Tag Archives: History

Russia and also USSR

Ever Hear About The Time US Special Ops Snatched a Mi-25 Hind D Attack Helicopter?

Back in 1987, a damaged Libyan Mi-25 Hind D attack helicopter was captured by French and Chadian troops. The US wanted to inspect the helicopter and negotiated with the government of Chad to retrieve it.

Libyan MI-24 Hind D captured by Chadian forces at Wadi Doum, Chad .
Source: Wikipedia

On June 10, 1988, Operation Mount Hope III commenced to retrieve the Hind. The famous NightStakers (the 160th Special Operations Regiment) flew almost 500 miles at night with two MH-47 Chinooks to successfully retrieve the Hind and load it on a C-5.

On 21 June 1988, the captured Mi-25 arrived in N’Djamena where it was loaded into a USAF C-5
Source: Wikipedia

Videos

There are a couple of cool videos on Youtube that can give you some good background. The first one is very informative but please note the Hind D is not the fastest helicopter currently.

The next video has the same cover photo but is different:

Reading

If you want to read more, check out:

I hope you found this as interesting as I did.

Please note that the still photos are from the Wikipedia page listed above.

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Canada, History, Military

Video: Manufacturing an Eight Inch High Explosive Howitzer Shell Circa 1917 – Shows a Ton of Machining Operations

If you like to watch old school machining, this video from the Library and Archives Canada is pretty amazing. It’s a silent black and white video that is just shy of 54 minutes long. The title of the video is “Manufacturing an Eight Inch High Explosive Howitzer Shell At The Works Of The John Bertram & Sons Company, Ltd., Dundas, Ontario – Canada”.

The video steps you through the process as well as general view of the shop. This shows you manufacturing in an era where a lot of artisan skill was required to turn out products. It’s really fascinating to watch. The following are some screen shots from the video:

Here’s the Video:

I hope you enjoyed this bit of history!

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

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Russia and also USSR

November 10, 2019 – Russia Celebrates Kalashnikov’s 100th Birthday

On November 10th, 1919, Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников) was born in Kurya, Altai Governorate, Russian SFSR (now Altai Krai, Russia). He grew up from humble beginnings to be known as the father of a very famous rifle, the Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947, or AK-47 as we know it in the West.

Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 Type II
Photo from Wikipedia

While he died on December 23rd, 2013, at the age of 94, he is still revered as one of the leading small arms designers in history. In memory if him, Russia is celebrating his 100th birthday today. Being a student and fan of his designs, I would like to also say, Happy birthday Mr. Klashnikov.

You definitely need to visit the memorial website that the Kalashnikov Concern is hosting – it is in Russian and your browser can translate some of it but not the videos. Click here to visit the site– knock on the door and click on various items in the study to learn more.

Click here to go to the Klashnikov Media site for the 100th birthday
Image copyright is Kalashnikov Media

Want to learn more about Mikhail Kalashnkov? Then I would suggest the following:

There are a lot of books on the rifle that also discuss Mikhail as you need to understand the designer (really the most publicized of the designers involved) to understand the evolution of the rifle. There is one book that I really like gets into more detail about the man and he even authored the introduction. That books is “Kalashnikov: The Arms and the Man” by Edward Clinton Ezell.

If you want to learn more about the rifle, the best reference source is “AK-47: The Grim Reaper” by Frank Iannamico, now in its second edition.

Videos

There are a few brief videos on YouTube that touch on Mikhail’s life and let you hear different perspectives and see a number of different photos and videos of him at various events:

Without a doubt, Kalashnikov was a superb designer and it does seem very fitting to take a moment and remember him on his birthday. As always, best wishes to all and hope you find this interesting.

Please note that all photos used are the copyright of their respective owners or public domain. The stamp and rifle photos are from Wikimedia and the website screenshot is from Kalashnikov Media’s website.

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AK & Related Rifles, Russia and also USSR

Ian McCollum Interviews Max Popenker Who Shares His Deep Knowledge On The History Surrounding the Design of the AK-47

I’m definitely a fan of the AK-47 rifle and am always looking for more insights about the history and design. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons recently hosted Max Popenker, who is a Russian small arms researcher and publisher of Modern Firearms – one of the original firearm research websites. Between the two of them, there is a ton of knowledge.

The AK-47 design was the result of collaboration and competition amongst designers and didn’t happen magically overnight.

Now the video portion is ok but what is really cool is listening to Max unravel the history that led up to the AK-47 rifle’s design – the desire by the Soviets to develop a system of small arms, the influence of German small arms, and other Russian designs.

Here’s the Video

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Uncategorized

More Info on IMI Galil Rifles

I’ve always found the IMI Galil rifles one of the more interesting variations of the Kalashnikov AK design.  I thought you might find the following links of  interest if you want to learn more:

IMI Galil Page on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMI_Galil

IMI Galil Assault Rifle (Israel) – On World Guns
http://world.guns.ru/assault/isr/galil-e.html

IMI Galil ARM / SAR Assault Rifle / Carbine / Submachine Gun / Designated Marksman Rifle
http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=23

 

The following video is very informative.  It shows the rifle being made at IMI, interviews designers and talks about some of the unique features:

 

Uncategorized

Video: Tales of the Gun – AK-47, The Kalashnikov, FULL EPISODE

In case you missed the original Tales of the Gun episode on the AK-47 when it aired in 2010, here it is. This is a very well done episode that goes into the history of the design and how it served in battle.   Fans of the Kalashnikov will definitely want to watch this.

By the way, what I like about this particular Youtube video is that the quality is pretty good and it is the whole episode vs. being chopped up.