Military Heat

The M82 and the most recent evolution the M107 are both versions of the same weapon: the .50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle. It’s the most representative sniper rifle, because of its incredible rage (1.5 kilometers) and currently holds the record at 2.5 kilometers. There is no significant difference between the M107 designation ant the last upgrade of the M82: M82A1M.
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Here are two videos I posted on metacafe, featuring the mighty Russian Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter. The first video is a Czech Mi-24, and the second is a Slovakian Mil. Both videos showcase the helicopter’s maneuvering skills, and performances. They are both very cool videos if you are a military fanatic like I am Enjoy!
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The Russian Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter is a true veteran. It’s seen 18 wars in its lifetime. That’s more than any other NATO helicopter in existence.
The Mi-24 Hind or the flying tank as it is called by Russian pilots because of it’s
reinforced cockpit, can take hits from all kinds of projectile weapons, including massive .50 caliber machine guns, without the bullets making it into the cockpit. Unfortunately any aircraft is as strong as its weakest part. For the Mi-24 Hind the weakest link is its resistance to shoulder launched rockets.
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One of the planes that impressed me in my early years, was the C-130 Hercules. I don’t know why, but along with the DC-3 (and the military version C-47) it has always caught my imagination and interest.
The aircraft started production in ‘56 after the project was won in the 1950 by Lockheed Martin with the YC-130 prototype. An interesting fact is that this “old girl” is still in production!
Actually it’s still wanted by military air forces around the world including the USAF. And in September 2006 the “headcount” was for 186 planes to be made and delivered! That is simply unheard off, for such an “old plane”, but the secret stands in its oldness. Or lack of it, actually.
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The Apache AH-64 helicopter is the current workhorse of the US Military. The need for an attack helicopter started after the war in Vietnam when a lot of Huey helicopters were fitted with attack rockets. Although the Huey did its job properly as an armed transport helicopter, as an attach chopper it left a bitter taste, over 5000 people dying in it!

Thus the Apache was created. The first one flew in 1975, and after proving its worth, in 1983 the assembly line started rolling aircraft after aircraft at a price of 18 million US dollars.
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An unusual article caught my attention on Digg yesterday. It featured a website with pictures of old abandoned Russian aircraft. The pictures seem to tell a story of a long-gone era when everybody feared nuclear attacks and when the Berlin wall divided Europe into two areas of influence.

These airplanes were once top of the line, and a part of the proud air fleet of the Soviet Union, yet their lives are now over, their “guts” have been removed and their destiny is now only to sit in the sun, and watch history unfold itself.
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