west germany

West Germany in our timeline has since 1951 been a constant pillar in the Western Alliance and a key partner or customer for modern weapons and other secret projects. What if things had been different and other forms had occured. German unification along Austrian or Finnish lines as a member...

Hi. Found on the bay a (yet undocumented here) 1967 report authored by H.H. Koelle (Institute of space Technology / Berlin Technical University). The "student" study report might bear some interest today. Enjoy. A.

Quick question: Does anyone know the official designation that the British Army and War Office used for the BAOR's Beetle saloons (initially referred to simply as the 'Volkswagen Saloon')? There seems to be some indication that other British Army commands and detachments in Western Europe may...

I need your Advice I working on Story were German history goes little different Here goes Aerospace industry in VTOL with Do-31 and EWR VJ 101 get into service. One of civilian application is a VTOL Business Jet I took the MBB HFB 320 Jet as template With Mass 9600 kg it need around...

In the 1980s, the German company Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB) developed a 3/4 testbed for a top-secret Medium Range Missile Fighter (MRMF) code named "Lampyridae" (Firefly). Using a polyhedral airframe that eschewed right angles and curved surfaces to avoid radar detection, the "Lampyridae"...

One of Porsche KG's (from 1972 onwards Porsche AG) interesting Cold War military projects. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRb3o5OJsHo

Hello dear tank friends :) Here I show an unknown tank concept that dates back to the 70s! There are no details available, just the contour! Its in 1:10 scale Greetings from Frielendorf Germany

The German toymaker Schuco produced a nice clockwork toy Boeing 747 in the early 70s..It was about ten inches long and I was treated to a Lufthansa one as a kid. I was fascinated to see that Schuco made a Braniff version, in its famous orange colour scheme. I was surprised to then find a green...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhN-o2ame-4

The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) based in Germany for the duration of the Cold War was a significant component of British defence spending and equipment in the postwar era. It is a very complicated subject, and . unlike the Royal Navy or the RAF has not been such a popular subject for books...

Hi all, A thread to discuss Tornado (Panavia) stories etc. Mods if you feel this should be in the bar instead please move.

Back in the Cold War the France, Germsny and the UK embarked on an ambitious programne to produce a family of third generation anti tank missiles. The only survivor is the long range helicopter launched version https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARS_3_LR. Like the SP70 gun and RS80 (described in...

This vehicle probably has the longest name for a tank I have ever seen, but there is something more special about than just the name. It had a 3-axis stabilisation system. Many World War 2 era American tanks, mainly on the Sherman, only had a stabilisation system in the vertical plane only...

Ta 183 with fences. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-Press-Photo-Russian-Air-Force-MIG-Fighter-Jets-mjc44436/402190624524?hash=item5da46de70c:g:mJgAAOSwC7NegGHY

The Air-Metal Flugzeug und Entwicklungs GmbH has worked in Erding since 1964 as an aircraft repair yard for touring aircraft and service work. In addition to this main activity, several projects were created. Bankruptcy proceedings in 1977 meant the end of the small business. The projects...

Happen to see this weird shoulder fired recoilless launcher several months ago, named Speer, 75mm caliber smoothbore. When looking for infos in Rheinmetall weapon handbook 1977, found this, Hellebarde, a vehicle mounted weapon, Düsenkanone=recoilless gun. Same caliber, similar effective range...

During the development of Leopard 2, about seventeen different hulls (PT series) and turrets (T series) were built. At least two of the hulls (numbered PT11 and PT17) were fitted with hydropneumatic suspension and only six roadwheels. I managed to find only one small picture of such hull...

Dornier Seastar all-composite amphibian evolved from 1984, more then 3 decades. For certain years, Dornier teamed Chinese company, Wuxi for further developement. Official site. Seastar initially offered as aircraft, that could be used in many application - from passenger and VIP-transportation...

G'day all I'm just going through some old documentation (yes hand written notes, so it's undoughtedly 1990's) and came across the following: "In early 50′s, the new Bundeswehr consideration to produced modernized Panzer V Panther tank with upgraded armament and electronics, but they elected to...