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They didn't work very well, but they definitely looked pretty spiffy.

Although for comparison, the LM 2500 gas turbines used on literally almost every Western warship are 60s tech. They're a gas turbine version of the General Electric TF39 turbofans from the C-5 Galaxy, which were the very first high-power, high-bypass jet engines ever invented. Yet still going...

All of the major countries switched to nuclear subs, and the countries that continued to use diesel-electric subs were interested in reliable low budget craft, not pushing the technical limits of technology. It's worth noting that even the "regular" submarine diesel engines used very...

Wankel engines were supposed to be the "next big thing" in internal combustion engines in the late 60s-early 70s, using eccentric triangular rotors instead of the traditional cylinders. Basically, the gaps between the rotors and the case around them, which expand and contract as the rotor...

In this case, development of advanced submarine diesels ceased entirely because the United States switched to nuclear power. Given that the surface version was quite reliable, it does appear that the severe issues with the submarine version arose almost entirely from it being a rushed...

The version used on the sub-chasers was reported to be very reliable, although with a relatively short service life. As the design is so obscure, it's not entirely clear why the submarine version (essentially the same engine) was so unreliable other than the motor-generator stack making the...

X-engines have been done before. The U.S. Navy notably put great hope in an X-engine for the Tang-class diesel electric subs and the experimental USS Albacore, although they never worked right. (The reason they wanted them were these marine X-engines were extremely compact for their power...

I think there's a strong tendency to jump to conclusions because "X" type engines are so rare. On the other hand, there's a reason that engine configuration is so rare compared to Vs and radials, and the unreliability demonstrated by the Armata prototypes on parade definitely showcases that no...

That's less likely given how early into development the joint project was -- they hadn't reached the phase of anything being concretely developed by the time the Germans decided to commit to Leo 2 and bailed.

It's a little weird -- the German end of it appears to have been a completely separate project from the Leopard 2, initiated at a point where the Leo 2 was already well into its development cycle but had not yet been formally adopted and greenlighted for mass production. That timing is why I...

In the case of the joint French-German MBT program, the timing suggests that Germany was hedging against any potential issues with the Leopard 2 program (which despite its towering reputation was developed as a relatively modest, low-risk upgrade over the Leo 1), so they were never really...

Yes and no. While the Leclerc did not enter operational service until 1992, it traces its origin all the way back to the Engin Principal Prospectif design studies starting in 1964, with serious design work beginning by 1975. However, development was put on hold in 1980 in favor of a joint...

The LeClerc is an excellent tank, with all-around performance generally exceeding the standard set by other current generation Western MBTs. The Leclerc was exported in substantial numbers to Jordan and the UAE, and also outscored all other options in Greece's competitive technical evaluations...

Given the visuals, that's a standard (not XLR) Leclerc tank turret paired with a Crotale NG anti-aircraft turret. So it would be packing a 120mm GIAT CN120-26/52 hypervelocity cannon, coaxial .50-caliber HMG, and eight Crotale VT-1 missiles.

Y'know who were always very big on putting large caliber guns on armored cars? The French! Panhard EBR 90 F1 Panhard AML 90: Panhard ERC 90 Sagaie: AMX-10 Rous-Canon:

You're greatly overstating the case here -- keep in mind that the modernized Shilka is meant to be a low-cost supplement to the PZA Loara, which has *both* radar and passive FLIR tracking. Passive sensors are less capable, but more survivable in a high-ECM and/or SEAD environment, and a...

True, but doing so effectively requires the sensors and fire control of an SPAAG -- the lack of its own sensor package was one of the biggest limitations of the "Linebacker" AA variant Bradley, and one of the reasons it ended up being cut. More broadly, this is why the idea of a 20mm light...

Britain occupied Myanmar from 1824 to 1948, so it really shouldn’t be surprising that they left behind a bunch of military hardware from that time period.

As far as "internal security forces", there's always the French. . . The is the Renault Véhicule Blindé de Combat, a fire support derivative of the Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé reconaissance armored car armed with a hypervelocity 90mm gun capable of killing a T-72. While it was designed...

The K2PL is little more than a "Koreanized" domestic version of the K1, which is an American-designed Abrams variant made for Korea. You can argue about how much of an actual next generation design it is or isn't, but the fact that it's part of the Abrams heritage is incontestable. The Panther...