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[CadetMahoney]

Actually, the same idea was deployed in WWII: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krummlauf. Mythbusters redefining "myth" I guess.

But it's not a terribly great plan since the life of the bent barrel is pretty low.

Yea I was gonna mention how they used that in tank defense from behind back in the day but couldn't be bothered.

 

[luckygodzilla]

Can't believe someone posted a F-35 as something that looks good... yuck, it's a slow, fat and stubby aircraft.

For me, I've always had a love/hate relationship with the design of the F-35. I mean on one hand it looks like something that literally flew out of the future.

Yet you take a different angle and it looks a bit like an abomination

 

[Chichikov]

Always thought that the graveyards of military vehicles look kind of amazing

There's an Aircraft boneyard in Arizona that you can tour, and yeah, it's pretty fucking amazing.

Superiorly sexy F4 Phantom, comin through

F4?
Sexy?
Opinions, eye of the beholder and all that jazz, but come on, it was not nicknamed the Double Ugly for nothing.

Great plane though.

 

[SiteSeer]

For me, I've always had a love/hate relationship with the design of the F-35. I mean on one hand it looks like something that literally flew out of the future.

the wings looks stubby because its got a big 'waist'. its girth makes everything behind the cockpit look a little fat. the f-22 has the perfect lean-and-mean proportions but its actually quite large overall.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

single large engine kills the look for me, part of why I dislike the F16 as well.
I think the Japanese F2 is the only single thruster fighter that I like the look of.

 

[luckygodzilla]

the wings looks stubby because its got a big 'waist'. its girth makes everything behind the cockpit look a little fat. the f-22 has the perfect lean-and-mean proportions but its actually quite large overall.

Another thing people have to keep in mind is that the F-35 has to store fuel, munitions, and avionics internally.

Another big reason it looks so fat is because the internal weapon bays are much deeper than the F-22, a necessary design decision for a strike fighter.

But in all actuality, the F-35's wings are quite stubby. The plane does make up for this by having roughly 45% of its lift provided by the body. It was a necessary trade off in the end to fit it on a carrier.

Yet regardless of ones opinion on the F-35, we can all agree it looks better than the X-32

 

[luckygodzilla]

single large engine kills the look for me, part of why I dislike the F16 as well.
I think the Japanese F2 is the only single thruster fighter that I like the look of.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the F-2 just a larger F-16?

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Yet regardless of ones opinion on the F-35, we can all agree it looks better than the X-32

X-32 does look kinda cool in certain angles though but that bottom is horrendous.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the F-2 just a larger F-16?

It is but the larger wings and tail make it look much better.

Vs

just a more proportional look makes all the difference imo

 

[Dryk]

The Lockheed's design won after rounds of testing, but you have to wonder if the aesthetics for the next generation fighter plane for the US was secretly (perhaps unconsciously) a factor in the deciding committee's mind.

The fact that it ingested its own exhaust when landing was a factor too

 

[TheRedSnifit]

The military buys the cheapest weapons that function reliably. That's it. It really irritates me when somebody brings up the phrase "military-grade weapons" when trying to defend "assault weapons" laws when there are a lot of firearms on the market that are better than military-grade and nobody makes a fuss about it, and a ton of "assault weapons" that are worse than military-grade. </rant>

 

[dalin80]

This is a good Docu on the 35 vs 32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbPx6rQO3qg

 

[Randam]

X 32 lost alone because of it looks..



.. I would bet.

 

[MrChom]

Haha, modern military equipment.

Sure.

Compared to the designs of yesteryear the modern day has nothing.

I present to you the French Cavalry of 1914, that's the first world war....

How about the Gordon Highlanders

Armenian Cataphract anyone?

Or even your bog standard Roman infantry:

Pieces of hardware in the modern day can do cool stuff....but for threat and looks they will never match the armies of the world pre-WW1

 

[QuicheFontaine]

That Polish stealth tank looks pretty sweet.

Looks like something out a 90s video game

 

[Lucky Forward]

Does anyone know why the F-14 had that thin red stripe painted around the fuselage toward the rear of the plane? I believe I've seen it on other military planes as well.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

air power evolving so much faster then ground vehicles like tanks n stuff.

 

[Dead]

The GOAT

 

[MacNille]

Going oldschool here with Tiger Tank

I love the look of it. I would shit my pants if I faced that thing.

 

[moist]

SR-71 had early radar absorbing paint that supposedly only came in black. The B-2 operates mostly at night, but regardless I don't think the sun's a big problem at altitude you're flying through super cold air (and not fast enough to make friction a problem). Engine heat is a much bigger issue.

The SR-71 and A-12 were painted black so they could use a lower grade titanium. The black paint radiated enough heat it allowed them to get away with using Ti that had lower heat tolerances than they would normally need.

 

[Dennis]

That Polish stealth tank looks pretty sweet.

Low poly

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

air power evolving so much faster then ground vehicles like tanks n stuff.

Tanks and such are becoming outdated so thats why the don't evolve much anymore.
Once it was the king of the battlefield but now you have an abundance of anti-tank launchers, helicopters(Apache) specifically designed to take out wave after wave of mass tank groups, and to top helicopters off planes like the A-10.
Heck a UAV these days can take out a tank.

 

[RoKKeR]

"Highway to the Danger Zone" has been playing in my head since opening this thread. If I could restart on life I'd join the Air Force in a heart beat.

RIP in peace A-10 Warthog, most badass plane there ever was:

Also shoutout to the Eurofighter Typhoon which I've always thought was cool looking.

 

[Tapiozona]

Haha, modern military equipment.

Sure.

Compared to the designs of yesteryear the modern day has nothing.

I present to you the French Cavalry of 1914, that's the first world war....

?

The German machine gunners were everything other than afraid when the French Cavalry of 1914 showed up. Probably a lot of high fives before the shooting gallery commenced. Likely the cavalry was disbanded 1 day after this photo was taken.

 

[agrajag]

What about Sukhoi Su-35?

pure sex. Not enough Sukhoi love in this thread.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Haha, modern military equipment.

Sure.

Compared to the designs of yesteryear the modern day has nothing.

I present to you the French Cavalry of 1914, that's the first world war....

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4641/cufrmarne14.jpg

How about the Gordon Highlanders

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Wollen,_Battle_of_Quatre_Bras.jpg

Armenian Cataphract anyone?

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/302075_10151578589723856_894731487_n.jpg

Or even your bog standard Roman infantry:

http://www.propstore.com/product-images/65/75538.jpg

Pieces of hardware in the modern day can do cool stuff....but for threat and looks they will never match the armies of the world pre-WW1

My favorite historical uniform

1860's cavalry saber my favorite historical weapon as well.

 

[Makai]

This is the proposed future of the American fighter jet. Looks butt-ugly, but we'll all think it looks badass by the time it rolls out in a decade thanks to Hollywood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_Air_Dominance

 

[Prinz Eugn]

The SR-71 and A-12 were painted black so they could use a lower grade titanium. The black paint radiated enough heat it allowed them to get away with using Ti that had lower heat tolerances than they would normally need.

Hm, looked it up again and it might be both. The paint is definitely Iron Ball signature reduction but I'm not sure if that affects the color: http://www.aero.com/museums/us_space_and_rocket/wmuusr04.htm

Does anyone know why the F-14 had that thin red stripe painted around the fuselage toward the rear of the plane? I believe I've seen it on other military planes as well.

I believe that's where the first stage fan of the engine is. That's where the blades will fly out and murder you if you're standing near it and the fan fails.

 

[Delta Assault]

This is the proposed future of the American fighter jet. Looks butt-ugly, but we'll all think it looks badass by the time it rolls out in a decade thanks to Hollywood.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_Air_Dominance

That can't be right... it looks like it's actually got a cockpit.

 

[Beardz]

My favorite historical uniform

1860's cavalry saber my favorite historical weapon as well.

Classy.

 

[MacNille]

If we are going real old school, I have always found the uniforms of the Caroleans to be awesome.

One of the first uniforms of the early modern history.

 

[Loxley]

Thread needs more P-51 love, it's the classic muscle car of the Aviation world.

 

[Snakepit]

Always thought that the graveyards of military vehicles look kind of amazing

Realistically could you buy a plane that has been sent to a graveyard.... not for flying but for like collection or display?

 

[SpyGuy239]

I think "tactical" and modular is an aesthetic trend popular now because of movie, videogames, and media portrayal. In the 70's one might ask "why are earth tones so good looking" or "why does long hair look so good on men." Additionally, you are supplying a whole load of values to military wear, it's impossible to remove the idea that these are items of destruction, meant to kill, and used by badasses.

People like that complicated look with gadgets and gizmos and straps and junk hanging off. Unlike 80's action stars we want some sort of over equipped ninja.


Not enough gear.



You are asking the question the wrong way around. Ask, why do (this era's) military designs appeal to me. They designed the tank first, then over time you and I associated it with being cool.

Mac I noticed your 1/6 Figure there.DO you collect as well ?

 

[Lucky Forward]

I believe that's where the first stage fan of the engine is. That's where the blades will fly out and murder you if you're standing near it and the fan fails.

Ah! The Red Line of Death.

 

[Mistel]

Thread needs more P-51 love, it's the classic muscle car of the Aviation world.

It's not a P-38 lightning:

pure sex. Not enough Sukhoi love in this thread.

I know right:

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

This weekend was the airshow in my hometown. Was watching it from my brothers backyards.

Watched a F-22 do a fly by and a ton of ww2 fighters and bombers flying around

Crazy seeing a b-17 do a fly by. They are huge

 

[Prinz Eugn]

This weekend was the airshow in my hometown. Was watching it from my brothers backyards.

Watched a F-22 do a fly by and a ton of ww2 fighters and bombers flying around

Crazy seeing a b-17 do a fly by. They are huge

Um...

Spoiler

B-29 and B-36

 

[TheVampire]

P90's look pretty fucking sweet

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

Um...

Spoiler

B-29 and B-36

Oh, I know the size differences.

B-47 and B-52 are even bigger

 

[psylah]

P90's look pretty fucking sweet

I love the irony of a danger warning on a gun's laser sight considering it is the least dangerous thing coming out of the front of it.

 

[sgossard]

William Gibson has an opinion on the matter; in a nutshell, designer's men's clothing is designed to look like military uniforms because deep inside we all want to look tough/cool like soldiers.

http://io9.com/5632053/in-zero-history-william-gibson-gets-inside-the-military-fashion-pr-complex
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2010-10/11/gq-books-william-gibsons-dress-codes
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-10/13/william-gibson-interview

Volunteer armies, the French girl had said, the one who&#8217;d worn the plaid kilt at yesterday&#8217;s meeting, in an earlier PowerPoint presentation that Milgrim had found quite interesting, required volunteers, the bulk of them young men. Who might otherwise be, for instance, skateboarding, or at least wearing clothing suggestive of skateboarding. And male streetwear generally, over the past fifty years or so, she said, had been more heavily influenced by the design of military clothing than by anything else. The bulk of the underlying design code of the twenty-first-century male street was the code of the previous midcentury&#8217;s military wear, most of it American. The rest of it was work wear, most of that American as well, whose manufacture had coevolved with the manufacture of military clothing, sharing elements of the same design code, and team sportswear.

But now, according to the French girl, that had reversed itself. The military needed clothing that would appeal to those it needed to recruit. Every American service branch, she said, illustrating each with a PowerPoint slide, had its own distinctive pattern of camouflage. The Marine Corps, she said, had made quite a point of patenting theirs (up close, Milgrim had found it too jazzy).

 

[Azulsky]

Always dug the aesthetic of the Lancer Bomber.

 

[Icefire1424]

I really think this just needs to be turned into the Military Porn OT Thread. Let's be honest, we're basically there anyways.

 

[BumbleB]

It goes beyond just military equipment, civilian firearms are fucking badass looking as well.

 

[cjp]

The new Type 45 class looks great.

Sleek but menacing.

 

[IISANDERII]

F-117, B2 are my consistent favorites.

but F-14... god damn! those things are cool with the retractable wings

This is the reason right here that made Top Gun my favourite film as a kid. Could never decide if it was sexier with wings swept or not but it could be varied to anything in between.

 

[nhlducks35]

Su 35 Flanker E

FA 18 Super Hornet

Su 25 FrogFoot

 

[Beardz]

The new Type 45 class looks great.

Sleek but menacing.

Sleek indeed and that dragon is a nice touch.

 

[dalin80]

Sleek indeed and that dragon is a nice touch.

Well it is HMS Dragon.

Shame we only got 6 of them thanks to the gutting of the military.

 

[Prinz Eugn]

Oh, I know the size differences.

B-47 and B-52 are even bigger

Bigger than a B-36, or a B-17? Anyway, if you think the B-17 is a very big airplane you're in for a treat if you ever see a C-17/B-2 demo, among others.