Text 22268, 212 rader
Skriven 2012-03-11 13:00:00 av Glen Jamieson
Kommentar till en text av Hap Newsom
Ärende: SILENT SERVICE 20311
============================
-=> Quoting Hap Newsom to Glen Jamieson <=-
Greetings,
-> -> and after looking into the alternatives of springs, rubber bands and
-> -> blank .22 cartridges, decided on compressed air storage of the
-> -> operator's energy biscuits.
-> ->
-> HN> With that much weight, I'd have suspected
-> HN> a much more powerful launching system.
->
-> The dart plus camera only weighed about a pound, and the launcher,
-> about 4 pounds. Minimum weight was one of the main aims, as
-> everything had to be carried by a soldier, sweating it out in Vietnam.
->
HN> That is pretty light, Did it ever get into
HN> use?
The equipment was light. The film development arrangements at that
stage were rather crude, but others would have refined that part.
It was never developed beyond the prototype stage, as the Vietnam war
ended. "They" won, and we lost and came home, leaving a terrible,
defoliated and land-mined mess. The next stage was the "invasion" of
S Vietnamese refugees, who settled here, starting up vegetable gardens
and opening good, healthy restaurants and bakeries, so you could say
that eventually we were the winners or at least didn't lose too badly.
Australia had a change of government, and I was likely to move into
the design of cluster bombs, which was something I couldn't stomach,
so I left to run plant and vehicle workshops in PNG.
-> The camera had to rise above the jungle, and unobtrusively photograph
-> any groups of enemy waiting in ambush. Thus the silent launch and
-> landing arrangements.
->
HN> Hoping of course that you have both a
HN> clear launching site and retrieval
HN> location and the dart did not get
HN> stuck in a tree...then you'd still
That was not difficult, as I could predict where the dart would land,
providing there was little or no wind.
HN> have to process and print the film.
HN> by which time the enemy may have
HN> eaten, camped and moved on.
That was the awkward part. The surveillance assessment would have
been made from the negative, to save time. Development took about 10
minutes.
-> -> -> HN> Sounds quite complicated!!
->
-> The design side was complicated, but it was simple to operate, as the
-> only variables were the direction to point the camera before launch,
-> and the pressure to pump it up to.
->
HN> increased pressure would give increased altitude
HN> as well yes?
Yes. The pressure gauge was marked in the heights that the photo
would be taken at.
-> -> do that same function it would be a tiny, battery-powered, remotely
-> -> controlled drone aircraft carrying a digital camera.
-> Haha! With electric propulsion, and a small size, the model aircraft
-> would make very little noise. To make it even less noticeable, I
-> would shape it and paint it like a soaring eagle!!!
->
HN> Yes, and instead of a digital
HN> camera a wifi webcam would do the
HN> job even better!
That is what I would have used, and that is what I meant. (A webcam
is digital!)
-> -> And now they are talking about replacements. Suggestions that we
-> -> should buy US, Brit or French nuclear subs have been countered by
-> -> comments that they are all too big, and can't operate in shallow,
-> -> littoral waters. Only smaller, non-nuclear submarines can go there.
-> ->
-> HN> There is a lot of discussion in the
-> HN> Submarine community on just that
-> HN> subject. There is a powerful lobby
-> HN> in Aus that wants to build them
-> They claim that we have learnt a lot of lessons from building the
-> Collins, and now we could do a better job.
->
HN> As they say, "talk is cheap",
HN> and your track record carries
HN> a lot of weight.
There have been many problems, some of which have been the
electronics of overseas design.
-> HN> the US boats spent more time in
-> HN> "shallow" ops than in deep ops!
->
-> "Shallow" is relative. According to what I have read of the
-> discussions, even the 5500t French Barracuda class, with 8.8 m beam is
-> considered too large to operate in littoral (brown) waters. Only
-> smaller, non-nuclear subs fit this role. They have to be capable of
-> operating at only 2 knots above an irregular seabed, or sit on the
-> bottom for extended periods. They also have to be capable of long
-> distance travel, and be cheap enough for Australia to afford. They
-> say a nuclear sub would cost as much as several conventional ones.
->
HN> US nuclear attack subs have worked in littoral
HN> waters for years. However I would not recommend
HN> them as a regular diet. I suppose it would also
HN> depend on the river as well. Some are wide and
HN> deep enough that many boats could navigate
HN> them with out being detected.
-> And, of course, above all else, politics comes into it.
->
HN> No getting around that...which may mean
HN> the OZ navy will be once again saddled
HN> with a sub that it's difficult to even
HN> get a crew to man her. As it is the
HN> Collins class boats have a hard time
HN> getting people to volunteer to crew them.
If all the Collins boats were in working order at the same time, there
would not be enough crews to man them.
-> HN> However if it were ME making the
-> HN> purchase...I'd be looking at the
-> HN> Swedish boats..specifically the
-> HN> Gotland class boats, with air
-> HN> independent propulsion. There's
-> HN> not much of a need for huge
-> HN> range and those dang boats are
-> HN> very VERY quiet!
->
-> Long range may not be needed in Sweden, but Australia is bigger, much
-> bigger. And the Pacific Ocean is rather empty.
->
HN> I said there's not much need for
HN> a huge range, not that the boats
HN> are not capable of it. They run
HN> significantly slower on the
HN> surface than submerged but can
HN> do a good 20 knots per hour when
HN> running submerged. And they are
HN> still some of the most "undetectable"
HN> boats in the water these days.
HN> And you're gonna have to make up
HN> your mind mate...if you're gonna
HN> run them as brown water boats
HN> or deep sea boats? The Gotlands
HN> can do both, but they are not
HN> designed to be deep water boats
HN> primarily. Provisions for the
HN> crew would be a bigger factor
HN> than the range of the boat itself.
Can you drag a trawl net with those boats? Lots of prawns in the
waters around Australia to feed the crew.
Ship building is not doing well in Eastern Australia, but in the West
they are building large, 40 knot catamaran transports for the US Navy,
using a factory in USA to complete the first order of 12.
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
Title: Tropical Prawn Curry
Categories: Australian, Seafood
Yield: 4 servings
3 c Whole milk
2 c Dessicated coconut
125 g Butter
5 sm Chopped onions
2 Cloves minced garlic
1/8 ts Each ground cumin & cayenne
Pepper
1 ts Ground ginger
1 T Curry powder
2 ts Salt
1 sm Can tomatoes
2 T Flour
1 md Cucumber, peeled and cubed
4 c Raw peeled prawns (king are
Best, but any type will do)
2 T Lemon juice
1 T Plum jam
Director of the WA Marine Research Laboratories Dr Jim Penn has a
quietly famous recipe ...
Bring milk and coconut to boil, cool 30 min, strain and discard pulp.
Saute onions and garlic with butter in a large pan until transparent,
blend in cumin, ginger, pepper, curry, salt and chopped tomatoes.
Cover and simmer for 15 min, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat
and add flour gradually, stir in milk slowly and heat until just
below boiling. Add cucumber and prawns and simmer 10 min, stirring
thoroughly. Combine lemon juice and plum jam, add and simmer for
another 5 min. Serve with hot steamed rice.
http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/wf/recipes
From: Michael Loo Date: 01-13-09
MMMMM
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* Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)
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