Blowpipe Missile
The Shorts Blowpipe is a man-portable (MANPADS) surface-to-air missile that was in use with the British Army and Royal Marines from 1975. It also saw service in other military forces around the world. Most examples were retired by the mid-1990s. It is unique among MANPADS in that it is manually guided to its target with a small joystick, sending guidance corrections to the missile over a radio control link. Blowpipe underwent a protracted and controversial development between the programme's initial conception in 1966 and 1975 when it finally entered service. It had its first use during active combat in the Falklands War in 1982 when it was used by both sides of the conflict. Its demonstrated performance was poor, with only two confirmed kills. As a result of the poor performance of the system, an improved version offering semi-automatic guidance was introduced as Javelin. This was further improved with a laser designator system in Javelin S15, which was later renamed Starbur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Royal Canadian Artillery
, colors = The guns of the RCA themselves , colors_label = Colours , march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March" * Quick march (dismounted parades): "British Grenadiers/The Voice of the Guns" * Trot past: "Keel Row" * Gallop past (horse artillery only): "Bonnie Dundee" , mascot = , anniversaries = * 1855: Militia Act of 1855 passed by the Parliament of the Province of Canada and creation the first truly Canadian army units * 27 November 1856: first Canadian Artillery unit formed (''Battalion of Montreal Artillery'') * 10 August 1883: ''Regiment of Canadian Artillery'' of the Permanent Active Militia authorized to be formed , equipment = * M101 howitzer#Variants, 105 mm Howitzer, C3 * GIAT LG1, 105 mm Howitzer, LG1 Mk II * M777 howitzer#Canada, 155 mm Howitzer M777C1 , equipment_label = Current weapon systems , battle_honours ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Radio Control
Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely control a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a small handheld radio transmitter unlocks or opens doors. Radio control is also used for control of model vehicles from a hand-held radio transmitter. Industrial, military, and scientific research organizations make use of radio-controlled vehicles as well. A rapidly growing application is control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) for both civilian and military uses, although these have more sophisticated control systems than traditional applications. History The idea of controlling unmanned vehicles (for the most part in an attempt to improve the accuracy of torpedoes for military purposes) predates the invention of radio. The latter half of the 1800s saw development of many such devices, connected to an operator by wires, inclu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Geoffrey Johnson-Smith
Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith, (16 April 1924 – 11 August 2010) was a British Conservative politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1959 to 2001, with only a brief interruption in the 1960s. He was also a television presenter. Early life and career The son of an electrical engineer, he joined the Royal Artillery straight from Charterhouse School in 1942 and after the war was demobilised as a captain. At Lincoln College, Oxford, he read PPE. Contemporaries remembered him as Oxford's best-dressed socialist, though he always insisted he never joined the Labour Party. In his final year he and Robin Day took part in a debating tour of United States run by the English-Speaking Union. From Oxford he joined the British Information Services, serving in San Francisco, where he met his wife, Jeanne, an American doctor whom he married in 1951. He won a seat on London County Council in 1955, representing Putney, but lost it at the 1958 election. He was later a presenter of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl Of Crawford
Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford and 12th Earl of Balcarres, (born 5 March 1927), styled Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, is a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1955 to 1974. The elder son of the 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres, he succeeded to the family titles in 1975. Lord Crawford and Balcarres is the Premier Earl of Scotland and Chief of Clan Lindsay. Following the death of Lord Eden of Winton on 23 May 2020, Lindsay became the surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election, having first entered Parliament at the 1955 general election. Early life Lindsay was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1945 to 1948, he served in the Grenadier Guards. He was honorary attaché at the British Embassy in Paris from 1950 to 1951, and then worked for the Conservative Research Department. Career Balniel was elected for the Conservative Party in Hertford ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
John Morris, Baron Morris Of Aberavon
John Morris, Baron Morris of Aberavon, (born 5 November 1931) is a British politician. He was a Labour Party Member of Parliament for over 41 years, from 1959 to 2001, which included a period as Secretary of State for Wales from 1974 to 1979 and as Attorney General between 1997 and 1999. He is the only living former Labour MP who was first elected in the 1950s. He is also the last surviving member of Harold Wilson's 1974–76 cabinet, and is the current longest-serving Privy Counsellor. His combined parliamentary service has totalled over 60 years. Background and education Morris was born in Capel Bangor, Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire. He was educated at Ardwyn School, the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Professional career Morris was a barrister and was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1954. He practised at 2 Bedford Row Chambers, took silk in 1973 and was made a Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1984. Between 1982 and 1997, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sea Sparrow
RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile as a lightweight " point-defense" weapon that could be retrofitted to existing ships as quickly as possible, often in place of existing gun-based anti-aircraft weapons. In this incarnation, it was a very simple system guided by a manually aimed radar illuminator. After its introduction, the system underwent significant development into an automated system similar to other US Navy missiles like the RIM-2 Terrier. Contemporary improvements being made to the Sparrow for the air-to-air role led to similar improvements in the Sea Sparrow through the 1970s and 80s. After that point the air-to-air role passed to the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Sea Sparrow underwent a series of upgrades strictly for the naval role. It now resembles the AIM-7 only in genera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
FIM-43 Redeye
The General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye is a man-portable surface-to-air missile system. It uses passive infrared homing to track its target. Production began in 1962 andin anticipation of the Redeye II, which later became the FIM-92 Stingerended in the early 1970s (delivery of the last Redeye for the U.S. Army was completed in July 1971) after about 85,000 rounds had been built. The Redeye was withdrawn gradually between 1982 and 1995 as the Stinger was deployed, though it remained in service with various armed forces of the world until quite recently, being supplied via the Foreign Military Sales program. It was initially banned from being sold overseas, to avoid missiles falling into the hands of terrorist organizations. However, after the export ban was lifted, the weapon was never actually used by terrorists against civil aircraft, in contrast with other MANPADS. While the Redeye and 9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7) were similar, the missiles were not identical. Nonetheless, the CIA concluded ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Infrared Homing
Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radiated strongly by hot bodies. Many objects such as people, vehicle engines and aircraft generate and emit heat and so are especially visible in the infrared wavelengths of light compared to objects in the background. Infrared seekers are passive devices, which, unlike radar, provide no indication that they are tracking a target. That makes them suitable for sneak attacks during visual encounters or over longer ranges when they are used with a forward looking infrared or similar cuing system. Heat-seekers are extremely effective: 90% of all United States air combat losses over the past 25 years have been caused by infrared-homing missiles. They are, however, subject to a number of simple countermeasures, most notably by dropping flares beh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Radio Command
Command guidance is a type of missile guidance in which a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio control or through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher and tell the missile where to steer to intercept its target. This control may also command the missile to detonate, even if the missile has a fuze. Typically, the system giving the guidance commands is tracking both the target and the missile or missiles via radar. It determines the positions and velocities of a target and a missile, and calculates whether their paths will intersect. If not, the guidance system will relay commands to a missile, telling it to move the fins in a way that steers in the direction needed to maneuver to an intercept course with the target. If the target maneuvers, the guidance system can sense this and update the missiles' course continuously to counteract such maneuvering. If the missile passes close to the target, either its own proximity or contact fuze will d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Secretary Of State For Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The post of Secretary of State for Defence was created on 1 April 1964 replacing the positions of Minister of Defence, First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air, while the individual offices of the British Armed Forces were abolished and their functions transferred to the Ministry of Defence. In 1997, Michael Portillo was filling this post at the time of the Portillo moment. In 2019, Penny Mordaunt became the UK's first female defence secretary. The postholder is supported by the other ministers in the Defence Ministerial team and the MOD permanent secretary. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for defence, and the sec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ministry Of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement. The expenditure, administration and policy of the MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee, except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. History During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during the First World War, concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up the armed forces of the United Kingdom: t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Starstreak
Starstreak is a British short-range surface to air missile that can be used as a man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS) or in heavier systems, manufactured by Thales Air Defence (formerly Shorts Missile Systems), in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is also known as Starstreak HVM (High Velocity Missile). After launch, the missile accelerates to more than Mach 4, making it the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in existence. It then launches three laser beam-riding submunitions, increasing the likelihood of a successful hit on the target. Starstreak has been in service with the British Army since 1997. In 2012 Thales relaunched the system as ForceSHIELD. Development Development on the missile began in the early 1980s after an evaluation of missile and gun options to increase air defence capabilities showed that a high-velocity missile system would best meet the needs and could also replace existing shoulder-launched missiles. A General Staff Requirement (GSR3979) was dra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |