Bunker Talk: Let’s Chat About All The Stories We Did And Didn’t Report On This Week

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This week was a bit quieter than the one before it, which allowed us to get to some historic pieces that have been on the back burner for some time. Still, we got the news that the Blue Angels’ famed Fat Albert C-130 had been sent to its final resting place. We also learned of the Zumwalt class destroyer fleet’s new experimental organizational structure. There were also some fresh indications that the B-21 Raider is indeed set to arrive at Edwards AFB fairly soon. A USMC Harrier crashed, as well. It was the fourth total loss of a U.S. military aircraft in May alone. And there was much more

Regardless, there was a ton of stuff we just couldn’t get to, but it’s not too late!

Welcome to Bunker Talk.

This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t get to. In other words, literally an off-topic thread.

We can talk about about this little cameo appearance of chaff off the SoCal coast right in the military’s giant missile range complex. And yes, we did the math, the heart of the jetstream was right over that location where the chaff was released and it was hauling at just the right speed to grab the material and move it out of view in less than an hour:

Ok, yes I know that TX and OK are dealing with a lot of severe weather. But, while looking around the nation at our Doppler radar network, I noticed a strange feature that zoomed through the KVTX (near Los Angeles) radar. Any ideas? 11:24AM PDT Bottom of the radar screen. pic.twitter.com/TiuGgKSP3g

— Eric Snodgrass (@snodgrss) May 20, 2019

Then there is these guys’ makeshift ATGM perch:

Talk about a hydraulic platform for ATGM launch . pic.twitter.com/7IG3GF2bSd

— Ninjamonkey 🇮🇳 (@Aryan_warlord) May 19, 2019

This MD add from way back sure seems to have been written by someone with a crystal ball:

non ducor, duco pic.twitter.com/Vn8dEXMOkR

— The Shadow of the Eagle (@clemente3000) May 18, 2019

Or we can just sit in awe of this sick F-15 shot:

今日のアグレッサーのナイトの離陸
管制塔と夕日とF-15

太陽の右下、少し筋みたいなのが見えますがこれはアフターバーナーの衝撃波とかなんでしょうかね…? pic.twitter.com/a22SgxMRZE

— けーし135R (@keishi135air) May 21, 2019

USS Midway’s air wing in the early 1980s was pretty damn cool as well:

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Finally, how cool would have it been to see the Thunderbirds practicing in fleet colored F-4s alongside their show jets?

The Phantoms in camouflage were two of several Thunderbirds "lizard" F-4Es used as practice aircraft while the team's main F-4Es were undergoing depot maintenance.#PhantomPhriday 👻 pic.twitter.com/MlcwgjaoCV

— Kobaz (@Kobaz4) May 24, 2019

Our own @aerialimaging just shot this incredible video to me. It gives us a far better view of the four-ship MC-130J flight through Mach Loop that we reported on in detail this week. Enjoy!:

The Bunker doors are swinging open. 

Discuss!

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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Tyler Rogoway

Editor-in-Chief

Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, and foreign policy and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense media space. He was the creator of the hugely popular defense site Foxtrot Alpha before developing The War Zone.