* Posts by Mr Mark V Thomas

82 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Jul 2008

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UK's Reaper flying hunter-killer fleet 'to double'

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Double it Up

It's actually the sales office for General Atomics U.K, which currently are trying to sell the MOD, & possibly other European States, such as Italy, their proposed next generation UAV, Avenger, as a replacement for Reaper in 2015...

Avenger itself is a swept wing rework of Predator/Reaper, which replaces the turboprop engine used by the above, with a small Pratt & Whitney turbofan engine, giving it according to General Atomics's ad blurb, a top speed of over 500 Knots...

DARPA: Send limbless troops back to war with robo-arms

Mr Mark V Thomas
Grenade

Re: Been done

According to the background timeline to the Cyberpunk RPG, first published in 1988, the U.S first uses "Cyber-Soldiers" during the first Central American War of the mid 1990's...

(Basically, the "War On Drugs" becomes literal as the U.S invades several Central American countries (namely Panama, Nicuragua & Colombia) in order to stop the flow of hard drugs from entering the U.S...).

Mine's the SP15 armoured coat, with the Techtronica volt pistol in the pocket...

Tesla Motors sues BBC for defamation

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Tesla's Libel Suit...

So Tesla's trying the "gag unfavourable comments about their product, via the libel court gambit..." are they...?

With the proposed reforms of the U.K libel laws to prevent this from happening, along with the end of "Libel Tourism," it could be argued that Tesla has something to hide concerning said product, given their current action...

BTW, it's rumoured that Tesla has produced lass than 1500 vehicles in total so far...

Given the proposed rivals to Tesla's products, such as BMW's i series ( the i3 a/k/a the former Megacity EV due to go on sale in 2013, & i8 a/k/a the former Dynamic Vision concept hybrid, due to enter production in 2015), Renault's Twizy, & Zoe sports Electric Vehicle's due out next year, & Lotus's proposed hybrid replacement for the Evora (reportedly out in 2013-2014) , Tesla in Europe at least, is about to enter a world of pain...

Eurofighter Typhoon: It's EVEN WORSE than we thought

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re:German Migs

They sold them to Poland for the token sum of €1 some time in the 1990's, to supplement the ones already in use by the Polish Air Force, at the time...

Mindjack

Mr Mark V Thomas

"Mind Jacking" predates Ghost in The Shell...

So let's get this straight, this is effectively a remake of the 80's game Paradroid...?

Oh well, when do we get to see the 999 Command Cyborg, then...?

Britain takes delivery of first Nissan e-cars

Mr Mark V Thomas
Coat

It's not the point...

I wonder how much Renault (the other half of Renault-Nissan) are going to charge (Sorry, but I couldn't resist) for the "All-electric" version of the Kangoo van/people carrier, (due some time next year), as I have the suspicion that the Kangoo, rather than the Leaf, will be the vehicle that determines if electric vehicles will be a commercially viable concept (in cities, at least), or just a passing transient "Green Fad", adopted because it's trendy, (thus replacing the SUV/"Chelsea Tractor" currently used), by a minority of upwardly mobile middle class people.... ?

Who are the biggest electric car liars - the BBC, or Tesla Motors?

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Tesla's future plans

The first mentioned car, the Model S is expected to retail in the U.S for approximately $57,000...

(I suspect though, that the U.K price for said vehicle, when it goes on sale in the U.K, in

late 2013 - early 2014, is at least £57,000....) .

Given the above, it might be possible to compare Tesla's offering cost-wise to it's fossil fuel competitors....

For example, the current top of the range BMW 5 series, is some £7000 cheaper than the Tesla Model S, and with some haggling at a Mercedes-Benz dealer, it might be possible to get a base model S-Class for the same price as the Tesla....

Audi will sell me a Audi A7 3.0 Litre Turbodiesel for around £39K....

So, Tesla's £57, 000+ vehicle, is comparable to it's equivalent fossil fuel rivals...?

I don't think so somehow....

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Megacity 1.0

That's what I thought, when I posted the details of BMW's "Megacity" brand, thought I suspect the owners of 2000 AD, probably will be quietly paid (In a NDA manner, of course), for the use of the word, when the Megacity brand is launched by BMW, sometime in 2013....

Incidentally, Megacity will never be sold, but will only be available on lease, due to the perceived costs of the vehicle and related battery pack, in addition to reportedly draconian, future European recycling requirements, for motor vehicles, which put the onus of recycling on the manufacturer, not the purchaser...

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Cost, Cost, Cost...

I suspect 2013, when the BMW Megacity' electric vehicle is due to be launched. in Europe..

Unlike the "Proof of Concept" Mini-e, which is a standard Mini which replaces the existing "drive train" with a battery pack & electric drive train, & the Tesla roadster, which is heavily based on the Lotus Exige's design, Megacity is a totally new design, although like Tesla's Roadster, it heavily uses carbonfibre, to reduce it's overall mass...

I do agree with you, on the running costs issue though...

So come 2013, will someone be reviewing BMW Megacity, vs new Tesla's Model S....?

As for Tesla's response to the BBC test, has anyone challenged them to test their Roadster, Vs it's "parent vehicle", the Lotus Exige over the same distance,under realistic operating conditions, or will it be far more likely, that genetically engineered porcine lifeforms with integral scramjets, will achieve Mach 3 flight first...?

No court order against PlayStation hackers for now

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Sky Boxes

In short, you do own the Sky box, unlike say Virgin Media's cable boxes, however there are some pretty hefty penalties that you pay, if you fall foul of Sky...

For example to "timeshift" programmes on Sky+, i.e use it for it's intended purpose as a PVR, unless you're on a high end package, it's £10 per month, for the privilege...

In addition, to access most of the HD channels on Sky, it's another £10/month, to do so, in addition to any other package costs...

If anything goes wrong with the phone line, you connect the box to during the first year, you can be forced to pay £210 (£150 for the box itself, and £60 for the installation) as they could consider you to be breaking a clause in your contract...

(Reason, they're trying to get you hooked into their "Interactive" services, such as online gaming. Needless to say, the online gaming site, you access via the box, is run by Sky...)

After a year though, you can disconnect the phone line from the box, without any penality...

Sony buys PS3 chip plant back off Toshiba

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: "Sorta confirms"...?

Or maybe, in a couple of years, Sony will sell a Bravia range television in the U.K, with a built in PS3, in a similar way to which a certain Bravia T.V with built in PS2, is now currently being sold by Richer Sounds for £200...?

Or possibly, Sony's Vaio laptop range might use the cell processor as a graphics chip, in a similar way, to some of Toshiba's Quasimo laptop range already have...?

(As I seem to recall, Cell is reportedly OS Neutral...).

US Navy's electric plane-thrower successfully launches an F-18

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: "Remember Truth..."?

It was the Royal Navy that effectively cancelled P.1154, in the 1960's, as the version the Royal Navy stated they wanted, was a completely different aircraft physically to the RAF strike version...

For example, the radar that the Royal Navy wanted for Naval P.1154, was more complex than the TSR2's, and the prototype for such might have been ready for testing by late 1975...

The reason such projects were cancelled was the Royal Navy wanted their Queen Elisabeth a/k/a CVA-01 series of "supercarriers" complete at any cost , & squashed any threats especially from "The Junior Service", to the funding & completion of said project...

Ironically, CVA-01 had to be cancelled, by the Wilson administration, as a result of the failure to react by the previous MacMillian government, to the U.S decoupling the dollar from the gold standard in 1963, & the resulting devaluation of the dollar in 1967...

As for the 1970's AV-16X proposal, which was a supersonic Harrier capable of Mach 1.5, using existing Harrier airframes, but a upgraded Pegasus, with Plenium Chamber Burning, effectively a Afterburner for such...

McDonnell Douglas & British Aircraft Corporation proposed the upgraded AV-16 in 1973, as a second generation Harrier to the U.S Marine Corps & the RAF, but said proposal was scuttled by the U.S Marine Corps...

Robotic High Noon in Colorado

Mr Mark V Thomas
Joke

"A Toy Robot...?"

Why do I think that someone's been watching "A Fistful of Yen" sketch from Kentucky Fried Movie once too often...?

Mind you, the Toy Robot that featured in said "Enter The Dragon" spoof, did pack quite a lot of firepower for its size...

This year's comedy Xmas No. 1 contender: Silent song 4'33"

Mr Mark V Thomas

If The Video is Good....?

I wonder if Koka Media ever sued Mr. Batt over his 1 Minute offering, as their musical effects disc KOK2057 titled Pastiche, Carnage, Sabotage 2, released in 1991, has the track "A Minutes Silence", lasting for 1 Minute, listed as track 18 on said disc...

(Needless to say, I acquired a second hand copy of said disc a couple of years ago).

Papers laud publication of DIY Dalek plans

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Dr Who Panto

Let me guess, John Nathan-Turner's 1984 production of Cinderella, that ran at Tunbridge Welles Playhouse, featuring amoungst others, Anthony Ainley as Baron Hardup...?

New Euro multicopter aims bitchslap at American X2, V-22

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re Compound Eurocopter:

And how long before AugustaWestland unveil a compound demonstrator based on the Lynx Wildcat, or maybe the winged Merlin proposal, unveiled in model form some years ago, with uprated RTM 322 or CT7 engines...?

Apple in 873-page legal claim to word 'Pod'

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: VWE "Battletech Pods"

Virtual Worlds Entertainment used the term "pods" in their literature for their versions of Battletech & Red Planet Mars...

(Red Planet Mars was a racing game based on a colonised Mars, delevoped by bored miners, using "kitbashed" racers, & featured "Wierd Al" Yankovich in the introductory video, as a underground race organiser).

The Tesla 2 pod system was used at the only VWE arcade that I knew of (The Trocadero Centre in Central London), though they were considering upgrading to the Tesla 3 pod system before a series of floods took it out (as well as the Alien War attraction, & the rest of the basement)...

The most notable feature of the VWE arcade, apart from the leather sofas (it was finished out as a "Victorian Gentlemen's Club" style wise) was it had a functioning bar (for a while, the only one in the Trocadero)...

Airship race round the world planned for 2011

Mr Mark V Thomas
Paris Hilton

Re: JMJ Involved...?

I doubt it, as reportedly they divorced, several years ago...

Try a Giant image of Anne Parrillaud-Jarre (the original Nikita) for the landing pad, instead...

Sony NEX-5 interchangeable lens camera

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re:aTallPhotoPerson's comment

Since the NEX - series camera uses the same 14.2 Megapixel APS-C sensor, as most of the Alpha SLR series does, presumably it saves on production costs, via economies of scale...

(The sensor goes to a full frame model with the Alpha 500, increasing the resolution/megapixel count to the 25 Megapixel version used in the Alpha 900 model)

Besides, why would Sony pay one of it's commercial rivals, notably Matsushita Electric, in order to use their product....

As for the E-mount lens, it's 49mm diameter was that used by Konica-Minolta's last camera, the Dimage A200, which used a 7.2-50mm lens...

Brass band to trumpet last shuttle external tank rollout

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: STS 135 mission

Reportedly, they already have a spare External Tank in storage for said mission, if this mission ever does occur...

Sony preps 3D TV upgrade for PS3 telly tuner

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: NEX Series Camera's Sensor

The writer of said article has unfortunately has made a mistake, in said camera series uses the full size APS-C format sensor, as used in the mid range models of the Alpha SLR series, rather than the Micro Four Thirds format sensor as used on Panasonic' s G series, & Olympus'es E-series SLR's and Pen series "Bridge cameras"....

Sony Vaio L13 touchscreen PC

Mr Mark V Thomas

Vaio L series Pricing

Re: L12-M pricing

It seems that the L-12M1 is now being discounted, as John Lewis & P.C World are now offering the M1 for £999 including VAT (John Lewis are offering a free 2 year warranty) , which the L11 Model somewhat obsolete, cost wise...

So given that the L13 is a slightly upgraded L12, is there a L13-S1 variant on the horizon...?

As for David Lucke's comment, the L12-M1 does come with a wireless keyboard & mouse, but I'm not sure about the S1...

Nasa returns to the moon... in 3D game

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Meteor Strike

That was the Pre-Genesis Of The Daleks, Dalek origin story as depicted in T.V 21 comic in the

mid-60's, as said story had a meteor strike, caused in part, by Skaro entering the path of a meteor shower, hit the Dal's main Nuclear weapons storage facility, causing every nuclear weapon stored there to chain-detonate...

Oops...

Mine's the coat, with the recipe for unlimited Rice Pudding, & the schematics for the Qualler Drive in the pocket...

Flying-boat tiltrotor catamaran design wins NASA compo

Mr Mark V Thomas
Black Helicopters

Re: 4 Rotors...?

Try Curtiss Wright's X-19 aircraft that flew in the early 1960's, while the Bell X-22, that flew slightly later, used instead of rotors, 4 ducted fan systems to achieve V/Stol Flight...

Twitter on a ZX Spectrum

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re "Space Helmet Monitor"

The "Space Helmet" Monitor is in fact a JVC Videosphere Colour Television, dating from the early to mid 1970's, and the unit connected to the ZX80 is itself fairly rare, as the most common colour for said t..v's casework, was Bright Orange...

(Grey/white Versions of this T.V are considered quite collectable due to their rarity, & can fetch up from 2 to 3 times the value of the Orange version...)

,

US Navy's plane-hurling mass driver in tech hiccup

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Gerald R. Ford

Apparently, said carrier (the first of the new generation CVN-X) Class was originally intended to be called the William H Clinton, as the current U.S naming convention for aircraft carriers, was/is for them to be named for former U.S presidents, in sequence of office, & the last 2 Nimitz class carriers was accordingly named the Ronald Reagan, & the George H.W Bush (a/k/a "George Bush Senior" )...

As such, the next carrier would have been named the William H Clinton, as he was the president that served in office, after George H.W Bush....

However, the first carrier of the class is the name vessel of the entire class, i.e it's the (Insert Name Here) Class, & the Republican Party, in power at the time, reportedly loathed the idea of the "Bill Clinton" Class of aircraft carriers, having demonised the former Democrat president while in office, changed the carrier's proposed name from William H Clinton, to Gerald R Ford in a apparent fit of spite...

As a result, the entire class of future CVN-X's, will be now called the Gerald R Ford Class...

Atlantis blasts off on final mission

Mr Mark V Thomas
Alien

Re: STS 135 mission

According to a article in a recent issue of the British Interplanetry Society's magazine Spaceflight, the proposed STS-135 mission, if it ever went ahead, would ferry the upgraded (basically, it would have far more micrometeroid shielding), Leonardo MPLM (Multi Purpose Logistics Module) with a full load of spare parts inside, & attach it permamently to the hull of the International Space Station...

( Note: The logo for the Leonardo MPLM, & for the other 2 MPLM's, Rafelleo & Donatello is that of the respective Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in question, wearing a spacesuit, & wielding his signature weapon...)

'Goodness, evilness makes you powerful' - like the Force

Mr Mark V Thomas
WTF?

Re: "Goodness/Evilness makes you powerful..."

Oh well, I might as well put the Sith Code from Star Wars, down here.

"Peace is a lie. There is only Passion...

Through Passion, I gain.Strength.

Through Strength, I gain Power.

Through Power, I gain Victory

Through Victory, My chains are Broken...".

As for Alien Anthropologist's post, does this mean their combined power level is now over 9,000...?!

WTF, Because their power levels are over 9,000...

Facebook rejects CEOP 'panic button' demands (again)

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: You Had Me Until...

At the risk of turning this post into something from Airplane !, surely you mean 'ToryLite' with the tagline "all the right wing dogma, but with less new policies...", not "NewTory", for 'New Labour, Semihere'...?

As for David Cameron's version of the Tory Party, isn't that "New Labour with a hint of Blue, speaking with a Oxford accent"...?

Loch Ness Stig blurred into oblivion

Mr Mark V Thomas
Coat

Re: "handing it over to our tame racing driver"

"Some say,. that he can make speed camera images, pixellated & blurry, by his very physical presence nearby... All we know, he's called The Stig...".

My coat's in the Mark 2 Jaguar, formerly owned by Chris Evans....

'Curiosity' nuclear Mars tank passes key tech test

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: RIP Conrad Turner...?

F/X: Sound Of Gun Shot followed by Spectrum scene change music...?

'Negatively strange' antihypermatter made out of gold

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Robert Hill's post

<i>"it's no Moon, it's a Space Station..."</i>.

(After all, Battle Stations 1 & 2 a/k/a "The Death Star 1 & 2", were reportedly powered by Hypermatter Reactors, according to the Star Wars Expanded Universe...)

Supersonic stealth jumpjet makes 'short landing'

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Old Tech

One could validly make the argument that it was the Royal Navy that effectively "scuttled" both TSR 2 and P.1154, as they wanted to ensure the money that would not be spent on said programmes, would go to support their "Pet Project", the Queen Elizabeth class "supercarrier" programme a/k/a CVA-01/02.

(Reportedly, said "Supercarrier's" would have weighed some 60,000 tons, & been larger than the USS Enterprise, their nearest U.S equivalent. ).

To that extent, they actively sabotaged the P.1154 programme, by insisting on a naval version for the Fleet Air Arm, which was effectively a completely different aircraft, to the single seat strike version the RAF wanted, in that it had a far larger wing span to the RAF version, had a 2 man crew, & was optimised for long range interception.

The radar/fire control system for this version, would at best reach a beta test version in 1970, & probably would have taken until 1975 to reach full operational service...

Because of the Royal Navy's activities, the unit cost for P.1154 reached a unacceptable level & the P.1154 programme was cancelled.

Ironically, CVA-01 was itself cancelled, due in part to the worsening dispartity between the Pound & Dollar, which reached crisis level in 1967, caused by the failure of the previous McMillian government to decouple the Pound from the Gold Standard, at the same time the U.S decoupled the Dollar from the same standard, in the early 1960's...

The Final twist in this tale, is that BAC & McDonnell Douglas offered a supersonic version of the Harrier, using a PCB enhanced Pegasus (now owned by Rolls Royce), capable of Mach 1.2, but using existing Harrier/AV-8A airframes (with slight modifications) to the U.S Marine Corps & the RAF under the name AV-16X, in the early 1970's.

However both parties refused to go along with this proposal for various reasons...

IBM closer to chips with frickin' laser beams

Mr Mark V Thomas
Black Helicopters

Re: Diamond based Cpu's

To paraphrase the late Michael Crichton's novel (and somewhat dire film adaptation) Congo, it's because they could'nt get enough Type 2B blue (boron doped) diamonds from the abandoned mine workings, near the fabled city of Zinj...

And since one of the characters used resonant charges, which triggered a dormant volcano into erupting, thus destroying said workings, is it any wonder that they're taking so long to dupilcate said diamonds...?

Note to Captain Kirk: Warp speed will kill you

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Half The Battle

Harry Turtledove, as I recall...

(it was first published in the U.S gaming magazine Stardate issue 1),

Bogged-down Mars rover may be doomed to chilly death

Mr Mark V Thomas
Alien

Re: The Martians are Coming

Thanks for the +1 internet, Steve, as I did get the reference...

it's the very last track on Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds album, as I recall, & the voice on said track is Jeff Wayne's father...

"No one would have believed in the first years of the 21st Century, that the original double album could be digitally reconstructed from it's many fragments of the original analogue mutitrack tapes...

No one even dreamed of attempting to re-sync 48 tracks without the long defunct Maglink timecode...

But slowly, surely & with immeasurable wizardry, Gaeten Schurrer drew his plans, & against all odds, suceeded..." - Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds 27th Anniversary Collectors Edition

Replace Bulldog gridiron mascot with robot, PETA demands

Mr Mark V Thomas
Terminator

Robotic Mascot...?

Coming soon, (if PETA have their way) Preston the Cybermutt for UGA Mascot...?

Apple wants life ban for clone maker

Mr Mark V Thomas
Pirate

Re: Great Idea

I seem to recall Apple granting a licence to Motorola to produce & sell Apple Clones in the 1990's, under the name Power PC's, running Apple's (Current at the time version) OS until Apple realised that the clones were faster, better engineered, & generally more capable, and most importantly cheaper than the equivalent official Apple Product...

Suddenly & apparently without warning, Apple pulled the licence from Motorola...

Yank objects to Reg cherry-popping headline

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Alternate Meanings

The American author Jack Vance wrote a series of Books, whose collective title I forget, involving a Human, transported to a alien world, trying to get back home...

Book 3 of this series was entitled Servants of The Wankh, & involved our hero trying to avoid, said servants, called in the book, Wankhmen...

Needless to say, when released in the U.K under this title, the author was suprised by the British response to said title.

As a result, the book had to be retitled , & later when interviewed, he remarked how dirty minded the British were...

Judge Dredd 'Black Box' recorder/spy kit for guns unveiled

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Shadowrun Smartgun llnk

Wrong game, I'm afraid for this application, as R.Taslorian's Cyberpunk RPG 2nd edition (Cyberpunk 2020) had gun camera equipped pistols in their Chromebook suppliments...

In the game itself , said weapons were intended to be sold in the European Market, for corporate security personell, as gun restrictions were far tougher, than in the (Dis)united States...

V-22 Osprey, stealth jumpjet 'need refrigerated landing pads'

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re:This thread

You do realise that if the U.S Navy gets it's way, then this problem will not exist, as the U.S Marines will be flying the non V/Stol F/A-35C variant from U.S Navy Aircraft Carriers...

As for any British F/A -35B's that may exist, then they won't land vertically, but use a high angle of attack approach, using the lift fan, & rear exhaust, & use this to carry a Stol "Rolling" landing on their carrier...

Manned 'Surrogate Predators' fill in for robot assassins

Mr Mark V Thomas

Re: Why The B*tching ?

With regards to "the fleshy in the Cessna", the U.S Airforce is considering a light counter insurgency (COIN) aircraft, under the proposed OV-X Programme...

The requirements are for said aircraft to carry 2x 500 Pound Bombs, 2x Hellfire missiles, a targeting pod for both the above, & possibly a 25mm Gunpod...

To meet the above, Boeing is proposing a updated new build OV-10 Bronco (which originally served this role in the Vietnam War), while Emberer is proposing the armed version of the Super Tucano trainer,(currently in service with the Brazilian Airforce), to be built in the U.S under licence, & Raytheon's Beech Aircraft subsiduary, is proposing a armed version of the Pilatus PC-9 (again to be built in the U.S under licence)...

Game censorship crusader sues Facebook for $120m

Mr Mark V Thomas
WTF?

Re:Jack Thompson

I wonder if Mr Thompson has ever played Saints Row 2, as one of the Mayhem missions has a rather scathing critique of a certain "Zack Johnson" , during it's introductionary cut scene...

Mr Z Johnson, according to "Playa's" Patron for this, Jane Valderama, " get's a H****n over suing people", & is "forever on Moral crusades...".

So, to paraphrase earlier posters, don't use a Atari 2600, but rather a old gaming P.C, with a copy of Saints Row 2 in the DVD Drive...

Yank slams El Reg 'zio-fruitcake' Playmobil 'crap'

Mr Mark V Thomas
Coat

Re: Zio

To slightly mishear a certain infamously direly translated videogame intro scene...

"All Your Playmobil Are Belong To Us...?".

Mine's the coat with the Decepticons Soundwave, & Frenzy (currently disguised as a MP3 player) in the pocket...

Cruises on ex-Soviet space warships offered

Mr Mark V Thomas
Coat

Re: let's go and do a littl space huntin...

Let's hope that they have disarmed & removed the Self- Destruct System, that Almaz once possessed, in order to avoid capture by the U.S, otherwise...

Mine's the one with the arming keys for the self-destruct system in the pocket...

Secret US spontaneous human combustion beam tested

Mr Mark V Thomas
Terminator

Re:The Alan Parsons Project

Surely you mean Project Wu-Tang Clan or Project Bananarama...?

MoD Minister: This is the last generation of manned fighters

Mr Mark V Thomas
WTF?

Re: Last Lightning post

Apparently, the U.S offered the Genie, a/k/a "Ding Dong", nuclear "missile", although it was more of a unguided rocket, fitted with a 1.5 Kt W-25 nuclear warhead, to the RAF, in order to equip Lightning interceptor squadrons, during the late 1950's/early 60's...

Due to cost reasons, however, each Lightning could only carry 1 Genie, & to prevent aerodynamic problems, the weapons pylon, on the opposite side of the fuselage, would carry a 6 round 2.75 inch rocket pod...

Now, imagine a Lightning armed with one of these, VS a SR-71...

Mr Mark V Thomas
WTF?

Re:Sandys

Well, considering Surface to Air Missiles, such as the Bloodhound 3 missile, (based on the cancelled 100 mile range missile codenamed Blue Envoy), intended to carry a 10Kt nuclear warhead, codenamed Indigo Hammer, were potentially about to enter service in the early 1960's, you can understand why Duncan Sandys was dismissive of manned fighter aircraft...

The reason why Bloodhound 3 never entered service, with Indigo Hammer onboard, was that British nuclear reactors could not produce enough weapons grade fissile material at the time, to make it...

As for TSR-2 & P1154 failing to enter service, you could argue that was the fault of the Royal Navy (Who wanted their precious Queen Elizabeth class "Super Carriers" built), & Rolls Royce (Reason - Both Projects were powered by their rival's (Bristol Siddley) engines, namely the Olympus, in the case of TSR-2, & BS.100, a larger version of Pegasus, intended to use reheat/afterburning to achieve Mach 1.5 at altitude).

X-51 ordinary-fuel scramjet to fly in December

Mr Mark V Thomas
Black Helicopters

Re: Remember HOTOL

Hmm, Skylon & it's Mach 5 airliner deriviative, Lapcat....

At least they have some degree of funding, however pitiful, for the Sabre engine, unlike the 1980's....

Mind you, why does Lapcat, look like a 21st Century version of the Russian Mya-52 "Bounder" bomber, from the 1950's...?

US Senate halts F-22 Raptor production

Mr Mark V Thomas
Stop

F22 Export for Japan... Unlikely

So good news for Boeing or EADS, regarding a potential fighter order from Japan then...

(Basically, Japan wanted to buy a export version of the F-22, as they're getting very worried about China now having fairly high tech fighters, such as the Su-27 (which they're now manafacturing under licence from Sukhoi as the J-11), & the J-10 (based on the abandoned Israeli Lavi project), but U.S export/technology transfer regulations forbade it),

The U.S are trying to persuade Japan to buy a export version of the F/A -35A, but Japan's not interested, with the result Boeing might offer Japan, either the F-15 "Silent Eagle", or a enhanced version of the F-18E/F Super Hornet, while EADS is reportedly offering the Tranche 3 Typhoon, with the possibility of manafacture under licence in Japan...

Incedentally, the "export version" of the F-22 had it existed, would have cost Japan approxmately some $250 Million per unit...

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