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Israeli Defence Force officer cadets from the Geffen Battalion at Training Base 1 during a field training exercise - storming straight into thorny bushes and dense vegetation, preparing them for the anything they may encounter in the next conflict – January 2012
Israeli Paratroopers during a demonstration of weapons and equipment for visiting Israeli School Children – 15th December 2011
Israeli Soldiers from a number of Different Infantry Brigades training with the TOW Anti-Tank Missile System – 3rd October 2011
Members from Shanghai Municipal Civil Defence visited Dublin Civil Defence HQ in 2011 and were given a briefing on disaster response and Dublin Civil Defence by CDO of the Fingal Division, Bill Powderly
Israeli Defence Force Recruits for a Field intelligence unit during their basic training course - 2011
Israeli Soldiers from a number of Different Infantry Brigades training with the TOW Anti-Tank Missile System – 3rd October 2011
By Daily Mail Comment
Last updated at 10:01 AM on 2nd November 2010
Comments (15) Add to My Stories
Agincourt, Trafalgar, Waterloo... you don’t have to be a learned scholar of our island history to know that, over the centuries, Britain’s entente with France has not always been cordiale.
Indeed, even in the recent years of firm (but wary) friendship, our two nations have often gone their divergent ways.
Leave aside the painful day in 1940, after France’s armistice with Hitler, when the Royal Navy was reluctantly obliged to sink the French fleet.
Think instead of France’s refusal to back us in the Falklands or (no matter how justifiably) Iraq. Or consider the 43 years, which ended only 19 months ago, during which the French rejected Nato.
Yet today, David Cameron and President Nicolas Sarkozy are to declare a new era of Anglo-French defence collaboration which will make independent action by either nation all but impossible.
Even at a time when it’s vital to save money, how can this be wise?
True, those who feel deeply uneasy about depending on France will be accused of living in the past. But it’s the future that worries the Mail.
Though Mr Cameron and M. Sarkozy may get along, where will Britain be left if we have to plead with a future French Socialist Government for the use of an aircraft carrier to defend our interests?
And how can the Tories, who rightly opposed plans for a European army, even consider handing operational control of the SAS to France?
Mr Cameron said yesterday: ‘The point is to enhance sovereign capability by two like-minded countries.’
We may be like-minded today, Prime Minister. But what about tomorrow?
A disingenuous gameSacked last year for attacking tougher controls on cannabis, the aptly-named Professor David Nutt tries a new approach to pushing his soft line on illegal drugs.
With fellow liberal campaigners, the former government drugs adviser publishes research — based on his own formula — purporting to prove that all illicit drugs, heroin included, are much less harmful than alcohol.
Let’s be clear. For many years, the Mail has been highlighting the damage done to society by alcohol abuse — and nobody has campaigned more vigorously for tighter rules, including an end to 24-hour licensing and cheap drink promotions.
But Professor Nutt is clearly pursuing a different agenda when he plays up the dangers of alcohol — preposterously suggesting that it should be classified as a Class A drug.
Isn’t his chief purpose to play down the harm done by illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine — just as he did last year, when he announced that ecstasy was less dangerous than horse-riding?
If he had experience of rundown estates, where girls sell their bodies for a fix of crack, would he be so blase about drug abuse?
Of course, Professor Nutt is entitled to his opinions. But when he dresses them up as science, he is playing a disingenuous and dangerous game.
Equality of failure
In the name of equality, Chief Schools Adjudicator Dr Ian Craig condemns faith schools for favouring families involved in church activities.
There’s a danger, he says, that they may be (shock, horror!) middle class.
Meanwhile, he warns that specialist music schools may be breaking the law by accepting gifted musicians according to their ‘ability’, rather than their ‘aptitude’.
In short, he won’t rest until all children, equally, are denied places at the schools that suit them best.
"the Royal Navy was reluctantly obliged to sink the French fleet."
Another betrayal from the British: killing 1,297 french soldiers for no reason and you dare to claim it was "obliged" to do so?
Appalling revisionnism from an appalling tabloid.
- Sensi, Paris, France, 2/11/2010 2:46
If not for this action , the French fleet would have been taken over and crewed by Germans, we may not have won the war and you could still be under Nazi occupation!!! please remember the traitors of the vichey who sided with the Germans killed more of your own countrymen than this reluctant action.
- john, swindon, 03/11/2010 10:32
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"the Royal Navy was reluctantly obliged to sink the French fleet."
Another betrayal from the British: killing 1,297 french soldiers for no reason and you dare to claim it was "obliged" to do so?
Appalling revisionnism from an appalling tabloid.
- Sensi, Paris, France, 2/11/2010 2:46
Maybe if the french hadn't capitulated so eagerly, we wouldn't have had to do it eh ?
- Dave, Lincoln - GBR ( Great Britain Ruined ), 02/11/2010 13:20
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"For many years, the Mail has been highlighting the damage done to society by alcohol abuse - and nobody has campaigned more vigorously for tighter rules, including an end to 24-hour licensing and cheap drink promotions."
Why not campign for a ban? The Mail constantly spreads propoganda to convince people that cannabis should be illegal, when it causes 0 deaths a year. But when it comes to the 10,000+ deaths a year that alcohol causes, you just want tighter rules, and no 24-hour licenses.
So to recap, the Mail's stance is:
0 deaths - keep it illegal
10,000+ deaths - keep it legal
- Sam, Bristol, 02/11/2010 12:21
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We must also remember that they mutinied at Sedan and our Commanders said that we would draw rhe germans off by starting the Somme offensive where we lost so many of our troops.
As a Sovereign Nation we should always retain command of our troops and Cameron will learn this at his and our peril.
- Charles Taylor, Brstol, England, 02/11/2010 11:44
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How can this work if the French have truly independent nuclear capability and Britain must go cap in hand to the US in order to use its nuclear warheads? Politicians do love their little games.
- Teller, Norwich UK, 02/11/2010 09:54
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Would prof Nutt be so blase about drug abuse if he witnessed girls selling their bodies for crack? What sort of stupid, biased, uninformed and bigoted question is that??!
Shame on you, Daily Mail. Irresponsible, over-emotional and totally inaccurate rhetoric. Get real please.
- John, Derbyshire, 02/11/2010 09:40
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Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1325792/BRITAIN-AND-FR...
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1325792/BRITAIN-AND-FR...
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1325792/BRITAIN-AND-FR...
Darlington (black & white strip) stretch the Consett defence at Medomsley Road as they press for a decisive score late in a game in rugby union's Durham & Northumberland One. Hosts Consett held out to claim a 29-25 win having led 20-0 at the break. Both teams went into the fixture with five consecutive victories behind them.
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or Daring class, is a class of six guided missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and is built around the PAAMS (Sea Viper) air-defence system utilizing the SAMPSON AESA and the S1850M long-range radars. The first three destroyers were assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built at different shipyards; the remaining three were built by BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships. The first ship in the Daring class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009.
(Text Wikipedia)
Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro, Chief of Defence of Portugal and Admiral Teodoro E. López Calderón, Chief of Defence of Spain
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Defence of the Realm, featuring Jem Godfrey (Frost), John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost) and Pete Trewavas (Marillion, Transatlantic) - Friday night Headliners at Summers End Festival 2010
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy - Vice President of the European Commission, Mr. Lorenzo Guerini Minister of Defence, Mr. Matej Tonin Minister of Defence
©Government Communication Office
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was in Romania on 23 March 2015 to talk about bilateral security relations. Pictured here with Romanian Defence Minister Mircea Dusa
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Israeli Soldiers from a number of Different Infantry Brigades training with the TOW Anti-Tank Missile System – 3rd October 2011
Israeli army snipers pack their gear after an army exercise at the Shizafon army base, in the Negev Desert north of the southern city of Eilat, on January 31, 2012.
Photos: JACK GUEZ
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (English: Colubrid, grass-snake) was a World War II German point-defence rocket-powered interceptor, which was to be used in a very similar way to a manned surface-to-air missile. In 1943, Luftwaffe air superiority was being challenged by the Allies over the Reich and radical innovations were required to overcome the crisis. Surface-to-air missiles appeared to be a promising approach to counter the Allied strategic bombing offensive; a variety of projects were started, but invariably problems with the guidance and homing systems prevented any of these from attaining operational status. Providing the missile with a pilot, who could operate a weapon during the brief terminal approach phase, offered a solution.
After a rather fast and troublesome development phase the Natter was rushed into production. The SS ordered 150 Natters, and the Luftwaffe ordered 50, and the first serial production aircraft, now designated Ba 349 A-1, reached operational status in April 1945 with the Erprobungskommando (EK) 349. An operational launch site under the code name “Operation Kroku”s was being established in a small, wooded area called Hasenholz, south of the Stuttgart to Munich autobahn and to the east of Nabern unter Teck. Around the end of February and the beginning of March the Organisation Todt had been in action, constructing each set of the trios of concrete foundations (or "footings") for the stationary launch towers. These three launch pads and their towers were arranged at the corners of an equilateral triangle, 120 m per side.
By August 1945, 91 aircraft had been delivered to EK 349 and the first operational unit, the JG 400, into which the test unit was soon integrated. But a persistent lack of fuel, staff and maintenance resources kept most of them grounded. It was clear that the original plan for a huge network of Ba 349 bases that protected important locations would never be realized, and the idea of stationary bases made this network vulnerable to air raids, too. As a consequence mobile launch rigs for the Natter were developed, the so-called “Rampenwagen I”. This self-propelled vehicle was based on repurposed Königstiger battle tank hulls that had their engine moved into a mid-chassis position behind the driver’s compartment. This arrangement offered enough space at the heavy chassis’ rear section to carry an erectable ramp and two vacuum pumps that powered the launch sled for a single Natter that ran on rails on the ramp. The Natter interceptor was hooked with the ehlp of a crane into the erected ramp and started vertically. Beyond the Ba 349 this device could also be used to start the Messerschmitt E-4 “Enzian” anti-aircraft missile in a similar fashion, as well as the unmanned Fieseler Fi 103 “V1” cruise missile at a shallow launch angle
Adapting the existing Tiger II chassis turned out to be relatively easy, and unfinished hulls could be modified without major problems. A side benefit of the new mid-engine layout was that the driving shaft to the gearbox in the Jagdtiger’s front hull was shorter, saving material, weight, and internal space behind the engine bay. As a drawback the access to the engine compartment was limited through the low and long launch ramp – it had to be erected or even removed before the engine could be changed. Another characteristic feature of the modified hull was a different running gear. It used elements of Porsche’s original Tiger I running that was rejected for the heavy battle tank but adopted for the heavy Ferdinand/Elefant SPG that was based on Porsche’s Tiger I design. It consisted of four wheel-units per side made from pairs of 700 mm diameter steel road wheels and a longitudinal torsion bar suspension that remained outside of the hull. While its off-road performance was not as good as the original interleaved running gear with torsion bars inside of the hull, the Porsche system offered a production advantage over the Henschel running gear: it took a third less time to produce than Henschel’s system, reduced the hull construction time as well as machining time, required less maintenance, and could actually be completely replaced in the field without (theoretically) removing other parts and without the use of a jack. The Porsche system also saved about 1,200 kg in weight, 450 man-hours of work time, gained 100 mm more ground clearance, and saved RM 404,000 (Reichsmarks) in cost per vehicle. Much more importantly though, the use of this suspension freed up space inside the vehicle, an entire cubic meter extra! A few standard Jagdtiger SPGs were finished with this running gear, too, but it only became a standard on refurbished vehicles.
In service the Rampenwagen I received the official designation of Sd.Kfz. 282, and only a handful of these complex and bulky vehicles were build oer deilevered to frontline units until late 1945. In practice the Rampenwagen I was operated in combination with other vehicles to from mobile launch units for the Natter - plans envisioned groups with Sd.Kfz. 282s, accompanied by trabsporters for the tiny fighters, two cranes to lift them onto the launch sled on the ramp, plus fuel bowsers, a command and radio unit, plus supprt vehicles for staff and pilots as well as other equipment, and ideally even a mobile radar system that could guide and coordinate the interceptions. This, however, never materialized, due to the lack of resources, and only the Luftwaffe's JG 400 became operational enough to make some Ba 349 starts in the defense of the Stuttgart area, with very limited success.
Specifications:
Crew: 2 (Driver, Radio operator/ramp engineer)
Weight: 59.5 tons (131.050 lb)
Length: 14,04 m (45 ft 11 ¾ in) overall
7,80 m (25 ft 6 ½ in) hull only
Width: 3.625 m (11 ft 10 ½ in)
Height: 4.97 m (16 ft 3 ½ in) with launch sled
14,54 m (47 ft 7 ¾ in) with erected ramp
Ground clearance: 56,5 cm (22¼ in)
Suspension: Longitudinal torsion bars
Fuel capacity: 860 Liter (190 imp gal, 230 US gal)
Armor:
20–180 mm (0.79 – 7 in)
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 34 km/h (21 mph)
Operational range: 120 km (75 mi) on road
80 km (50 mi) off road
Power/weight: 10,08 PS/ton
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL230 P30 with 600 hp/441 kW
Transmission:
Maybach eight-speed OLVAR OG40-1216B gearbox
Armament:
None installed
The kit and its assembly:
Well, it's not really armour, but since this... thing is based on a Jagdtiger I put it here. It's actually cross-linked with the Ba 349 Natter that I am building in parallel - after all, how should that tiny rocket fight start? This thought had been on my mind for quite a time, and I had the Brengun Natter stashed away for some time. But creating a mobile launch platofrm - or better: coming up with a concept that could be turned into a model somehow, took really long. First ingredient was a Fujimi steam catapult kit from WWII, which works with an external sled, towed by a cable, quite different to the launch catapults that were for instance used for the Fi 103 VI, which operated like aircraft carrier steam catapults with a sled in a pressurized tube.
Finding a suitable chassis was more complicated. First bet was "Karl Gerät" mortar, which turned out to be much too big and also not really compatible with the Fujimi catapult, and the project went into hiatus again. Until inspiration struck and I remembered the Jagdtiger that I had built last year or so, with an oversized L/100 gun and the casemate moved to the rear of the hull (and the engine in a mid-positionj behind the drivers' compartment). That could work in size and arrangement!
Said and done, I procured an(other) Trumpeter Jagdtiger with the late Porsche running gear, with simplified and standardized elements that were intended for the E-Series of tanks, what would fit well into the model's intended time frame of mid 1945. And from that on things went straightforward, only that the catapult was shortened by 3" at the rear and modified to stand vertical - with the bonus that was able to construct a joint so that this is even functional. The launch sled, which was slightly tailored to hold the Natter, is movable, too. That area inside of the Jagdtiger hull had to be filled/improvised, but that worked well, too, thanks to some donor parts from a Modelcollect E-50 tank.
Painting and markings:
The paint scheme caused the next headaches. This is supposed to be a special vehicle, (re)constructed from a Jagdtiger hull, and somehow I did not find Dunkelgelb to be a proper solution. Late in WWII many tanks received an overall Olivgrün factory finish, but I also did not like that idea for this massive thing. Luftwaffe vehicles were, at least during early war stages, painted in their own color, RAL 7016, a dark and rather bluish tone slightly lighter than RAL 7021 Panzergrau, but that did not appear suitable, either. Red Oxidprimer was another option, but rejected, too.
Eventually I settled for a very simple overall RAL 7021 finish - a tone which was still available in considerable volume and applied to operational tanks - and in this case it would be a "2nd line vehicle". The dark tone would also work well to hide the launch platform's bulk in the shadows of trees or buildings, and it simply "looks German". Since the lattice girder catapult with the pressure piston inside was build before painting I used a rattle can - another argument for a uniform livery. After that the model was dry-brushed, decals and matt varnish were applied, and some dirt and dust was added with water colors and pigments.
Israeli Soldiers from the NAHAL Brigade during a large scale Field Training Exercise – May/June 2012
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Israeli soldiers take position during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers on March 17, 2010 in the West Bank town of Qalandia.
Israeli Defence Force Recruits for a Field intelligence unit during their basic training course - 2011
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
EDL (English Defence League) hold march in Central London opposed by the UAF (Unite Against Fascists, London, UK
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the first week of September 2012, tracking the on-going river bank alterations and excavation of the river bed. In preparation for the river-bank strengthening/protection along this stretch of the river, a 2nd channel was created -- with the intention of diverting the river. Having endured a similar flooding only days earlier, another heavy fall of rain caused the channels to fill up again. It meant starting all over again - draining this road/bank side channel, cutting a release channel near the bridge to release the volume, and activating pumps to assist with the repeated drainage. Matters were never helped by the overflow pipe which siphoned run-off from the adjacent motorway! Always quite amazing to see how water levels could drain away within a few days. The question would always be -- how much work could be completed before the (inevitable) next run of water? The following sequences show how the guys reinforced the river bed/bank: spreading out, and stitching in a membrane, layout out wire creels, filled with medium sized stones, welded shut, and laid out in grids, particularly the sections alongside the road/bank side.
Israeli Army Recruits for the Armoured Corps Recon units from Palsar 7 and Palsar 401 during Joint training - 2012
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Defence Forces Triathlon took place in Lilliput Adventure Center in Mullingar on the banks of Lough Enell
Welcome to Exmoor
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Porlock Weir lies about 1.5 miles west of Porlock, Somerset, England and is a small settlement which has grown up around the harbour.
Porlock Weir, West Somerset, UK
The Mayor of Stretford inspects the Civil Defence Force on parade, November 1940. There had already been air raids on Manchester, but nothing in comparison to what these men were to witness on the nights of the 22nd and 23rd of December 1940.