What military equipment have you actually seen?

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
We had a thread like this in the old forum.

How much actual military gear have you actually seen? You fellows seem to know much about all sorts of military stuff worldwide. But what have you actually seen? Tanks? Ships? Aircraft? Weapons?

Take time and tell us what you have seen!

Also tell us what you would like to see!

I wanna see the Varyag..upclose and personal!
 

Gollevainen

Colonel
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well offcourse the entire arsenal of finnish ground forces, during my service time and before and after my armytime in various shows and displays...

But If i would like to list something, those would be things that i have seen in the eastern europe, particularry aircrafts were our family travelled when I was a boy. Most 'ative' of those countries was Poland. I spotted several occasions fligths of Mi-24 Hinds passing by, sometimes quite close... Also, Mig-21s and MiG-23s fly over, as well bit more rarer birds like W-3 Sokols and Su-22s.
In Hungary, I saw several An-2s, Mi-8s and even huge Mi-6 lying in airports, and thougth in civil colors, I have also spotted Il-76 in Estonia.

Naturally land equipment has been more rare to see...and only naval units on those trips have been single Romeo class SS that I spotted on beach in Bulgaria.

Propaply most influtent has still been The K-19, Juliet class cruise-missile submarine on display at Helsinki port during mid 90's. First visist that our family took to the port in our trips, I didnt even dare to enter its dark and hounting interiors, but as bit older, I finaly dared to enter there...And decided silently that Im never going to be a submariner:D :D

And of military equipment that i have operated, well...If someone still doesent know, I have operated and fired Soviet made D-30 122mm Howitzer and finnish made highly modern 155K98 gun-howtzer, as well as 12,7mm NSV AA machine gun, normal finnish Rk-62 assault rifle, fired practice rounds with LAW type weapon, throwed hand grenade....and yeah, the most glamourish of them all (as a hint to all who thinks they are experinced in these things), dug a anti-tank mines into frozen ground
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
Golly, What would you like to see that you have not seen?

To the rest of the members even if you have never seen even a military plane over fly your home tell us what would you like to see!:eek: With your own eyes!
 

Gollevainen

Colonel
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Registered Member
well Carrier would be nice start:D ... big ships are my main lacking...we arent that sea orinted nation
 

Finn McCool

Captain
Registered Member
well Carrier would be nice start:D ... big ships are my main lacking...we arent that sea orinted nation

Living in Southern California by the beach I have been lucky enough to see much of the US Pacfic fleet. I've seen several aircraft carriers at dock in San Diego, as well as a few Arleigh Burke DDGs. I've seen an LHA moving up the coast, although I was pretty young and didn't know what it was at the time. I can tell you in person they are massive. Its odd, aircraft carriers are so bog that at times you don't realize how big they are, but you can for sure tell how big an LHA is. I went on a Soviet submarine that is now a tourist attraction in Long Beach, but again I was quite young and I don't remember what class it was. I've seen LCACs too.

Other than that I've seen AAWs (amphibious assault vehicles) and Hornets, F-16s as well as Cobras, Apaches, Chinooks, and Seahawks flying by the beach during summer.

All of this stuff is out of either the Navy bases in San Diego, the Marine base at Camp Pendelton or maybe some other bases that are more towards Los Angeles.

Oh and I forgot just the other day I was driving down the freeway near Miramar Marine Air Base and I saw what I think was an F/A-18 (it was moving really fast and my field of vision was limited) and two C-130s. Those C-130s can make suprisingly sharp turns from what I saw.

It must sound like I live in a warzone but you'd be suprised...seeing this stuff is actually pretty rare for me and most people don't even notice.
 

Gollevainen

Colonel
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One of the oddest military sigth-seeing experiences has been that one afternoon, I was just woke up, and suddenly this diabolic and infernal noise appeared...like some thunder god was passing by with his heavenly carriages. For moment I really thougth something serious was going on and all things I once knew will never be the same....
...untill I went outside a spotted our Army's Mi-8 hip flying near by....man those things made noise...
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
It must sound like I live in a warzone but you'd be suprised...seeing this stuff is actually pretty rare for me and most people don't even notice.

You are so right Finn. I lived in San Diego for 26 years and all those ships and aircraft are buzzing about and so many citizens take it for granted.

Sometimes in San Diego we use to see military convoys heading to the Naval Base.

Here in Iowa you seldom see anything military. We did about 6 weeks ago see 4 CH-47 Chinooks over flying the city...Probally Army National Guard.
 

The_Zergling

Junior Member
When I was still in Taichung we had daily flights of F-CK-1s flying overhead, and we would frequently see trucks carrying infantry doing their exercises, sometimes attack helicopters and F-16s.

On the occasional visit to Hsinchu my uncle would take me up to the nearby hills and we'd watch M2000s fly about.
 

SampanViking

The Capitalist
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As I grew up around Portsmouth - one of the UK's main Naval Bases I got to see quite a lot of the hardware of the Seventies and Early Eighties. I saw both Carriers Hermes and Invincible, lots of Frigates and Destroyers (Type 42 being the mainstay in those days I recall) and lots of Deisel Subs and Support Ships.

We also saw Harriers, Sea Kings, and a variety of other War Planes frm time to time.

Also close to where I grew up was RAF Thorney Island (now long closed) where were based AC130 (I think is the designation:confused: ) but which to me will always be known as Hercules.


During the Eighties and Nineties my parents retired to Mid Wales, which was a favourite RAF training ground. It was not usual there to be overshot by Tornadoes, flying so low you literally wave to the pilot.

Otherwise going through not to distant Aldershot and Salisbury plane I must have seen a full range of armoured fighing vehicles, Chieftains, Challengers, Scimiters and Scorpions etc. Loads of Towed Guns (but dont ask me what they were)

Funnily enough these days in Bristol I see very little, probably because I doubt if there are that many forces still actually stationed at home for home defence:mad:
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
The only thing the USN/USMC has operational in the last 35 years I have never are SSBN's. And the new VA class subs and Seawolf class subs. And a lot of SeaBee equipment I have not seen.

I've seen a bunch of USAF aircrfat and gear at the Miramar air show in San Diego.
 
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