MilAvHistory

Early Access: Developing an Aircraft To Combat the Vietcong

When America went to war in Vietnam, it didn't just send Skyraiders for Close Air Support against the Vietcong in counter-insurgency (COIN)  operations. A fully fledged counter-insurgency program was launched  which included the development of a new aircraft: the OV-10 Bronco. At  least before the priorities shifted again.

Hope you enjoy this episode, let me know what you thought about it!

Early Access: Russian Cruise Missile Bombardment in Ukraine

New video in early access: Given the recent (October '22) intensive bombardment of Ukraine by Russian cruise missiles, Dr. Justin Bronk from the Royal United Services  Institute joins me as we talk about the use and employment of cruise missiles, and what NATO can learn from this.

Hope you enjoy,
Chris

Early Access x2: MANPADS and Drones

Two new videos in Early Access!

Drones: Proliferation, Effectiveness, and Media Hype
> https://youtu.be/d4M1AUhSgFg
"Drones" in their aerial form (UAV, RPA and UCAV) have featured prominently in past and present conflicts and wars. With their employment came a veritable media hype. But not everything said about "drones" stands, once placed into context. In this video, I explore the benefits ...

Sneakpeak: Inside The Cockpit - Buccaneer

Last Monday I filmed at the fantastic RAF Museum in London, including a full tour of the Short Sunderland and the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer. While those are in editing, I thought it would be cool to give you an early look!

Early Access x4 - Lots of stuff to watch

Hey,

I hinted at a big drop for early access in the last update(s?) so here it is: four videos for you to enjoy and watch in your own time.

Video 1: The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe https://youtu.be/0tztf8VGyQw
Filmed at the WHW Fest, in this video Jens Wehner (Curator of the Military History Museum Dresden) and I talk about WW2 and the Luftwaffe. We talk about doctrine, tactical innovation...

Early Access: Why Germany Pays $240million for F-35

Now in early access! Germany's odyssey to replace Tornado is nearly over. Recently, the German government announced that it intends to buy 35 F-35s to replace the venerable Panavia jet, therefore maintaining nuclear sharing with NATO. 

While this was only a moderate surprise, after all F-35 became to only viable choice as Germany had waited waaaaay to long to get the SH/Growler package (like 10y ago would have been a good time...), the deal is now nearing completion with a US DSCA ...

August Update: What a time to be alive

The time has come! After months of difficulties in setting up a new Inside the Cockpit filming date, in a few weeks I shall be filming new episodes! Also, 4, yes, 4! videos hitting early access very soon! This will be quite the update :)

• Inside the Cockpit

I can not wait to sit inside another collection of fantastic aircraft and film them just for you! Coming up are the HS Buccaneer S2B and the Short Sunderland 5. I've been given exclusive access to th...

Early Access x2: Operation Varsity and C-46 Commando

Here they are, two new videos as promised!

Operation Varsity - Perfectly Planned but Completely Unnecessary?

In the first video, I give an overview of Operation Varsity. I talk about how previous experience in airborne operations was taken on board to improve this attack, what actually happened as the Allied transporters reached the drop zone, and how the casualties in the end set of a debate whether this operation was actually required. Yes, I packed all of that ...

July update: The Big one

Yup, 2022 is already half done. Time has that habit of creeping up, hitting the afterburner, and then just blazing past. High time for another production update then. 

Not gonna lie, July has been rough. Not in the 'one-bad-thing-after-the-other' kind of rough. More the 'I wonder at what point I can just sit down and plan Q3/Q4' kind of rough. One project has been chasing the next, and it is high time to consolidate a bit. Hopefully soon. In the meantime, here are some news for Ins...

Early Access: Learning from Ukraine

After the flurry of videos on the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, I held off from publishing more on it. Basically, I felt that except for smaller tactical events, there was relatively little to say about the air domain. 

With the conflict moving through various phases however, I felt it was high time to reflect on what has been going on. Hence, I invited Justin Bronk from RUSI for a chat. He's been a semi-regular since summer last year and in this video, which is now in Early Access wit...

June Update: Upcoming videos and perk changes

Record breaking temperatures, long evenings, everyone under the sun running off to the beaches… welp, that must mean summer is here. Hopefully all is good with you as we are about half-way through 2022. Now, what’s new with the channel.

A lot of things actually, but while I am excited to talk about it, I can’t really share that much information *just* yet. Unlike a certain Teutonic government right now, I don’t like making announcements before everything is confirmed after all. ...

Early Access: Why Airpower FAILED (Until Desert Storm)

I recently read 'Airpower Reborn' by John A. Olsen from my partnered publisher the Naval Institute Press (U.S: Naval Institute). In it multiple authors write about the transition in Air Doctrine from the strategic bomber focus born in the 1920s, that remained prominent (esp. in the US) until the Vietnam War, which caused a complete revamp of airpower theory culminating in the success Coalition forces experienced during Desert Storm. This really hit home with me, as I've been thinking about ma...

Ask your questions about the F-35

There is a chance, albeit unconfirmed right now, that I will be able to interview a pilot and an engineer on the F-35 for two upcoming videos. I have a list of questions I will ask them but I thought this would be a great opportunity to give you a chance to ask something too. So if you have any questions on the F-35 or the development of it, post them here. 

Important:

• It is likely I won't be able to ask all questions due to time constraints,&n...
  2022-06-05 11:01:42 +0000 UTC View Post

Early Access: In Defense of the Bf 110

Here is your early access to the next video. May has been full of work and organisation for upcoming videos, shipping of our book, and for various deadlines (channel and PhD) but I am happy to say that less stressful times are ahead, with more frequent videos sure to follow.

Hope you enjoy, I am looking forward to your feedback
Chris

Early Access: The Fighter Mafia and the F-15 / F-16

How did a small group of pilots and civilians try to influence the design, development and procurement of two famous USAF fighters? I am very happy to talk about this with Dr. Michael Hankins, Historian and Curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. We discuss the Fighter Mafia, its opinions, ideals, as well as it's impact and legacy on the F-15, F-16 and USAF/DoD.

Looking forward to all your comments, and thank you for supporting!

Chris

Sea Vixen Manual

Hey all,

Attached are the scans from the Sea Vixen manual detailing the cockpit arrangement, as indicated in the video. Sadly, the scanner had trouble picking up the finer details. I'll try to give this a second pass in the future when I am back.

Chris

Early Access: NATO vs Russia - How To Rate Military Power?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a number of questions on how we rate military capabilities, what we should consider when making a verdict, and what some of the underrepresented aspects might be. To talk about this, I invited Richard Shimooka, Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to explore how we could tackle this question in the future.

*Edit* : I did an editing upsie at 04:49 that flew under my radar horizon. Enjoy looking at mini me for 3...

Early Access: Germany's €100bn - Where did it go?

Germany announced €100 billion for the Armed Forces and an increase to  +2% GDP on military spending one month ago. The question is:Germany announced €100 billion for the Armed Forces and an increase to  +2% GDP on military spending one month ago. The question is where is that money now and is Germany putting their cash where their mouth is? 

Hope you enjoy this analysis, and thank you for the support.

Early Access: Air Defense for Ukraine

After that mad rush earlier this month, here is the promised return of  Early Access. I thought that for this episode, I'd tackle Air Defense  and explain the ins-and-outs as it appears to be one of those issues  that keeps coming back in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.  This episode is going to be released on Thursday, so enjoy watching it  before everyone else :)

Thanks for the support,
Chris

Sneakpeak

The last two weeks, as you will have noticed, have seen some intense activity on the channel. With three videos, I uploaded the number of videos in a week that usually get made in a month. I did enjoy the speed and challenge, but I did need a few days to reset to make sure that the speed does not get in the way of quality, especially as other things (Stukabook, PhD etc) are still happening at the same time. That said, it has also given me another impetus to think about the future content (my ...

Early Access: No-Fly Zone

Ok, last one for now I think but this was an important one!

What about that No-Fly Zone in Ukraine? Not only is it an unwise policy decision, but there are very complex questions attached to it from implementation, rules of engagement over to the advantages Russia might have in this scenario. More in my newest video - hope you enjoy, let me know what you thought of it.

Soon we should be able to move back to the 'regular' schedule incl. the usual early access.

Thanks for th...

Early Access: Reasons for failure? Russian Air Force in Ukraine

Another busy 48h since the last video! Here is my analysis of the Russian's Air Forces situation in Ukraine, and I also talk to two experts that give their own unique insights into the matter! The video will go live very soon.

Normal proceedings with ordinary early access periods will resume soon! Right now the timelines are just punishing. 

Note: Messed up the iso setting on this one. Mea culpa - it happens :(

Early Access: Did Germany Just Buy the F-35?

What a 24h it has been.

On the 27th February German Chancellor Scholz announced that henceforth, Germany will spend more than 2% of its GDP on defense and made a 180° turn on basically all major issues incl. armed drones. Much of this has still to be signed off but in this video, I look at what these changes *might* look like.

Since I had to put this together in less than 24h, sadly I can not give a longer early access period since it has to come out today. Hence I am pushing ...

Early Access: Why One Nuke Is Never Enough - Myth of the Overkill

Hey,

Thursday is the day, but for you Thursday is Tuesday! Above you will find your early access to the next episode. This time we talk about Strategic Air Command, nukes (lots of them), a hotshot General, and calculate some kill probabilities. Yeah, it's quite the episode!

What is even better is that it marks the beginning of my partnership with the Naval Institute Press (of the U.S. Naval Institute) giving you all a 25% discount on their book catalogue (they have a huge selecti...

Sneakpeak: Myth of the Overkill

Hey,

The next video, coming out next week Thursday, will be all about deterrence, nukes and Strategic Air Command - and I've got a choice to make that you could help me with. 

Above you'll find two pictures of the same animation in the video, with a different icon for the 'nuke delivery'. Let me know which one is your favorite in the comments - hopefully the references are understandable, if not...that's already a good sign that the other icon might be better :)

P.S. I...

February Update

It's February already! As always time flies. Here is a bit of an update of what is going on with the Channel.  First off, I've just released a new video. Make sure to watch it here. Sadly, the YouTube algorithm gods have not blessed the last two videos and they have received very poor views although the feedback was very good. If you enjoyed them, please consider sharing them with friends, on social media...

Ask your questions: Live-stream

The first Q&A for this year will come up in February. It will once again be live with the VOD available if you miss it. Please submit your questions by commenting on this post. I already have those posted here, but feel free to resubmit.

Chris

Early Access: German Army Combined Arms

Hey all,

Here is your early access for tomorrow's episode. I had hoped to get this out sooner but due to my delayed travel back from Germany (+2 weeks and an involuntary stopover in Brussels), it will have to be today. The following early access videos will again be released with some time to spare to the actual release :)

Hope you enjoy, looking forward to all your comments!

Chris

Stream announcement this Saturday!

Hey,

First off, Happy New Year! I hope you had a great start into the new year and that you enjoyed some good times with friends and family. 

Before jumping back into this years content, I am hosting my first stream of the year this upcoming Saturday 8th January, at 1800 Zulu! That's 1900 Central Europe, and 1100/1200 Texas time. Looking forward to chatting with you there!

Chris

Season's Greetings

Hey,

Tomorrow is the day - at least for us Germans :) We celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a fantastic and merry Christmas, relaxing holidays, and that all of you stay safe and well on these final days of 2021! 

Thank you for the support and talk soon!
Chris