Air and Space Photos from Alternate Worlds.
- Thread starter wingman
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Yes, it is a very similar monocoque monoplane. It also has some similarities to the OTL Brewster F2A Buffalo, Czech Letov Š-431 and the unfinished Polish PZL 50 Jastrząb. As for the Soviet Union, it doesn't exist ITTL.
MARS ALLIANCE ALDERBARAN CLASS
Role: Long Range High Speed Raider and Attacker
Length:248m (with Collector funnel retracted)
Width: 58m at radiators, 28m at crew midsection
Weight: CLASSIFIED (estimated as 24,000 tonnes empty)
Crew: 30
Powerplant: 2 military grade Fusion plant, Output Classified. Auxiliary Photovoltic systems.
Propulsion: 1X linear Bussard Ramjet, 4x multi-axis Pellet Drive, Thrust CLASSIFIED, 8x Manoeuvring engines, 4x Breaking engines
Weapons: 3 x ring laser, 8 x Mass drivers, 20 x CIWS laser system.
Sensors: 24 x Full Spectrum Optical Sensor mounts, Many x PRESENCE distributed optic sensors, Many x PST Radar systems, Many x IR detectors, Many x Radar detectors.
EW capacity: Unknown, but generally regarded being equal to 2nd Generation Earthling ECM and ECCM.
With each new year of the war came new developments, new strategies, new tactics and new technology. With each new generation of warships put into service by either side came the declaration some new design, some new ship, was the game changer, the one that would change the course of the war. This was never truer than with the Mars Alliance's Aldebaran Class.
In the on going arms race between the two warring planets, both sides had been trying to develop new ships that could fly faster and further, but still have enough fuel for the trip home. Fuel capacity was a huge limit on the acceleration any ship was capable of; a ship capable of accelerating at 2g for an hour was useless if it mean expending all its fuel to do so.
Both sides tackled the problem head on, developing new propulsion methods, high energy fuels and advanced engine design. But for the majority of the war, fuel capacity was the major limit on spacecraft performance.
Until the Martians developed a Bussard ramjet. Bussard ramjets were not new, having been developed for interstellar spacecraft hundreds of years before the war, but their application in warships until that point was felt to be limited. They had great linear acceleration, but lacked the fast reaction times and manoeuvrability given by more conventional engines. The Martians solution to this was extremely simple: have two kinds of engines; the Ramjet, for high speed transit flight, and conventional pellet drives for manoeuvring and combat.
The Alderbaran class is built around a linear Bussard ramjet, with the engine forming the core around which the rest of the spacecraft is built. The arrangement of the spacecraft is unusual in that the regular engines are at the opposite of the Ramjets exhaust nozzle, surrounding the interstellar hydrogen funnel instead. Instead, the ships primary weapon systems are housed around the ramjet nozzle.
The reason for this is to protect the more fragile collection funnel from damage. The nozzle itself is just an exhaust; damage to it was deemed to have a lower impact on operations than if the funnel was damaged. thus in combat, the exhaust is presented to the enemy (covered by an retractable cover) while the more fragile funnel is protected by the entire ship.
The funnel itself is retractable, consisting of several long, superconducting wires that spread out to form the collection funnel, held rigid by the current put through the cables to produce the electromagnetic field that funnels interstellar hydrogen into the ramjet. The funnel has two configurations (shown at lower picture) the first, the funnel is at its normal shape during the acceleration phase; in the second, the funnel forms a loop to allow the continued collection of hydrogen during deceleration.
The true acceleration capable by the Alderbaran class is classified, but it is be-leaved to have been able to sustain .5 g acceleration indefinitely. As the ramjet used different fuel to the pellet drives, the Alderbaran could quickly transit to any battlezone without worrying about having fuel for the trip home, giving it excellent combat loitering time. within moths of its first deployment, Alderbaran crews had already developed a new tactic: the yo-yo. using this tactic, the Alderbaran would accelerate into battle with its ram jet, reverse and decelerate, engage targets at range with missiles and lasers before restarting its ramjet engine and accelerating away, faster than any missile could catch. Using these tactics, Alderbarans became the bane of SDI forces trying to defend Saturn and Venus.
The Alderbaran once again put Mars in the lead in the technological war, resulting in the Earthlings once again, trying to catch up. While this would eventually result in a Earthling ramjet craft, the Quicksilver class, SDI's tactical planners decided to focus on a different course of action, resulting in the Geist class and the beginning of Project Longbow.
The Germans couldn't design an adequate bomb bay for internal stowage, so 2,000 kg hang on externally on wing shackles. Somebody locked an FW-189 in a hangar overnight with an FW-191 with some jazz music and potent benzol cocktails.
The Grushin Sh-Tandem, designed in 1934 as a light ground attack plane. the unusual downward tail sections gave the 7.92mm rear machine gunner a wider range of fire without shooting off his own tail. Four more 7.92mm guns forward, plus two mounting points for up to 240kg bombs made it a decent fighter/bomber that saw action in the Spanish Civil War and the early years of the invasion of Russia during World War II, before being phased out in favor of the IL-2 in 1944. Considered highly rugged, one plane managed to survive an encounter with famed ace Erich Hartmann in a Me 109E in 1943. Hartmann fired every round he had at the plane, only to see it keep flying. Upon returning to base, the plane had over 300 bullet holes.
(OTL it was designed and prototyped, but never adopted due to political considerations)
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Incidentally, I read that the Sh-Tandem inspired the Fairchild Brigand in Crimson Skies.
Another OTL concept for a scout or fighter with a tail gunner turret was the P.12 modification of the Westland Lysander.
Very cool.
Probably the biggest warship of your universe that you've drawn up until now, ey ?
Another OTL concept for a scout or fighter with a tail gunner turret was the P.12 modification of the Westland Lysander.
Very cool.
Probably the biggest warship of your universe that you've drawn up until now, ey ?
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Very cool.
Well the Retribution class would be slightly bigger, but its defiantly the biggest picture I've drawn
Very cool.
Well the Retribution class would be slightly bigger, but its defiantly the biggest picture I've drawn
USAF An-12!
For those of you wondering, it's an An-12 mocked up as a C-130 for the new film World War Z. Pretty good movie if you ask me.
AS Peter Griffin would say "SWEET"
USAF An-12!
Huh... While that is a cool sight (check out this as well), I find it extremely odd.
I know they used a few Monacan helicopters mocked up as Israeli army ones (Israeli Dauphins ?!
)... But they couldn't even get permission to film a proper Hercules ? Given the film's budget, I would've expected that they could have done something as basic as that. Just another reason to dislike that movie - it wasn't even trying to do the source material justice. Lazy, lazy. They couldn't get a real C-130?? The USAF would have helped out with filming, or did the DOD motion picture liaison office not approve such cooperation?
USAF An-12!
For those of you wondering, it's an An-12 mocked up as a C-130 for the new film World War Z. Pretty good movie if you ask me.
Nice. That might even be better than the US Coast Guard Mi-24D Hind.
Well, if the Coast Guard ever has to deal with teenaged insurgents, they'll be ready.
Although I think the lack of cooperation is not overly surprising (from what I recall--having never read the book--the US military does not come off well), I do find it most peculiar that they couldn't find a C-130. There are, to put it lightly, a shit ton of the things out there, including many in civilian hands; surely they could get their hands on one of them?
Arado Ar-190T
In another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of fantasy, the KM equipped itself with superior floatplanes and good Italian torpedoes early on, and mounted a flotilla of schnellboots with catapults with a plan to attack Scapa Flow. Eighteen aircraft were launched just before dawn, penetrated the harbour and sank the Royal Oak, before returning to Germany for a bemedalling ceremony. At least, that's the way I heard it.
In another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of fantasy, the KM equipped itself with superior floatplanes and good Italian torpedoes early on, and mounted a flotilla of schnellboots with catapults with a plan to attack Scapa Flow. Eighteen aircraft were launched just before dawn, penetrated the harbour and sank the Royal Oak, before returning to Germany for a bemedalling ceremony. At least, that's the way I heard it.