dy031101's Mental Notes

[dy031101]

The original version of this drawing is the work of RP1- I only replaced certain parts on it with the recently-drawn version of them and figured that the extent of the "changes" does not warrant inserting my name into it.

I just have one question- the original drawing shows four rows of VLS fore and aft, but I either don't know or have forgotten how many 8-cell modules each row has.  If there are two modules each row, that'd be Arleigh-Burke-level of firepower……

However, in my current spin I oriented the VLS (Sylver A-50) à la the Type 45 and assumed two modules each row, for 64 cells in total.

[dy031101]

So this is what happens when I played too much World of Tanks   

Somewhere in the South Pacific, a secret island hosts The Armored Gladiators, a bloodsport tournament with tanks and artilleries, for the entertainment of the wealthy, powerful degenerates that have either overtly or covertly held sway over much of the civilized world.

On this island called War Paradise, people kidnapped from all over the world- those who bet on the wrong horses during power struggles, political dissidents, victims of score-settling, even random nobodies having the misfortune of walking by some bored, socially-influential activist in the wrong place at the wrong time- are parachuted onto random locations.  Those who didn't get killed in the crossfires of on-going combat are either forced to form factions or recruited by one of the factions they run into (typically the first one they meet, willingly or otherwise), which in term deploy teams of 15 vehicles to locations specified by the game show hosts.  These unfortunate souls must then crew the vehicles and fight it out against teams from rival factions with live ammunitions.  Anything goes, the winning teams live to fight another battle, and the losing teams are completely at the mercy of their opponents.

The tournament is divided into thirteen "Tiers"; each faction is given increasingly-capable vehicles as the tournament progresses through Tiers, with Tier I corresponding to late 1920s technology and Tier XIII corresponding to early 1960s level.  All vehicles and ammunitions are produced in automated plants on the island- their precise locations known only to Tyrannos Inc., the organization that produces and administers the game show- and delivered via heavy-duty unmanned ground vehicles to ensure properly-functioning logistics for each viable faction.

Unmanned aerial vehices disguised as replicas of the Il-2 attack aircraft and MiG-21 jet fighters patrol the skies over War Paradise.  They not only add immersion to the audience but also scan the ground with their sophisticated onboard cameras for anyone showing signs of desertion or even stalling, who will then be strafed and bombed.  The aristocracy demands entertainment, and the show must go on- even though it kills you.

As the team death match goes on, The Armored Gladiators matches become largely dominated by two factions- the New 1st Army, known for being relatively-disciplined compared to others due to being led and trained by a former tank commander, and the Order of Schäferhund, a group of upper-class thrill-seekers who came to this island willingly and are known for brutal, calculated tactics, an utter lack of compassion, and their penchant for executing strangers on-sight out of spite (which in turn means that they never took in new recruits but are bolstered directly from their home societies- a priviliege, amongst others, granted by the administrators at Tyrannos Inc.).



Even as Season 1 of The Armored Gladiators reaches its eighth Tier, the desperate need for standing forces against the Order of Schäferhund's onslaught means that the New 1st Army must utilize any vehicle that can be armed with an useful gun at all.  Normally this means all serviceable vehicles shall be upgraded to the farthest extent permitted by the game show (which is in turn based on these vehicles' real world potential to begin with), but the capture and the subsequent "digital pacification" a.k.a. hacking of an automated plant with the assistance of a former Tyrannos employee exiled to War Paradise in an instance of workplace cancel culture, presented a "good news, bad news" situation.  On one hand, the New 1st Army now has not only ready access to powerful vehicles such as the Caernarvon, IS-3, M26 Pershing, and AMX-13 75 tanks but also the ability to fabricate parts in surplus- that is, in addition to supporting the construction of new vehicles.  On the other, however, only in a fool's dream would the gamemasters at Tyrannos remain ignorant to the loss of an automated plant for long or accept such a loss without a fight once they figure out exactly what happened, and a counterattack by their security forces is only a matter of when, not if, further exacerbating the need to keep as many tanks operational and somehow combat-worthy as possible (fortunately, they do have enough manpower, both through rescuing new arrivals from Order of Schäferhund hunting parties and through absorbing survivors from defeated factions, to field such numerous armoured formations).  One of the results of this new situation is that surviving examples of the T6 Medium, a forerunner of the M4 Sherman tank and acquired during Tier IV phase of the tournament, are upgraded alongside the Tier V Sherman tanks equipped with Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (tanks that were not already allocated for conversion into the M36B1 Jackson tank destroyers) and employed using tank destroyer tactics.

The most visible upgrade to the T6 Mediums is the same FL-10 turret used by AMX-13 and upgraded M4 Sherman tanks, with a high-velocity 75mm gun that is effective enough against the Order of Schäferhund's elite Tiger I tanks, especially when using ambush tactics that the New 1st Army Shermans have already been resorting to anyway.  The M3-type VVSS units are also replaced with the more-resilient M4-type ones, and "duckbill" extended end connectors are added to their tracks, which are standardized with other VVSS Shermans, in order to improve their cross-country performance.



With the Tier VIII phase of the tournament comes the T-VI-100 variant of the Tiger I tank, basically one re-armed with the 100mm D-10T gun.  Beyond upgrading the existing Tiger I tanks, the same gun ended up being tried with the Porsche Tiger, which has essentially the same turret design.  While these up-tiered tanks are no longer well-protected by Tier VIII standard, the wide variety of the 100mm ammunition means that the tanks will have at least a fighting chance against the opponents they will face.

(Credit: AMX-13 turret by Tank Encyclopedia; the "castle turret" insignia came from World of Tanks; the rest by War'tist of War Drawings; I only threw them together and then adjusted the turret's colour a bit)

[GTX_Admin]

I have toyed with the idea of a post War Tiger tank in Israeli service and retrofitted with a 105mm Royal Ordnance L7 main gun.

[dy031101]

Through trials, errors, and a huge amount of luck (considering the inexperience of the personnel involved and having to work completely from scratch this time), the New 1st Army successfully tested the D-10T gun on an Elefant tank destroyer in anticipation of diminishing effectiveness of its 88mm L/71 gun in the future.

(Credit: Modded from works of the War'tist of War Drawings)

(I also attempted to rescale the Tiger tanks and their 100mm gun barrels.  Hopefully they look less clownish now.)

=========================================================================

I have toyed with the idea of a post War Tiger tank in Israeli service and retrofitted with a 105mm Royal Ordnance L7 main gun.

The Tiger has a turret ring diametre seemingly comparable with the T-54, so now I guess it can.

[dy031101]

Upgraded M26 Super Pershing with the 105mm L/51 cannon used by the M51 Sherman.

No marking as it is not part of the story with the previous two posts- I want to limit the number of different guns used for non-historical upgrades and prefer APFSDS-capable guns in that story.  The French 105mm L/51 gun relies on HEAT.

[dy031101]

I found myself unable to resist the temptation of playing around with FD scale planes *BANGING HEAD*

How does Europe 1 look on an F-104......

[dy031101]

The 055 class guided missile destroyer had its beginning in February 1968 in an effort to create a fleet air defense vessel capable of operations on the high seas.  Originally calling for a 7800-ton ship with gas turbine and diesel engines as well as a full range of new-development guided weapons, technological limitations led to constant reduction of its specifications while growing in size.  The project was also threatened by the Type 051S (a Luda class destroyer armed with Sea Dart missile from the UK, cancelled due to cost and PLA & state defense industry corporations' internal politics) and the Type 052-II (a Luhu class destroyer armed with vertically-launched HQ-65 anti-aircraft missiles, cancelled after further importation of LM-2500 gas turbine proved impossible after Tiananmen Square Incident) destroyer projects.  By the time of the Type 052-II's cancellation, the 055 project had long since dabbed into cruiser category- although everyone involved was forced to call it a "large destroyer" so as not be accused of defeatism and purged- with steam turbine powerplants and a much-limited set of weapons.  The twin 100mm automatic guns and HY-1A anti-ship missiles were salvaged from the Type 052-II project, as the range of the YJ-8A anti-ship missile used on the Type 052 destroyers is considered unsatisfactory, and a navalized HQ-2 missile was considered the only domestic area defense missile that could be readied for the near future; the guided anti-submarine weapon requirement ended up being deleted altogether, with the standard triple lightweight torpedo launchers given as little more than an afterthought.

Only one 055 class destroyer, D-114 Yan'an, was built due to re-normalization of relationship with Russia after Tiananmen Square Incident and the resulting possibility of importing matured area air defense systems.  Despite having the size and displacement of a cruiser, the ship only has 20 area defense anti-aircraft missiles; based on the HQ-2A missile, the HHQ-2 is barely-serviceable against aircraft and useless against the increasing threat of air-launched sea-skimming cruise missiles.  Although the plan is to upgrade the HHQ-2 system later on, the Shtil-1 missile complex from Russia rendered the exercise pointless by the time the technologies are in place.

Yan'an was deemed unsuccessful and never considered for modernization- its H/PJ33A twin 100mm guns received a low-observable cupola, but unlike other PLAN ships with the weapons, the gun mount was not upgraded to the H/PJ33B standard- finally being decommissioned with the introduction of the Type 052C destroyers due to poor material conditions.  Its Type 055 designation is eventually continued with the Renhai class destroyers, and since the two different generations of Type 055 destroyers do not end up serving together, no effort was made to differentiate between them in official documents although popularly people call them "Old 055" and "New 055".

========================================================================

This is a project that I did not know I hated until it's way too late.  **Banging Head**

I just couldn't find a way to satisfactorily address the incorporation of the sort of radars that the PLAN has access to during the late stage of the Cold War, and also this ended up being what I botched my Naval GB participation twice with.

At least there are a couple of elements of it that can be salvaged for future use.

========================================================================



Also, how dare I professing to do a Flying Tigers aircraft without the shark mouth!



The Alt.-PLAAF's answer to the new Flying Tigers during the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis, trying to co-opt the romanticism associated with the old International Brigades from the Spanish Civil War and to frame the war as internationally popular & their oppositions as evil.  Usually sortie with some armed with PL-8 missiles and others carrying Derby BVRAAMs.

========================================================================

The J-7L apparently actually exists in real life as a small number of J-7Es upgraded with radar, derived from the EL/M-2032, and datalink equipment from the J-7G.  This makes the J-7L all-weather-capable.

[dy031101]

Some little thing for now:



Inspired by anime "Girly Air Force".  I'm indifferent towards the anime itself, but the idea of the following pics somehow interested me.

These depict a "fat spine" MiG-21 variant, which in terms of a PLAAF counterpart would be the less-successful J-7C/D (based on the MiG-21MF; IIRC, the only all-weather J-7 variant until the advent of the J-7G).  The missiles don't look like the (new) PL-10, which has forward-swept tailfins, but look instead like the IRIS-T.  So I added the livery used by modern J-7 and J-10 units, light grey with low-visibility yellow serial number, a J-7D upgraded with Western technology for defense of Shanghai (where the anime partly takes place).

[ChernayaAkula]

Japanese AAM-5 maybe?



SOURCE

[dy031101]

Combining two B-29 prototypes together.

Japanese AAM-5 maybe?



SOURCE

In terms of positioning of control surfaces, yes, AAM-5 fits the illustration better.  IRIS-T remains politically more-plausible though (as I am not aiming for the alien invasion background of the anime).

[dy031101]

I recently unsuccessfully made a suggestion at War Thunder forum for a ROCAF F-16/79.  Still I decided to visualize it just a bit.

As appropriate with their positions as late Rank VII and early Rank VIII aircraft as well as what the ROCAF would have had access to in early 1980s if the deal didn't fall through, ROCAF FXs are given AIM-9P whereas USAF FXs are armed with AIM-9L; all except for USAF F-16/79 have AIM-7F capabilities since FX Project was billed to the ROC as BVR-capable air-superiority fighters (i.e. to engage enemy aircraft before they cross into ROC airspace in the event of hostility) while the F-20A was later promoted to the US as a fighter for the Air National Guard.  AIM-7F was being superseded by AIM-7M on the production line in early 1980s; I think the US would likely have rather sold the former to the ROC rather than the latter, considering that the FX saga took place prior to 1989.  Serial numbers are removed to take account of multiple examples being used/spawned in a match.  ROCAF Tigershark is designated as the F-5G as it was known when promoted to the ROCAF- there would likely have been the need to present the aircraft as a version of the F-5E to get past the early 1980s political radar- it also inherited the christened name from the F-5E built by AIDC to make the deal look like a mere continuation of the F-5E licence production at AIDC.

[dy031101]

The Project 8-2, known to the West as the Peace Pearl Program, aims to upgrade the J-8II, then in the less-than-service-ready Block 1 iteration, into a form that is capable of intercepting Soviet supersonic strategic bombers under all weather conditions as a more-affordable alternative to buying the F-16A/B from the US.  Grumman was selected to integrate the weapon systems & avionics used by the F-16 into the J-8II, and two airframes and one forward fuselage mockup were transferred to Grumman to that end.  The Phase 1 involved installing a variant of the AN/APG-66(V), computerized fire controls, LN-39 inertial navigation system, and a modernized cockpit including a new head-up display and a multifunction display, all integrated to MIL-STD-1553B standard.  A Martin-Baker ejection seat is also to be installed.  This was to be followed by introducing the AIM-7M Sparrow missile into the J-8II's list of armaments and even re-engining the aircraft with the F404 turbofan.

The program was paused in the aftermath of the 1989 June 4th Incident and resumed in October of the same year.  Although by then the specified new electronics had been installed and were ready for test flights, the PLAAF decided not to continue with the Project as they have in the meantime secured the importation of the Su-27, and the two airframes were therefore returned.  The J-8II remained an issue of pride for CCP and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, however, so attempts to upgrade the aircraft continued.

The modified aircraft can be identified by its slightly-enlarged dorsal spine.

[dy031101]

Developed in 1982 as a private initiative, around two years after the official J-9 programme was cancelled, this is the final evolution of the J-9 that ends up being the transitional stage between it and the J-10.  Not much of the old J-9 other than the wings and maybe rear fuselage remained- a single fixed ventral intake was adopted instead of two lateral ones, the bubble canopy is much more pronounced with the traditional flat windscreen gone, and, as Liming Aero Engine Corporation in Shenyang only started ground tests for their WS-6 turbofan (the intended engine for the J-9 programme that was, despite persisting into 1983, essentially doomed with the programme), provision is made to use the WP-15 turbojet, basically an imported R-29-300 turbojet modified locally also by Liming to function as a stand-in for the WS-6 and later WS-10, in WS-6's place.

The design is known to possess at least six hardpoints, 2 on the intake chins and at least four under the wings, and a Type 23-3 twin-barreled 23mm cannon.  The intake chin hardpoints can be used for short-range air-to-air missiles whereas wing hardpoints can be used for two PL-4 radar-guided missiles and either two drop tanks or two more SRAAMs.

[dy031101]

I took some moments between working on several Shipbucket and FD scale projects I'm trying to resume to update my what-if PLAAF F-16s.




I forgot that Carter-era F-16s are of earlier blocks and would have smaller stabilators, so the J-14 derived from it would likely have started out with those as well.  I also slightly changed the story- since Reagan wanted to sell PRC the AIM-7M via Peace Pearl Program in real-life, it would likely have had to be something a deal more serious than an early PLAAF BVR capability to facilitate ROCAF access to the F-16/79 and the F-5G.


The F-16 as depicted in the internet illustration that I found and derived the J-14 idea from but which shall not be named due to its petty use of the F-16/79 as the basis.  As the aircraft was originally a Reagan-era proposal, it is based on Block 15 as with the top picture.

[GTX_Admin]

Interesting - The way things were going up until the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, these might well have occurred.