We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:42:40 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification As I expected, you guys collectively pretty much nailed it, if missing some of the fiddly details. It is in fact an airbrushed photo for an advertising brochure. J. Walter Christie was a pretty talented designer of tanks. But, as happens to many people with talent, he got a little messianic now and again. That photo represented one of those ideas which just couldn't get out of his head. He was fixated on developing a light tank that could be carried under a plane. You'd spin the tracks up to high speed, then the plane would skim along the ground,... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:24:14 -0600 Possibly the guts of a grenade of some sort but IIRC most light grenades are wrapped in layers of prefragmented (partially) wire not ball bearings. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56196 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56196 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 22:14:16 -0600 Just kidding of course. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56194 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56194 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:04:30 -0600 Ya know JTG might be on to something. You remember those objects d'art that were real popular back in the 70's? You'd press your hand or face into it and a 3-d image would remain. So armouror, how 'bout you slam this into your face and than tell what you see? :^) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56193 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56193 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:38:36 -0600 Y'all do realize, of course, that JoA may just be funnin' us? I mean, that may not be any kind of weapon at all, maybe just an objet d'art his Gramma gave him, which has had some of its shiny thingys fall off, during the passage of the years? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56192 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56192 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:25:47 -0600 I think the Soviet Russkis actually did test the freewheeling tracks air-dropped from five feet up tank. Once. Ren and Stimpy did an episode in which they joined up with the Armored Parachute Tank Corps, or something like that. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56191 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56191 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:19:15 -0600 1/35th, Casey. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56184 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56184 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 13:32:21 -0600 are small for anti-personnel. Hmmm. Is that a 1/35 scale model next to the whatzit, or is it a 1/6 GI Joe howitzer? ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56180 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56180 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 10:55:55 -0600 Waitaminnit... Could those ball bearings actually be meant to function as ball bearings? Is this the spherical bearing for some sort of tilty-swivelly joint? Little hardened steel balls surrounding a big hardened steel ball, magnetized for ease of assembly? (But then I contemplate how the outside of the thing would be constructed, and I don't see how you'd keep some subset of the little balls from flying off in the event of impact.) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56176 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56176 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 08:53:56 -0600 Hey, BilltT, that sounds like my Grandmother's knedlick (Passover chicken soup dumplings)... Straight to the bottom of the stomach.... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56173 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56173 Sat, 03 Feb 2007 02:27:56 -0600 One of KtLW's famed armored meatballs. Don't ask... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56162 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56162 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:03:53 -0600 well they are fixed in place so the bearings aren't actually used to minimise friction. So i leap to assume this is some kind of bomb which explodes the bearings out to rip people to shreds, much like those nice terrorists in Israel do. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56155 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56155 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 20:36:41 -0600 >Heh. How many people remember what "Tempest Hardened" means... I lived in that world for a bit... How about a AT PC (80286) computer in a heavy green box that had about 50 screws in the top cover, and all sorts of steel parts and some stuff that looked like steel wool on the inside... INSIDE a SCIF. What nitwits... talk about 400 toilet seat.. On the other hand, the Army bought a toy in the early 80s called TEAMPACK (AN/MSQ-103), a tactical MI track/shelter mtd radar direction finding system. Supposedly, it was discovered that if you got close enough (within a couple hundred meters, I guess), you could recieve information about the targets it was DFing--emitted from inside the shelter (tempest NOT being installed properly apparently). Our unit had to stop using them for a bit.... Go figure... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56153 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56153 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:42:15 -0600 I dunno how small ball bearings can get, but those look kinda small for ball bearings to me. Maybe it's some kinda lightweight scattergun round, loaded with birdshot? No idea why they'd do something like that, but sometimes the military runs the durndest experiments... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56152 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56152 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:30:48 -0600 small to be the sphere for the main engines! Gotta be for something smaller, like a shuttlecraft or maybe a space bike. Hmmm... unless that's a full-size howitzer, and those planks are a lot bigger than I'd assumed. It does have a bit of the "explosive covered with ball bearings" look to it, but isn't the ratio of explosive to ball bearings rather high?]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56150 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56150 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:59:01 -0600 "It's all ball bearings these days! Maybe you need a refresher course." http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56148 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56148 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:13:12 -0600 1. Tempest 1 or 2? 2. Radar cross-section/signature test target. Cheers http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56146 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56146 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 14:02:30 -0600 take off? Also, a modern LAPES drop is pretty much what you described. Way back when they were developing it I happened to work at USAYPG (Yuma Proving Ground) and got to see one. Cargo plane comes into view flying low with tail doors open. Plane dives at the ground and somehow manages to level off looking like it's lower than it would be with gear down. Little bitty drag chute appears at tail of plane followed immediately by full chute and something very tanklike. Plane bounces up to a more reasonable altitude (tanklike vehicle also bounces, but not as high). Plane goes into steep climb and exits area. Basically the unload the cargo plane without bothering to (quite) land - or slow down. Now, as to today's item: Looks to be a lump covered in shot. Since it's egg-shaped and appears to be covered all over I'm guessing it's intended to distribute said shot over the entire area in a grandly egalitarian manner. Bursting charge out of the Euro version of a Bouncing Betty?]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56143 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56143 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:54:52 -0600 BB Cheeseball. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56142 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56142 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:51:29 -0600 Geez, Eric, everybody knows a Beryllium sphere is used in the main engines, not the shuttlecraft! Some people... ;) Now I normally stay away from the more abstruse "whatzit" posts, but assuming the ball bearings aren't a red herring, I'd hazard it's part of a beehive round or anti-personnel grenade, in the manner of the old Shrapnel rounds. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56141 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56141 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:06:50 -0600 WEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! The camera operator SUCKS! gotta love an operator who sucks. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56139 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56139 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:03:54 -0600 Some sort of scouring shot for cleaning out a really foul rifle barrel? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56138 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56138 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:00:32 -0600 Warhead submunition for a Roland antiaircraft missle? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56137 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56137 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:00:25 -0600 Pincushion? Beryllium sphere for a shuttlecraft? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56131 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56131 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:27:44 -0600 In reverse order... my Canon EOS Rebel camera is just fine. It's the operator who sucks. Component. Modern. European. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56130 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56130 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:20:15 -0600 Hints please: Whole object, or component of something bigger? Weapon, weapon component, mechanical thingy? Oh, and you need a digital camera with a better macro mode. :-) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56129 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56129 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:17:51 -0600 Heh. How many people remember what "Tempest Hardened" means... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56128 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56128 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:17:50 -0600 a Tempest hardened pomegranate? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56127 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56127 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:14:18 -0600 Tiffany egg from the company's 'minimalist' period... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56121 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56121 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:26:56 -0600 A nice little model of an M102 next to a magnetic stress ball covered in ball bearings? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56118 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/the_nicely_obsc.html#comment-56118 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 08:42:00 -0600