Nah, the engine blades would probably develop cracks after 15 milliseconds or, most probably, ALIS wouldn’t even let you start it up! :)

Pfff. What a great argument. You are going to start banging on about the “wonderful period of peace and prosperity ushered in by the creation of a Union of European peoples” and all this EU PR-speak. The only reason that this oh-so-wonderful-Union came about was the state of affairs that arose after the end of the War…

Not really. I have no desire to avenge anyone or anything. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to start trusting a state that bends or breaks rules at will with the full backing of its patrons, just because they have large financial interests in it.

Very nice try, but there are a few errors; for example, Turkey and SA are shown in blue. :)

The Apache is an awesome machine; truly revolutionary when it first came out and still a potent platform, especially in its longbow incarnation. Plus it's so friggin' ugly, it's almost beautiful! Those shots with two of them taking off in tandem reminds me of pissed off wasps!

You are right of course, in terms of fighting formations, but in the early days of WWII the Wehrmacht actually used horses to get around. Which is ironic, given their reputation as a heavily-mechanised force built on the success of the blitzkrieg. They did get there, eventually.

Erm, no. They just wanted to have more of a buffer for their second-most important and populous city, Leningrad (now and in pre-Soviet times, St. Petersburg). The Soviets always suspected the Finnish government of the time as being pro-Nazi (perhaps with some justification, but it’s hard to know if it was genuinely…

Sorry, but you made me laugh. The EU is nothing more than a fair-weather union. The moment the proverbial excrement hits the proverbial cooling device, it all breaks down into finger-pointing and each country looking after its own interests. The recent financial and refugee crises have taught us this much. If my…

“That’s nonsense. Aside from the fact that you overlook that the 2+4 treaty enshrined the post-war status quo of lost territories with a guarantee of the borders and a waiver of a right to return for those ejected from said territories, which is far more radical than anything the Cypriotes had to deal with.”

How about oveflying inhabited Greek islands and buzzing villages at 500 ft? (OK, not very common, but happens). Or parking warships INSIDE 6nmi?

I think with the Tartus reference you’ve hit the nail on the head. The Eastern Med/Near East has always been an area of extreme interest to all great powers throughout history. And with the US pivot toward asia, there IS somewhat of a power gap that will be filled by someone sooner or later. Hence the sudden…

If Germany was kept in two separate zones, the West and East, with a confederal system that basically allowed East Germany to veto everything, a 50/50 split in all “federal” structures and Russian forces permanently stationed in Germany with the right to ‘intervene’ anywhere in Germany at will, (as well as y other…

Last week was the anniversary of the Imia crisis, during which a Hellenic Navy helicopter was downed by Turkish Special Forces. The crew of the helicopter perished. I was serving in the Cypriot National Guard when this happened. Put more simply; I can imagine no circumstance whasoever under which I would consider…

Last week was the anniversary of the Imia crisis, during which a Hellenic Navy helicopter was downed by Turkish Special Forces. The crew of the helicopter perished. I was serving in the Cypriot National Guard when this happened. Put more simply; I can imagine no circumstance whasoever under which I would consider…

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The ‘peaceful reunification’ was essentially complete and total capitulation that would have turned Cyprus into a Turkish vassal state. If you want, I can send you the so-called “re-unification plan” so that you can read it and decide if you would be willing to…

Erm, I’m sure it wasn’t thousands of bombs, but given that the Tu-22 can carry almost 70 250lb bombs, it looks like they went for the ‘shitload of bombs from a high altitude’ approach.

Not entirely true; the pylons used to hang the external ordnance from totally mess up the shaping of the plane. Do you know if the F-35 can jettison them once the external stores are depleted?

Good luck with that. A couple of exceptions aside (sort of), the rest of NATO is merely hanging on America’s coat-tails, expecting the US to do everything, while at the same time spending their money on lattes and accusing the US of warmongering. In other words, if you want something done properly, do it yourself.

This looks like the French VAB. It’s a wheeled IFV that comes in a 4x4 and 6x6 version. We have them in the Cypriot National Guard, armed with either a 12.7 m/g or a HOT a/t system, to provide fire and anti-tank support at team or platoon level for mechanized infantry. They are getting on with age, to be honest.

Well, we assume that's the front of the "jet" :)