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US planning to create ‘Space Corps’ as sixth branch of armed forces

Basically, the current space-warfare functions of the USAF would be split off onto their own, in kind of the same way that the USAF was split off from the US Army shortly after WWII (though it seems the USSC would still be a part of the USAF). The reason for this would be to cement space warfare capabilities and funding; right now the Air Force could in principle take all the money needed for Space Project XYZ and divert it into a trillion-dollar effort to replace the F-35’s cup holders. If the USSC actually came about – and there’s every reason to doubt that it’ll actually happen, what with the whole idea being to kick over some current political fiefdoms – then it would have its own budget that couldn’t be raided for fighters or bombers or the like.

While I’d love to see the USSC come about and promptly start patrolling the spaceplanes with Enterprise-class 4,000 ton Orion battlecruisers, the reality is that the USSC would largely spend most of its time futzing around with satellites and whatnot. However, if the USSC comes along, has assured political independence and a good budget… perhaps the US military might finally start doing what it should have been doing since the 1960’s: setting up bases on the moon, sending military recon missions to Mars, weaponizing asteroids, that sort of thing. We shall see.

Multnomah County Republicans Formally Allow Militia Groups to Run Security

The GOP in Multnomah county, Oregon, have decided to let volunteers from the “Three Percenters” and “Oath Keepers” groups provide security (*not*, as the headline suggests, “run” security).

Even if the security operations run completely professionally, smoothly and without incident, expect this sort of news to drive lefties bonkers. However, I won’t be the least bit surprised if there are some interesting incidents here. Multnomah county includes Portland, Oregon, a current hotbed of left-wing radicalism and violence, such as the thuggish fascists of the Antifa movement.

The Pluto nuclear ramjet is often considered one of the crazier (or perhaps more accurately, “badass”) weapons systems ever considered by serious people. In short, it used a nuclear reactor as the heat source for an airbreathing ramjet; it would fly at a few hundred feet altitude at Mach 3 with nearly unlimited range. Several American aerospace corporations vied for the contract; LTV won the contract to build the airframe in 1961. The “Tory” nuclear ramjet was static ground tested with some success, but the program was cancelled in 1964.

Convair gave the concept considerable study from the beginning of the program in 1957 until at least 1961. Their “Big Stick” concept has been reasonably well known, but they had another idea that was somewhat further from the basic idea. It was mentioned in at least two briefings that I’ve come across; some amount of serious work was done on it, but the information I have is fragmentary. The concept was called simply the “Submersible Nuclear Ramjet.”

Pluto and Big Stick were unmanned cruise missiles. They would be launched from the ground with solid rocket boosters (some though was given to launching from ships, subs and aircraft) and would fly “grand tours” of the Soviet Union, spitting out a number of individual nuclear bombs. They would leave in their wake a line of ruin… the shockwaves from their passage would likely shake apart civilian structures, and the reactors would constantly spit out radioactive particles. At the end of the mission the missiles would crash into one final target.

But the Submersible Nuclear Ramjet would work a little differently. For starters… it was manned. There would be a crew on board throughout the mission.

Rather than starting off at some Air Force base, the Submersible Nuclear Ramjet would actually start off as a submarine, floating around on its own in the ocean. Propulsion would be provided by the nuclear reactor, serving as a “water ramjet” by heating seawater and expelling it. Feeding salt water, diatoms, kelp, fish and all the rest of the junk the ocean has to offer directly through a nuclear reactor seems a bit dubious.

When the order to begin an actual mission comes in, the propulsion system would be reconfigured from seawater-burning ramjet to seawater-burning rocket. The vehicle would expel stored seawater through the reactor, generating a large amount of thrust, enough to launch the craft vertically out of the water and up to high speed. The craft would then angle over towards the horizontal; the propulsion system would reconfigure once again, this time to an airbreathing nuclear ramjet. The vehicle would then fly a mission essentially similar to Plutos… low altitude, screamingly high speed, ejecting nuclear weapons as it goes. At the end of the mission, unlike Pluto it would *not* crash itself into one final target. Instead, the manned vehicle would return to secure waters and slow to subsonic speed. It would enter a vertical climb and slow to a stop; the ramjet would again reconfigure, this time back to rocket mode. Four drag brakes would deploy around the nose and the vehicle would back down into the water for a soft “splashdown.” It would of course land with nearly empty tanks, so it would be quite buoyant; until the tanks refill, it would likely sit tail-down in the water.

I’m going to try to find out more about this concept, but I have minimal hopes. I’ve gone all this time without hearing about it until just a few weeks ago.

Because why no, I’ve made a basic model of the concept. Complete accuracy is not assured… I have a top view and an inboard profile; as with a distressing number of concept aircraft diagrams, the views seem to conflict on things such as the cockpit canopy, and the inlet configuration is only partially shown. Still, it’s a really interesting concept.

If you’re interested in Pluto, take a look at Aerospace Projects Review issue V2N1. There is a very large, highly illustrated article on Pluto in that issue. If you are interested in the Submersible Nuclear Ramjet, keep an eye on US Bomber Projects… it will show up in the next issue or two.

The renders below show the Convair Submersible Nuclear Ramjet to scale with the LTV Pluto.

This is certainly one of the most oddball, whackadoodle ideas I’ve ever seen. And I want one.

Japan reveals plans to put a man on moon by 2030

The article is *incredibly* lean on details. Apparently they plan on joining in on the planned lunar orbiting space station that NASA will spend a lot of money studying but will eventually abandon just before actually bending metal.

Due to the lack of details on motive, one can only assume the Kaiju thing. Of course, they might also be going to the moon to look for tentacle pron.

NASA Denies Conspiracy Theory About Kidnapped Children Working As Mars Colony Slaves

If you haven’t heard about this, you’ll be shocked, SHOCKED to hear that it revolves around Alex Jones. He had a guest on his radio show who claimed that NASA was shipping child slave labor to Mars colonies because, well, reasons. Normally NASA ignores this sort of nonsense, but this time they responded. I suspect they did so not because of a perceived need to set the record straight, but because it’s funny.

I’ve been working away on the first several of hopefully a sizable series of CAD models that will be turned into 1/24 scale model kits. The theme of the series: large and entertaining bombs. This series of models will be produced by and available through Masterpiece Models.

The first model, which I’m very nearly finished working on, is the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, a.k.a. MOAB, the “Mother Of All Bombs.” This one is to be made available not only in 1/24, but also 1/48 and 1/72 for use with available C-130 kits. Here are some renders of the CAD model. Colors indicate parts breakdown (subject to some revision):

The MOAB model will come with grid fin parts for display as either stowed or deployed. The cradle is also to be supplied.

The second model, which I’m less finished with, is the thermonuclear AN602 “Tsar Bomb,” designed for 100 megatons, tested at around 50. This one is likely to be released solely in 1/24 scale.

Other bombs currently planned include the BLU-82 “Daisy Cutter,” the Mk 17 hydrogen bomb (America’s heaviest nuke at 42,000+ pounds, yield of about 15 megatons) and the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator.

What other Large Bombs would you like to see in 1/24 scale? The US Mk 41 (most powerful US nuke at 25 megatons)? The British Tallboy and/or Grand Slam? The US T-12 Cloudmaker (because Grand Slam was just too petite)? The Tarzon guided bomb? Feel free to make suggestions.