What military equipment have you actually seen?

I've been on the Hornet parked over at Alameda and a couple of Liberty ships alongside. I've heard the firing of AK-47s and Berettas.......
Seen C-5s and E-2Cs flying overhead. And since I live near a ballpark: F-15s, Vipers and/or 18s. (I think. They fly too fast)

When I lived in Hong Kong, I did went to an aircraft show and to Stonecutter Island (I think it was PLA visiting? It was around 1996) I don't remember much........maybe saw 112, a Song......... I just remembered some of the food sold there. :rofl: And my parents bought me and my sister a (VERY CHEAP) DDG model whose props broke off in 2 days.

As for the show over in the City Pavillion in Wan Chai, I remember seeing a couple of J-7s, a half-a-man sized UAV(never saw it again) and a jet with the antenna at front sticking out from the side of the nose and pointing 30 degrees up and 30 degrees to the right.

I've seen a whole bunch, though so much more to see - not that I go out of my way to see it these days, never was a planespotter sort. So my top ten:

Adrenalin shot: treetop flight in a Lynx. Classic

Right place right time: Lots of very low flying NATO aircraft on exercises, mostly Tornados, Jaguars, Harriers (inc old GR3s), Buccaners, A-10s, F-111, F-15Es, F-18s, Mirage 2000Ns, Apaches etc. Once or twice a Harrier or Tornado has flown over so low and so fast I instinctively ducked. highlight was a week or so of watching USAF F-4Es and F-15s dogfighting - generally circling lower and lower, on a clear day this was awesome. Another highlight was when a Hawk flew BELOW us whilst I was hill climbing in Wales.

SR-71 yeah baby!!! Seen it fly over so many times I couldn't count, back in the late 1980s. What I didn't realise back then was that it was on its way to or from the Baltic run.

Flanker yeah baby!!! By far the most awesome flight display I ever saw was the TVC Flanker back in the mid 90s. I didn't realise it had TVC and thought it was about to stall and crash.. but it just hung there. My all time airshow fav is the Vulcan. Sadly retired several years ago

Big Bang yeah baby!!! Biggest bang i ever saw was a jet fighter crashing. Not kidding. Fortunately they survived but the plane didn't. A 15ft deep crater is deeper than it sounds, that's a hell of an impact.

It's not all planes!!! I get sea sick so boats are less my thing, though seen most RN types up close. a few foriegn ships also - highlight Dutch stealth "Frigate" Trump (new one) in dock.

Land warfare yeah baby!!! Did the old reservist thing, know that an SA-80 rattles and jams a lot. Saw a direct hit on a target with an artillery piece in direct-fire mode... blow the target away. lol.

Old time yeah baby!!! If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend visiting the Vasa museum in Stockholm - awesome 16th century warship that sunk on maiden voyage, amazingly resorted. Wow!!!

Obscure yeah baby!!! Random sightings of foreign equipment whilst on holiday - Japanese T-4s are the rarest in so far as they are probably NEVER seen outside Japan. Moroccan F-5s, Cypriot Mi-8s, Czech Mi-8s...

But never seen a Chinese military equipment first hand as far as I can recall.

I shot the HK P8 service Pistol and the HK G36. Additionally held in my hands HK G3s, MG3s, P1s, MP2s and the HK 69 (granate pistol).
I got a flight in a CH-53G. I sat in the cockpit of an F-4F Phantom. Could see several aircraft flying from or visiting our air base at Neuburg including Eurofighters, Tornados, Mirage 2000, C-160, MiG-21, An-26 and Helicopters UH-1, BO-105 and a short overflight of a Tiger.

There are some things I'd still like to see.
Ships: The impressivness of a super carrier and a boomer. Modern (stealth) ships like the Visby or our new U212 subs and F124 FFGs.
I'd like to use the new HK MG4 and MP7 weapons, see latest MBTs (Leo, Abrams ...; russian T-style tanks with these small, round turrets don't look so nice aggrassiv to me) perhaps a Puma IFV ...
I'm really an aviation fan, though I'm not the one to go on airshows all the time.
Flankers, the Berkut, JSF, Raptor, Rafalé

If everything happens as planed, my future workplace will be a Eurofighter or Tornado cockpit. Personally I hope for the EF, though that might be a little more difficult.

Popeye, have you been on CV(N)s all your duty time, and what was your exact task there ?

Popeye, have you been on CV(N)s all your duty time, and what was your exact task there ?

Click to expand...

I served on 5 carriers. Kennedy, Midway, Hancock, America and Nimitz. Only Nimitz was a CVN. The rest were conventionally powered. CVA or CV.

What did I do? On the first 4 ships I was an Avation Ordance man. I handled aircraft munitions of all types. By the time my USN career was over I had switched rates to Aircrew survival Equipmentman. I then worked on aircrew and aircraft survial gear. Parachutes, lifevest, life rafts, Aircrew survial vest & gear etc..etc.., LOX convertors. Plu much more that.

On the first 4 ships I wore a red vest and worked on the flightdeck and hangar deck and sometimes in the weapons magazines to do my job.

Here's a picture of me "laughing it up" in the shop prior to stepping on that flight deck. This was in 1973 on the USS John F Kennedy CVA-67.

If ya' really wanna see what USN ordancemen do;

I guess it will be quite hard to recall all the Soviet stuff I've seen and some of that operated. There's quite an advantage to live in Riga which was HQ of the Baltic Military district once.
Practically any aircraft from T-16 to Tu22M3 and Mig21 to Mig25 to Su24, well you name it.
Ships - well anything that was in the Baltic Sea Fleet, excluding perhaps Project 956, cause they were stationed already after 1991.
Less so on the land forces, the usual stuff which was displayed at parades.
I've seen a bit of NATO equipment abroad and in Latvia after 1991 as well, nothing spectacular though, perhaps most impressive was Italian San-Giorgio moored in Riga a couple of years ago.
My dream is simple - a BB. It's pity that only US had the money to keep them as museums, what a feat a Yamato or KGV or Richelieu would have been.

You said you have operated some, Have you served in military? It would mean that you could get vip member ship status (if you want)

When I have visited Baltics (thougth I havent visited Latvia or Liathuania for over ten years), I have found them somewhat stripped of from military hard ware...offcourse do the withdrawal of Soviet forces and the small size of the new republics own armed forces...it get more 'hotter' when our travel reached Poland, Slovakia and Hungary with reasonable own armed forces along with the former Soviet Precence...

also It just came to my mind that I have also seen in denmark, a Sea King and C-130 Hercules, only 'western' stuff aside from those of our Own army uses...(I have been almoust run over by CV90 IFV )

i remember a school trip to an airforce base in kunming, China. At that time the only planes there were J-6s, i even got to sit in the cockpit for a few min. a huge deal for a little kid i guess.

I grew up in Seattle so...

Navy,

essex class carriers (Yorktown, Hornet IIRC), USS Missouri, USS Abraham Lincoln, saw an Ohio boomer headed out on patrol passing Ft Casey which over looks the Straits of Juan de fuca (entrance to puget sound), Blue Angels, F-14, A-6, EA-6, FA-18, AV-8

Outside Washington state

USS Alabama (Mobile Bay), USS Razorback (Little rock)

Airforce (USAF)
Thunderbirds, A-10, F-117, B-52, B-1B, F-15, F-16, C-130, C-141, C-5, B-47, B-29, B-17, T-33, F-104, F-86F, F-8, A-7, F-102, F-106

Airforce (Non-US) Su-27, AN-224, Mi-8, Mi-24, Snowbirds, Avro Vulcan (?)

Army (US where I served)

M-1, M-1IP, M1A1, M1A1HM, M1A2, M2/M3, M551, M113, M557, FOX, M163, M109, M110, Patriot, Hawk I, Apache, Cobra, Kiowa, Kiowa warrior, UH-1, CH-47, M-60A3, M48, M106 (At the Museum at Ft lewis) MBT-70, M89, Hummers of all shapes and sizes, M-9 ACE

Army (non-US)

T-72, MTLB, T-55, BTR-60, BTR-70, BRDM, T-12ATG, ZSU-23/4

WW1 and 2

Panzers mks I,II,III,IV,V,VI (Tiger and Konigs Tiger) and proposed panther II (at Ft Knox) JPZ IV/70, Stug III, Jagdtiger, Flak-15 88mm, Pak 40 75mm ATG,Wespe, Hummel, Nashhorn, Elephant, several japanese tanks, T-34, JS-III, Railway gun and V-2 missile (at Aberdeen Proving Grounds), M-4,M-3 (Grant) M-5, M-24, M-48, M-26, M-3 halftrack, Ford 6 ton, British Mk1 male, M-3 combat car, M-2 cavalry tank

Civil War/Wild west
Anteitem battlefeild, Litlte Big Horn, Ft Laramie, Vicksburg, Spencer carbine, various napoleon style canon, Hotchkiss 37mm revolving canon, various small rifled canon

guns I have fired

M-16A1 and A2, M-3 grease gun, M-1911, Berretta 92, M-60, M-240C, M-85HMG, M-2HMG, SAW, hand grenades

Other things of interests

pattons command truck, his offical car and his ivory handled six shooters, a real congressional medal of honor

some interesting people I have met,

Navy Seals, Green berets, Rangers, Holocuast survivor, Former Tanker who fought in North Afrika, Former member of the Hitler Youth (was given a panzerfaust in 45 and told to kill russians but ditched the weapon and fled west and surrendered ot the British beofr emigraitng post war to the US), a medal of honor winner, Dick Cheney (hey he is a dangerous weapon), various generals, a former Russian spetznaz (was an Ultimate Fighting Champion)

I've been out of uniform since 95 so I know I am forgetting a ton of stuff.

Gollevainen said:

You said you have operated some, Have you served in military? It would mean that you could get vip member ship status (if you want)

When I have visited Baltics (thougth I havent visited Latvia or Liathuania for over ten years), I have found them somewhat stripped of from military hard ware...offcourse do the withdrawal of Soviet forces and the small size of the new republics own armed forces...it get more 'hotter' when our travel reached Poland, Slovakia and Hungary with reasonable own armed forces along with the former Soviet Precence...

also It just came to my mind that I have also seen in denmark, a Sea King and C-130 Hercules, only 'western' stuff aside from those of our Own army uses...(I have been almoust run over by CV90 IFV )

Click to expand...

My education (first) is aviation electronics. In capacity of engineer I served with heavy bomber regiment.
Of course Baltic armed forces are quite negligent, Navies consist mainly of second hand minesweepers and minehunters, Lithuania has a couple of Pr.1124 by I don't know how battleworthy they are. Air Force is practically non-existant, consisting of several refurbished Hips and L-29 trainers. Land forces also have quite limted firepower with small amount of heavy equipment (ex-Swedish mainly) and some recently acquired MANPADS (Mistral and Javelin).

Well if you contact Dongfeng or Webmaster, you should get your account updated for Vip membership status, and you can join our highly "lively" professional discussion section