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#121 danslittlefinger

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Posted 08 April 2010 - 01:31 AM

One for you Mark, well I liked it anyway. B)


http://www.dailymail...n-military.html

When I said blow them up, comrade...: The inflatable planes used as decoys by the Russian military.

They wouldn't be much good in a dogfight. In fact, they wouldn't be much good in a stiff breeze.

But despite their somewhat comical appearance, these inflatable warplanes and tanks serve a vital role in the Russian military.

Seen from even a short distance, they are indistinguishable from the real thing - meaning they can be effectively used to confuse and distract an enemy.

Posted Image
The floating fighter plane: An inflatable Russian Su-27 jet

These inflatables are made by the Russian manufacturer Rusbal.

The company was approached by the Russian defence ministry to supply full-scale decoys to protect the true capabilities of their strategic installations from being seen by surveillance satellites.

Weighing around 220lb (100kg), the decoys can easily be transported and installed by small teams of soldiers in minutes.

Posted Image
Balloon squadron: From here, the decoys could be the real thing


Posted Image
Tanks for the help: Soldiers put up an inflatable

They imitate the heat signature of combat units, fooling enemy infra-red detectors.

And they even stay intact after suffering minor damage from bullets or explosions.

Demand from other nations has been so strong that Rusbal is now offering imitations of Western military equipment as well as Russian.

It is not the first time armies have used decoys to fool their enemies.

Such tactics were used during the Cold War and extensively in the Second World War.

Posted Image
Heavy armour: But this tank actually weight just 220lb

The Allies went to great lengths to hoodwink the Nazis, deploying hundreds of inflatable tanks during Operation Fortitude in fields

around Dover to convince the German high command that the invasion of France would take place near Calais rather than Normandy.

Up to 500 decoy air bases complete with fake runways and fake fighter planes were also dotted around Britain to trick the German air force. Some were deliberately set on fire to try to deceive Nazi bombers.

It is estimated that some 50 per cent of attacks on British airfields by the Germans during the Second World War hit decoy bases.
Rock on Great Britain! :tdown:



#122 Mark_Hazard

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Posted 08 April 2010 - 08:15 PM

Brilliant, thanks for posting.

The first thing that crossed my mind was what about any sort of heat signature, but reading on realised that they even had that covered. I suppose with aircraft attendances at air shows being expensive, this would be a cheap way of making up the static numbers - in fact I'd love to see (at least) one of these at an airshow.

If no-ones already picked up on it, I'll be sure to post a link on the FlyPast forum I frequent.

#123 danslittlefinger

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Posted 08 April 2010 - 08:22 PM

Brilliant, thanks for posting.

The first thing that crossed my mind was what about any sort of heat signature, but reading on realised that they even had that covered. I suppose with aircraft attendances at air shows being expensive, this would be a cheap way of making up the static numbers - in fact I'd love to see (at least) one of these at an airshow.

If no-ones already picked up on it, I'll be sure to post a link on the FlyPast forum I frequent.



Thanks Mark B) , I'd apprciate it if you would. What's that link?

#124 Mark_Hazard

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Posted 08 April 2010 - 10:59 PM

Hi danslittlefinger, although I usually post on their historic and photo forums, my first in their modern aircraft forum: http://forum.keypubl...a...552&page=29

#125 danslittlefinger

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Posted 08 April 2010 - 11:02 PM

Hi danslittlefinger, although I usually post on their historic and photo forums, my first in their modern aircraft forum: http://forum.keypubl...a...552&page=29



Cheers Mark, you're a scholar and a gent. B)
I will take a look now.

EDIT: It's a brill website. Many thanks for sending me the link Mark. :tdown:

#126 danslittlefinger

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Posted 10 April 2010 - 07:52 PM

Blimey, those IPOD listening drivers... B) Bloody nuisance they are. :tdown:



http://www.dailymail...ship-crash.html

The navigator of a US nuclear submarine was listening to his iPod when it collided with another ship, causing £60m damage.

Crew on board the attack sub USS Hartford had also rigged up loudspeakers to they could listen to music on duty, according to an official report.

Captain Commander Ryan Brookhart was relieved of his duties after the investigation revealed nearly ’30 tactical and watchstander errors’ which led to the ‘avoidable accident’.

Posted Image
Prang: The damaged nuclear submarine USS Hartford after the collision

The navigator was also revealed to have been revising for an exam at the time of the collision, The Sun reported. :tdown:

Fifteen sailors on board the USS Hartford were injured when it rammed into the transport ship USS New Orleans in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage in the Persian Gulf in March 2009.

The US Navy report slammed the Hartford’s ‘ineffective and negligent command leadership’ and its ‘informal atmosphere’.

The damaged sub will cost £57m in repairs, while the USS New Orleans, which ‘bears no fault’ needs £1.5m.

A sonar supervisor and radio men were also missing from their posts on board the Hartford when it struck the ship.



#127 MkB

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Posted 11 April 2010 - 02:01 AM

Wow! this thread is really hot these days! B) :tdown:

I saw this in the news, and thought: "this *so* belongs in a Fleming James Bond story..."

Source: http://www.telegraph...low-up-jet.html

Terrorists 'could use exploding breast implants to blow up jet'

Breast-implants packed with explosives could be used by terrorists to blow up an airliner, experts have reportedly warned.

Posted Image

Radical Islamist plastic surgeons could be carrying out the implant operations in lawless areas of Pakistan, security sources are said to warned.

Explosives experts have reportedly said just five ounces of Pentaerythritol Tetrabitrate packed into a breast implant would be enough to blow a “considerable” hole in the side of a jumbo jet.

It would be virtually impossible for airport security scanners to detect the explosive if hidden inside a breast, medics have said.

Joseph Farah, a terrorism expert, told The Sun: "Women suicide bombers recruited by al-Qaeda are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery."

Plastic surgeons may also have inserted the chemical into the buttocks of would-be suicide bombers.

The discovery was reportedly made after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a London-educated Nigerian, attempted to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas day with explosives packed into his underpants.

Hours after his attack failed, British intelligence services reportedly picked up “chatter” from Pakistan and Yemen that alerted them to the bizarre new method.

One plastic surgeon told The Sun: "Properly inserted the implant would be virtually impossible to detect by the usual airport scanning machines.

"You would need to subject a suspect to a sophisticated X-ray. Given that the explosive would be inserted in a sealed plastic sachet, and would be a small amount, would make it all the more impossible to spot it with the usual body scanner."


#128 danslittlefinger

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Posted 11 April 2010 - 02:03 AM

MkB, you're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :tdown:
And with an implant story. B)

Terrible state of affairs, sitting beside someone whose breasts explode. :tdown:

#129 MkB

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Posted 11 April 2010 - 02:10 AM

I never left! B)

Seriously, in the real world there's nothing to laugh at (be it only because the mere possibility of such an attack probably means that we poor lonesome travellers are all going submitted to yet another airport harassment...

But since it's better to laugh at things before having to cry about them... can't you imagine what Fleming would have done with that? :tdown: I'm sure Blofeld's Piz Gloria would have been a plastic surgery centre, instead of a dull centre for allergies! :tdown:

#130 danslittlefinger

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Posted 11 April 2010 - 02:14 AM

I never left! B)

Seriously, in the real world there's nothing to laugh at (be it only because the mere possibility of such an attack probably means that we poor lonesome travellers are all going submitted to yet another airport harassment...

But since it's better to laugh at things before having to cry about them... can't you imagine what Fleming would have done with that? :) I'm sure Blofeld's Piz Gloria would have been a plastic surgery centre, instead of a dull centre for allergies! :tdown:

:tdown:
Well I know but I usually try to weedle myself into a seat or exchange one to sit next to someone who is mammary blessed. I guess I'll stay away now although I guess it wouldn't really matter.
Now look what you have me thinking about. I'm going to dream of exploded tatas now. :)

#131 Guy Haines

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Posted 17 April 2010 - 10:28 PM

Right now, aircraft in the UK and much of Europe are grounded because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland. Which set me thinking......

Picture the scene - in some underground/underwater/hollowed out volcano lair (take your pick which) a bald man in a Mao suit stroking a white Persian cat is sitting near a bank of computer controls and a large electronic wall map of the world. The world map has the usual flashing lights, indicating the locations of other volcanos and life threatening natural phenomena.

And he's saying to himself - "For my next trick......" B)

#132 Guy Haines

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Posted 17 April 2010 - 10:47 PM

I've just come across this on the Daily Telegraph website. Might be of interest to you all.
http://www.telegraph...nger-scene.html

#133 Guy Haines

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Posted 18 April 2010 - 11:15 PM

I don't know whether this item would suit Bond, but I'll bet it would make Quantum's man in Downing Street a bit worried!

http://www.guardian....-downing-street

#134 Lachesis

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Posted 19 April 2010 - 05:19 PM

Right now, aircraft in the UK and much of Europe are grounded because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland. Which set me thinking......

Picture the scene - in some underground/underwater/hollowed out volcano lair (take your pick which) a bald man in a Mao suit stroking a white Persian cat is sitting near a bank of computer controls and a large electronic wall map of the world. The world map has the usual flashing lights, indicating the locations of other volcanos and life threatening natural phenomena.

And he's saying to himself - "For my next trick......" B)


Remember that disagreeble period where air traffic ground to a halt....I shall instruct the world, in very explicit detail, exactly how I brought it about ^^

#135 dinovelvet

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Posted 27 April 2010 - 02:48 AM

Hmm...a dead world leader replaced by his twin brother? Seems like a Fleming-esque plot to me!

http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/8644411.stm

#136 MkB

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 01:00 AM

@dinovelvet: eh, good one! B)

@Guy Haines: my sentiments exactly... everything about this crisis screamed "Bond Villain", volcano included (probably hollowed out :tdown:)

Here is a FRWL-like (somehow...) story sent to me by DLF:
"Viktor Shenderovich blames Russian security services for sex sting":
http://www.timesonli...icle7106878.ece

#137 MkB

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Posted 14 May 2010 - 03:07 PM

School for sabotage: How arson, bridge-blowing and silent killing was on the curriculum at Churchill's school for secret agents

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz0nutE7C3A

#138 Guy Haines

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Posted 19 May 2010 - 10:13 PM

On the news tonight, a South Korean naval vessel has been sunk, near or amongst some islands off the northern North Korean coast. No explanation, but a torpedo hasn't been ruled out, apparently.

TND meets DAD?


Adding to my own contribution I know but, consider this BBC Newsnight report

http://news.bbc.co.u...ammes/newsnight

TND meets DAD - from bad to worse?

#139 Guy Haines

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Posted 20 May 2010 - 09:15 AM

On the news tonight, a South Korean naval vessel has been sunk, near or amongst some islands off the northern North Korean coast. No explanation, but a torpedo hasn't been ruled out, apparently.

TND meets DAD?


Adding to my own contribution I know but, consider this BBC Newsnight report

http://news.bbc.co.u...ammes/newsnight

TND meets DAD - from bad to worse?


And again,

http://news.bbc.co.u...ic/10129703.stm

The plot thickens. From worse to even worse?

#140 Sark2.0

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 05:32 AM

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is being sought "desperately" by the Pentagon and State Department. They claim they'd like to know his location and want his "cooperation". Famous whistle-blower Daniel Ellsburg, of Pentagon Papers fame says that Assange is in danger of "bodily harm".

Run Julian, RUN!

#141 Guy Haines

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Posted 13 June 2010 - 07:10 AM

Did anyone out there see this news item?

http://www.dailymail...rivate-jet.html

Now, if you've read Raymond Benson's novelisation of Die Another Day, you'll know that a certain well known British agent also tried this out, although he was flying back from a slightly warmer place. B)

(and, come to think of it, he only slipped away from first class to the landing gear for the actual landing!)

By the way, did that scene get filmed for DAD, and get left behind in the cutting room?

Edited by Guy Haines, 13 June 2010 - 07:13 AM.


#142 jamie00007

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Posted 29 June 2010 - 08:56 AM

http://www.news.com....i-1225885597512

US cracks 'deep-cover' Russian spy ring

THE US has cracked open an alleged Russian spy ring, announcing the arrest of 10 "deep-cover" suspects after unravelling a mission secretly monitored by the FBI for more than a decade.
An 11th suspect remained at large as US authorities busted a network of agents tasked with secretly penetrating US policy-making circles and reporting back to their directors in Moscow.

"You were sent to USA for long-term service trip," read a message decrypted by the FBI and said to be from Moscow Center, the headquarters of the SVR intelligence service, a successor to the Cold War-era KGB.

"Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc - all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, i.e. to search and develop ties in policy-making circles in US and send intel to C (Moscow Center)."

The arrests on Sunday (local time) in three northeastern US states came only three days after US President Barack Obama described his visiting Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev as a "solid and reliable partner" at a White House summit.

Five suspects appeared today appeared in a New York courtroom and were ordered by Judge James Cott to remain in prison until a preliminary hearing set for July 27. A bail hearing was set for Thursday (local time).

The charge sheet unveiled by the Justice Department read like the synopsis of a spy thriller with a ream of encrypted messages, false identities, and tales of buried money and hidden video cameras in hotel rooms.

Some of the suspects were apparently Russian citizens and the lengths they went to were staggering, using false identities to manufacture the trappings of ordinary American lives and blend unnoticed into society.

Two suspects allegedly pretended to be a married couple called Richard and Cynthia Murphy from Philadelphia, while another purported to be Tracy Lee Ann Foley, a native of Canada but a naturalised US citizen.

"These Russian secret agents work to hide all connections between themselves and Russia, even as they act at the direction and under the control of the SVR," the charge sheet said.

It mentioned that agents were known to couple up and have children together to complete the false picture, but did not spell out if the "Murphys" were in that bracket.

All 11 suspects were charged in two separate criminal complaints with spying for the SVR, eight of them allegedly on "deep-cover assignments". Nine also faced charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges of acting as an agent of a foreign government carry a maximum of five years in prison, while conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars.

The arrests were made in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and in northern Virginia, just outside the US capital Washington.

The suspects allegedly used encrypted data in images on public websites and coded "radiograms" set at special frequencies to communicate with Moscow Center.

For more than 10 years the FBI gathered information by covertly placing microphones at the homes of the suspects, and in hotel rooms, and by monitoring and recording their phone calls and emails.

A key suspect, named as Christopher Metsos, was under surveillance in Queens in New York in May 2004 when he received a bag containing money from an official associated with Russia's UN mission, the complaint alleges.

Mr Metsos had four meetings with Richard Murphy at a restaurant in Sunnyside, New York. All were secretly recorded by FBI audio and visual surveillance teams.

Two more suspects were followed in June 2006 to Wurstboro, New York, where they dug up a package of money buried there by Mr Metsos.

Despite the cloak-and-dagger nature of the revelations, the mission of the suspected spies appears to have been more mundane - to infiltrate US policy-making circles.

One message asked for "info on current international affairs" that was vital for Russia.

"Try to single out tidbits unknown publicly but revealed in private by sources close to State Department, government, major think tanks," it said.

Other requests included information on the latest US policy on Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, and a new weapons treaty between US and Russia, while one suspect was said to have met with a US government nuclear expert.

There was no immediate response from the White House to queries about the arrests or their possible impact on efforts to "reset" the vital US-Russia relationship.

Mr Obama quipped last week that it was time to cut off Cold War-era emergency hotlines at a cordial Washington summit with Mr Medvedev.

He also said that "we listen to one another and we speak candidly".

#143 Aris007

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Posted 29 June 2010 - 10:41 AM

Well apparently, "He was cut off, permanently!".

http://news.bbc.co.u...st/10444459.stm

#144 Guy Haines

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Posted 30 June 2010 - 10:18 PM

Another link regarding the Russian spy network in the US

http://www.telegraph...tish-links.html

Read it by all means, but I think you'll agree with the Telegraph's earlier assessment of Ms. Chapman - on the photographic evidence so far provided, she does belong in a Bond film! B)

#145 dinovelvet

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Posted 01 July 2010 - 12:20 AM

Only 36 years after Scaramanga did it (and his looked cooler).

http://www.telegraph...uthorities.html

#146 marktmurphy

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Posted 13 July 2010 - 12:10 PM

The Ministry of Defence's new space-age combat plane prototype? And it looks like a UFO, you say?

http://news.bbc.co.u...gy/10602105.stm

#147 Guy Haines

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Posted 13 July 2010 - 05:31 PM

From Sunday's "Observer"

http://www.guardian....ncertain-market

A challenge for any would be Goldfingers out there. But, as he might have said, a Swiss military bunker to hoard gold......."is just a bank. Larger, better protected perhaps, but nonetheless, a bank!"

You know the rest! B)

#148 dinovelvet

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Posted 14 July 2010 - 02:06 AM

Liberian president on trial for trading conflict diamonds for weapons...hmm. No word yet on whether North Korea or invisible cars were involved.

http://allafrica.com...1007120162.html

And in another little Bondian touch, a possibly psychotic supermodel is involved :

http://www.cbsnews.c...570-504083.html

#149 MkB

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 10:25 PM

This guy could probably make a great Bond Villain or Henchman...

Student Fights Crime As Superhero: 20-Year-Old Man Dons Costume, Patrols Streets

COLUMBIA, Tenn. -- A college student is dressing up like a superhero to fight crime in Columbia.

The 20-year-old man, who wants to remain anonymous, but calls himself the Viper, recently caught the attention of police in Columbia.

Officers stopped the man just after midnight Wednesday when they spotted him in this costume.

According to the Columbia Daily Herald, he told police that he was looking for crime to report.

The self-professed comic book nerd was armed with a screw driver, wrenches and a cell phone, all of which were stored in a utility belt.

Police urged the Viper to stop his patrols and told him that he was violating a city ordinance, which bans people wearing masks in public.

He told the Columbia Daily Herald that, "I am just a guy trying to do what's right, in tights." On Monday, the Viper told Channel 4 News by phone that it's a matter of pride protecting his hometown.

The crime-fighting college student said he eventually hopes to become a comic book artist when he is done with school.


Source: http://www.wsmv.com/...000/detail.html

#150 Guy Haines

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Posted 07 August 2010 - 11:44 PM

I've just spotted this item in today's Sunday Telegraph concerning one of the Bond film series screenwriters. It might have been more than just a vivid imagination that led the film producers to commission him to write the screenplay for You Only Live Twice.

http://www.telegraph...ok-reveals.html