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Artlav

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Reminds me of a popular WW2 story told around here.

Late in the war as nazis were retreating, a large group of them got surrounded. They dug in and stood their ground.
But instead of trying to fight, we just built a fence around the germans and put "prisoner camp" signs on it.
They surrendered from shock once they read it.

So if you built a fence around Switzerland, how would they feel?
 

jedidia

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So if you built a fence around Switzerland, how would they feel?

Now there's a thought. I'm honestly a bit scared to think about the number of Swiss that might be happy about that... :cautious:

The problem with the plan is of course that, as mentioned, Switzerland is worth controlling for one major reason: Transit through the Alps. Just locking the Swiss in won't give you that, and t's not like we were a threat that must be contained. That time has gone for a couple hundred years now.
On the other hand, upholding the current standard of living in Switzerland is utterly impossible without Europe around it, and most Swiss have become rather attached to that. So on the face of it, they would not be happy at all. But at least Blocher could finally shut up, so I guess there's a bright side to everything.
 

Linguofreak

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Just locking the Swiss in won't give you that, and t's not like we were a threat that must be contained. That time has gone for a couple hundred years now.

That's what they all say... ?

Cut to 2040: jedidia rules Swiss Occupied Europe with an iron fist, and is considering sending troops across the Atlantic.

I for one welcome our new Alpine overlords.
 

Urwumpe

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They also had lots of such stuff popping up from the soil like mushrooms, if you annoyed them too much (and during the office hours)

 

Notebook

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I didn't know the Bloodhound missile was exported?
 

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Bloodhound was also exported to Sweden, Australia( v1 only), Singapore and Switzerland (of course). It's unfortunate that it was not continually upgraded like some other systems of the era, and so was left behind.
 

Notebook

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What a strange grouping. I could understand NATO countries and Australia. Must have been one of the few ground-air missiles we made, can't remember any others till the Rapier.
 

Urwumpe

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Bloodhound was also exported to Sweden, Australia( v1 only), Singapore and Switzerland (of course). It's unfortunate that it was not continually upgraded like some other systems of the era, and so was left behind.

Well, it was made in Britain. It is initially a masterpiece and far ahead of its contemporary rivals. But then also too complex to update easily and eventually outnumbered by simpler, more robust technologies. Just look at other things made in Britain there... cars, motorcycles, battlecruisers :devilish: ... they all didn't age well.
 

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Post War UK was skint and in a bit of a mess. Took decades for industry to get off a war footing. Then we started making real tat, beginning with cars and working downward.
 

jedidia

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They also had lots of such stuff popping up from the soil like mushrooms, if you annoyed them too much (and during the office hours)


Ah, the bloodhound mid-range ground to air missiles. They were retired quite some time ago. One of the launch sites was like a 5 minute drive from my home. Loved hanging around the fences just looking at the rockets as a kid. Not that any of them ever launched, but hey, you might just get lucky... :LOL:

Well, they're already in the process of building up their blue-water navy, with aircraft carriers and everything:

Ah, our pntooniers... Reminds me of the time a first lieutenant had the bright idea to hold an excercise by having his platoon ferry his private car over the lake I live at... while the storm warning was already going.
I think he might have been bribed by the military divers, who appreciated the interesting excercise of getting the car out from a depth of 30 meters...
 

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SeaCat was popular for refits of WW2 era ships as it was designed to fit on the same mount point as a Bofors 40mm emplacement. Bloodhound's down fall was its lack of mobility, and its Radar and ECCM which where ahead of the competition until the mid 1970's and then left behind in the 1980's. Considering Bloodhound was a 1950's design and lasted in its 2nd form till 1991 it lasted a long time, compared to SA-1(USSR) 1955–1982 and Nike Hercules 1958 -1988.

If you want a little read.
Air Defence - A History of United Kingdom Air Defence in the 20th Century
 
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Urwumpe

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Sea Cat was popular for refits of WW2 era ships as it was designed to fit on the same mount point as a Bofors 40mm emplacement. Bloodhound's down fall was its lack of mobility, and its Radar and ECCM which where ahead of the competition until the mid 1970's and then left behind in the 1980's. Considering Bloodhound was a 1950's design and lasted in its 2nd form till 1991 it lasted a long time, compared to SA-1(USSR) 1955–1982 and Nike Hercules 1958 -1988.

If you want a little read.
Air Defence - A History of United Kingdom Air Defence in the 20th Century

Well, that is exactly my point there. It was an unique, rather artistic solution for many problems that others solved easier later. Just look at the EE Lightning, as another example there. Great design, extreme performance - and did also not age well.
 

Linguofreak

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Ah, our pntooniers... Reminds me of the time a first lieutenant had the bright idea to hold an excercise by having his platoon ferry his private car over the lake I live at... while the storm warning was already going.
I think he might have been bribed by the military divers, who appreciated the interesting excercise of getting the car out from a depth of 30 meters...

Sounds like something the USN would do:



US_Navy_120109-N-EE987-022_The_aircraft_carrier_USS_Ronald_Reagan_%28CVN_76%29_transports_Sailors%27_vehicles_while_transiting_the_Pacific_coast_to_Naval.jpg
 

Artlav

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It could be, if they rename it to Gazebo.
 

Linguofreak

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Ha. Most expensive ferry ever! ?

Or the cheapest, given that the Navy already owned it:

They were rebasing the ship, IIRC from San Francisco to Seattle. That involves moving the effects of 5000 sailors and their families. Do you hire 5000 UHauls and pay for gas for the trucks and for all the personal vehicles to drive that distance, or do you take advantage of having a vessel with tons of cargo space that almost* never stops for gas.

Technically, it never* stops for gas at all, only for uranium, and that rarely.

**Well, actually it does stop for gas, because F-18s are thirsty beasts. It just never stops for its own gas.
 

Linguofreak

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The first Grand Slam bomb dropped in WWII was supposedly dropped on a town called Bielefeld.

I guess the actual target remains classified, as everyone knows that Bielefeld does not exist.
 
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