.

Other (grainy) civilian photos of the F-117A were published by AvLeak about 6 months later, and showed the configuration more clearly. The first physical showing to the press and public was more than a year after that, at either Nellis AFB or Holloman AFB (can't remember) and the tails weren't covered - they couldn't be, as the aircraft appeared overhead, landed and taxyed up to the invited crowd.

[Paul_Sengupta]

Probably because this kit came out in 1990, whereas the aircraft, rather than just a grainy picture, wasn't unveiled to the public until 1991.

[Dave W]

Detailed photos released 3 April 1990, says this - with the first public display at Nellis AFB a couple of weeks later on 21 April (attended by more than 100,000 people).

What happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas.

Revell did quite a good job on limited info with that tiny kit - except for the engine nozzles.

[eltonioni]

..

not sure if it’s true, but I remember a story about the F-117 Stealth, it got a public outing but it’s tail was covered. At the same time Airfix released a scale model kit, with the correct tail configuration...

ISTR from late '50s that before the USS George Washington, the US' first SSBN, had been launched, let alone become operational, there was a detailed and allegedly accurate Revell kit available. I think questions were asked in Congress ..

[Pete L]

Talking of models of novel ideas for de fence of de realm.



(Wondering if I'll get my second donk in a week for that).

[kanga]

Talking of models of novel ideas for de fence of de realm.



(Wondering if I'll get my second donk in a week for that).

.. but whom will you get to pay for it

[Bill McCarthy]

I can tell you that the cutaway view of the SSBN shown above is nothing like the internal fit out. Neither are any of the pictures showing the internals of British boats.

[kanga]

I can tell you that the cutaway view of the SSBN shown above is nothing like the internal fit out. Neither are any of the pictures showing the internals of British boats.

I suppose it may have been subtle marketing by Revellers, but US advertising doesn't usually do subtle

(The GW was the first Polaris boat. Obviously, I know nothing about the interiors of that or any USN or RN successors, or how different later ones may have been .. )