Thanos Massias
@massiasthanos.bsky.social
I post things that I find interesting, while referencing sources and providing context.
🧵 1954 footage from development of Mk 39 torpedo, which was a Mk 27 Mod 4 modified by ORL and Vitro Corporation with the addition of a wire dispenser, appropriate controls, and improved propulsion.
🔗 archive.navalsubleague.org/1997/u-s-nav...
"BU AID VITRO PROJECT"
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81400
🔗 archive.navalsubleague.org/1997/u-s-nav...
"BU AID VITRO PROJECT"
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81400
November 26, 2025 at 11:40 AM
🧵 1954 footage from development of Mk 39 torpedo, which was a Mk 27 Mod 4 modified by ORL and Vitro Corporation with the addition of a wire dispenser, appropriate controls, and improved propulsion.
🔗 archive.navalsubleague.org/1997/u-s-nav...
"BU AID VITRO PROJECT"
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81400
🔗 archive.navalsubleague.org/1997/u-s-nav...
"BU AID VITRO PROJECT"
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81400
Waco S-Series (YKS-6 or ZKS-6), registration CF-AYT. Probably with Canadian Pacific Air Lines. 1943
🔗 www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pa...
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/23429
🔗 www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pa...
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/23429
November 26, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Waco S-Series (YKS-6 or ZKS-6), registration CF-AYT. Probably with Canadian Pacific Air Lines. 1943
🔗 www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pa...
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/23429
🔗 www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pa...
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/23429
"A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer, assigned to 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deploys flares during a Bomber Task Force mission over the Pacific Ocean, June 25, 2022. […] (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest)"
📷📑 www.af.mil/News/Photos/...
📷📑 www.af.mil/News/Photos/...
November 26, 2025 at 9:17 AM
"A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer, assigned to 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deploys flares during a Bomber Task Force mission over the Pacific Ocean, June 25, 2022. […] (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Nicholas Priest)"
📷📑 www.af.mil/News/Photos/...
📷📑 www.af.mil/News/Photos/...
"A port bow view of the guided missile cruiser USS CHANCELLORSVILLE (CG-62) firing an SM-1 vertical launch missile" Circa 1989
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6450522
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6450522
November 25, 2025 at 1:32 PM
"A port bow view of the guided missile cruiser USS CHANCELLORSVILLE (CG-62) firing an SM-1 vertical launch missile" Circa 1989
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6450522
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6450522
"PROPFAN POWERED CRUISE MISSILE" Circa 1985
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/355062056
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/355062056
November 25, 2025 at 10:31 AM
"PROPFAN POWERED CRUISE MISSILE" Circa 1985
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/355062056
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/355062056
Sharps Coffee Mill Carbine. Because, why not?
"Lt. Col. Walter King, a soldier with a Missouri cavalry outfit, developed a grinding mill that could be incorporated into the buttstock of a Sharps carbine."
🔗📑 www.highcaliberhistory.com/post/coffee-...
🔗📷 gunsmagazine.com/wp-content/u...
"Lt. Col. Walter King, a soldier with a Missouri cavalry outfit, developed a grinding mill that could be incorporated into the buttstock of a Sharps carbine."
🔗📑 www.highcaliberhistory.com/post/coffee-...
🔗📷 gunsmagazine.com/wp-content/u...
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Sharps Coffee Mill Carbine. Because, why not?
"Lt. Col. Walter King, a soldier with a Missouri cavalry outfit, developed a grinding mill that could be incorporated into the buttstock of a Sharps carbine."
🔗📑 www.highcaliberhistory.com/post/coffee-...
🔗📷 gunsmagazine.com/wp-content/u...
"Lt. Col. Walter King, a soldier with a Missouri cavalry outfit, developed a grinding mill that could be incorporated into the buttstock of a Sharps carbine."
🔗📑 www.highcaliberhistory.com/post/coffee-...
🔗📷 gunsmagazine.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Thanos Massias
Yes, thank you. I got to meet Amrom Katz in the 1990s. By that time he was suffering from Alzheimers and was not coherent. However, while I talked to him, a colleague pulled some of his early RAND reports off his bookshelf and we copied them. (more)
November 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Yes, thank you. I got to meet Amrom Katz in the 1990s. By that time he was suffering from Alzheimers and was not coherent. However, while I talked to him, a colleague pulled some of his early RAND reports off his bookshelf and we copied them. (more)
🧵 Automatic bustle & Autoloader
Tank turret automatic bustle (ammunition storage) design by Western Design (which Meggitt acquired in 2003).
Rounds are stored in a conveyor loop inside canisters.
🔗📷 worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/searc...
Tank turret automatic bustle (ammunition storage) design by Western Design (which Meggitt acquired in 2003).
Rounds are stored in a conveyor loop inside canisters.
🔗📷 worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/searc...
November 21, 2025 at 12:02 PM
🧵 Automatic bustle & Autoloader
Tank turret automatic bustle (ammunition storage) design by Western Design (which Meggitt acquired in 2003).
Rounds are stored in a conveyor loop inside canisters.
🔗📷 worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/searc...
Tank turret automatic bustle (ammunition storage) design by Western Design (which Meggitt acquired in 2003).
Rounds are stored in a conveyor loop inside canisters.
🔗📷 worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/searc...
'463L' is not just the 463L Master Pallet (HCU-6/E)—It is the USAF Materials Handling Support System 463L, adopted in 1957 to facilitate cargo handling aboard military airlift aircraft, of which the eponymous standardized pallet is a (major) component.
📷 archive.org/details/sim_...
📷 archive.org/details/sim_...
November 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
'463L' is not just the 463L Master Pallet (HCU-6/E)—It is the USAF Materials Handling Support System 463L, adopted in 1957 to facilitate cargo handling aboard military airlift aircraft, of which the eponymous standardized pallet is a (major) component.
📷 archive.org/details/sim_...
📷 archive.org/details/sim_...
The Hughes Aircraft AN/ASG-18 Fire Control System was a prototype airborne fire control radar system for the Lockheed YF-12A and the planned North American XF-108 Rapier. It was designed to be used with the Hughes AIM-47A Falcon missile.
"ASG-18 rear cockpit display"
📷📑 archive.org/details/sim_...
"ASG-18 rear cockpit display"
📷📑 archive.org/details/sim_...
November 21, 2025 at 9:18 AM
The Hughes Aircraft AN/ASG-18 Fire Control System was a prototype airborne fire control radar system for the Lockheed YF-12A and the planned North American XF-108 Rapier. It was designed to be used with the Hughes AIM-47A Falcon missile.
"ASG-18 rear cockpit display"
📷📑 archive.org/details/sim_...
"ASG-18 rear cockpit display"
📷📑 archive.org/details/sim_...
"… 318th Fight Group "Pete" during the sandwich and coffee hour in their Marianas ready shack. […] The men wearing dark red goggles - to prepare their eyes for the night vision needed on patrols are …"
📷 catalog.archives.gov/id/204975919...
📷 catalog.archives.gov/id/204975919...
November 20, 2025 at 7:26 AM
"… 318th Fight Group "Pete" during the sandwich and coffee hour in their Marianas ready shack. […] The men wearing dark red goggles - to prepare their eyes for the night vision needed on patrols are …"
📷 catalog.archives.gov/id/204975919...
📷 catalog.archives.gov/id/204975919...
🧵 Self-extraction Capstans.
Self-recovery of an M113 with the use of capstan drums attached to adapters bolted on the final drive sprockets.
The footage includes the emplacement of an auger to be used as a ground anchor.
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/29354
Self-recovery of an M113 with the use of capstan drums attached to adapters bolted on the final drive sprockets.
The footage includes the emplacement of an auger to be used as a ground anchor.
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/29354
November 19, 2025 at 11:31 AM
🧵 Self-extraction Capstans.
Self-recovery of an M113 with the use of capstan drums attached to adapters bolted on the final drive sprockets.
The footage includes the emplacement of an auger to be used as a ground anchor.
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/29354
Self-recovery of an M113 with the use of capstan drums attached to adapters bolted on the final drive sprockets.
The footage includes the emplacement of an auger to be used as a ground anchor.
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/29354
1986. "A view of the bridge and superstructure of the guided missile cruiser USS REEVES (CG 24) with crew members manning the rails as the ship arrives in port. […] This [was] the first visit by US Navy ships to China in 37 years"
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6422555
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6422555
November 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
1986. "A view of the bridge and superstructure of the guided missile cruiser USS REEVES (CG 24) with crew members manning the rails as the ship arrives in port. […] This [was] the first visit by US Navy ships to China in 37 years"
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6422555
📷📑 catalog.archives.gov/id/6422555
The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was the first US ICBM to use a cold launch system.
The way this decision was made is interesting:
apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA...
The way this decision was made is interesting:
apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA...
November 18, 2025 at 11:58 AM
The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was the first US ICBM to use a cold launch system.
The way this decision was made is interesting:
apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA...
The way this decision was made is interesting:
apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA...
🧵 Raytheon Vertical Launch Aero Reaction Control (VELARC) was a mid-1970s research program for a canistered, vertically launched missile.
The firing sequence began with pneumatic ejection of the missile. The motor ignited after the ejection (cold launch).
🔗📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
The firing sequence began with pneumatic ejection of the missile. The motor ignited after the ejection (cold launch).
🔗📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
November 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
🧵 Raytheon Vertical Launch Aero Reaction Control (VELARC) was a mid-1970s research program for a canistered, vertically launched missile.
The firing sequence began with pneumatic ejection of the missile. The motor ignited after the ejection (cold launch).
🔗📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
The firing sequence began with pneumatic ejection of the missile. The motor ignited after the ejection (cold launch).
🔗📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
Reposted by Thanos Massias
The Messerschmitt 163 Komet (1941) was the only rocket-powered interceptor to be used operationally. It was also extremely hazardous to fly and maintain, with multiple fatal accidents. Few Me 163s actually saw combat, achieving between 9 and 16 victories
📷 Nicolas Trudgian / aceshighgallery.com
🧵1/9
📷 Nicolas Trudgian / aceshighgallery.com
🧵1/9
November 17, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The Messerschmitt 163 Komet (1941) was the only rocket-powered interceptor to be used operationally. It was also extremely hazardous to fly and maintain, with multiple fatal accidents. Few Me 163s actually saw combat, achieving between 9 and 16 victories
📷 Nicolas Trudgian / aceshighgallery.com
🧵1/9
📷 Nicolas Trudgian / aceshighgallery.com
🧵1/9
Reposted by Thanos Massias
I knew Rudi. Post-war he settled in Danbury, CT. He instructed in gliders and became an FAA DE. 3 fingers of his right hand were fused together from a peroxide tank leak after a hard landing. They were supposed to abandon the a/c if they propellants were not exhausted but he chose to save it. 1/3
November 17, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I knew Rudi. Post-war he settled in Danbury, CT. He instructed in gliders and became an FAA DE. 3 fingers of his right hand were fused together from a peroxide tank leak after a hard landing. They were supposed to abandon the a/c if they propellants were not exhausted but he chose to save it. 1/3
Reposted by Thanos Massias
In other words, this is Nagato's final appearance.
November 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM
In other words, this is Nagato's final appearance.
USS Nevada was the target of an air-dropped weapon for the first test, codenamed 'Able', in the first Bikini atomic experiments (Operation Crossroads) in 1946. To help distinguish the target from surrounding vessels, Nevada was painted a reddish-orange.
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81202
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81202
November 17, 2025 at 10:33 AM
USS Nevada was the target of an air-dropped weapon for the first test, codenamed 'Able', in the first Bikini atomic experiments (Operation Crossroads) in 1946. To help distinguish the target from surrounding vessels, Nevada was painted a reddish-orange.
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81202
🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/81202
"Imperial War Museum exhibit: Model of British tank showing machinery (section)."
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
November 14, 2025 at 8:42 AM
"Imperial War Museum exhibit: Model of British tank showing machinery (section)."
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
🧵 German WWI Sappenpanzer Gesichtsmaske (Sniper's Mask/Masque Eléphant).
A steel face shield that protects the front of the head.
🔗 www.google.gr/books/editio... (p.140)
"COLLECTIONS OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM"
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
A steel face shield that protects the front of the head.
🔗 www.google.gr/books/editio... (p.140)
"COLLECTIONS OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM"
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
November 14, 2025 at 8:41 AM
🧵 German WWI Sappenpanzer Gesichtsmaske (Sniper's Mask/Masque Eléphant).
A steel face shield that protects the front of the head.
🔗 www.google.gr/books/editio... (p.140)
"COLLECTIONS OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM"
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
A steel face shield that protects the front of the head.
🔗 www.google.gr/books/editio... (p.140)
"COLLECTIONS OF THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM"
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
"Camouflaged Sniper's Gloves" 1917
"The pattern was then tested for use in disguising tanks from aerial detection, and the artist had access to models of tanks as early as November 1916. It was also suggested for naval camouflage, but finally ruled out altogether."
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
"The pattern was then tested for use in disguising tanks from aerial detection, and the artist had access to models of tanks as early as November 1916. It was also suggested for naval camouflage, but finally ruled out altogether."
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
"Camouflaged Sniper's Gloves" 1917
"The pattern was then tested for use in disguising tanks from aerial detection, and the artist had access to models of tanks as early as November 1916. It was also suggested for naval camouflage, but finally ruled out altogether."
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
"The pattern was then tested for use in disguising tanks from aerial detection, and the artist had access to models of tanks as early as November 1916. It was also suggested for naval camouflage, but finally ruled out altogether."
📷📑 www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
🧵 Some ships from the interesting fleet of Compagnie Maritime Nantaise:
ConRo MN Tangara (IMO 9642409)
"The vessel, MN’s subsidiary, is operated through a long-term charter contract with the French Ministry of Defence. »
🔗📷📑 www.compagnie-maritime-nantaise.com/en/fleet/con...
ConRo MN Tangara (IMO 9642409)
"The vessel, MN’s subsidiary, is operated through a long-term charter contract with the French Ministry of Defence. »
🔗📷📑 www.compagnie-maritime-nantaise.com/en/fleet/con...
November 13, 2025 at 12:22 PM
🧵 Some ships from the interesting fleet of Compagnie Maritime Nantaise:
ConRo MN Tangara (IMO 9642409)
"The vessel, MN’s subsidiary, is operated through a long-term charter contract with the French Ministry of Defence. »
🔗📷📑 www.compagnie-maritime-nantaise.com/en/fleet/con...
ConRo MN Tangara (IMO 9642409)
"The vessel, MN’s subsidiary, is operated through a long-term charter contract with the French Ministry of Defence. »
🔗📷📑 www.compagnie-maritime-nantaise.com/en/fleet/con...
🧵 If LNG tankers could travel underwater, they could transport natural gas from Arctic regions year-round.
General Dynamics presented their designs for such a 140,000 m³ submarine LNG tanker in 1981.
It could even be nuclear-powered.
📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
General Dynamics presented their designs for such a 140,000 m³ submarine LNG tanker in 1981.
It could even be nuclear-powered.
📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
November 13, 2025 at 8:12 AM
🧵 If LNG tankers could travel underwater, they could transport natural gas from Arctic regions year-round.
General Dynamics presented their designs for such a 140,000 m³ submarine LNG tanker in 1981.
It could even be nuclear-powered.
📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
General Dynamics presented their designs for such a 140,000 m³ submarine LNG tanker in 1981.
It could even be nuclear-powered.
📷 www.google.gr/books/editio...
🧵 A flying telephone pole.
As a meaningful scale proof-of-concept for the HYDRA Program, a motor from the MD-1 Genie air-to-air rocket was strapped to an actual 102-foot 11,000-pound wooden telephone pole, and the contraption was launched from the sea in 1960.
📷 www.newspapers.com/article/prog...
As a meaningful scale proof-of-concept for the HYDRA Program, a motor from the MD-1 Genie air-to-air rocket was strapped to an actual 102-foot 11,000-pound wooden telephone pole, and the contraption was launched from the sea in 1960.
📷 www.newspapers.com/article/prog...
November 12, 2025 at 12:20 PM
🧵 A flying telephone pole.
As a meaningful scale proof-of-concept for the HYDRA Program, a motor from the MD-1 Genie air-to-air rocket was strapped to an actual 102-foot 11,000-pound wooden telephone pole, and the contraption was launched from the sea in 1960.
📷 www.newspapers.com/article/prog...
As a meaningful scale proof-of-concept for the HYDRA Program, a motor from the MD-1 Genie air-to-air rocket was strapped to an actual 102-foot 11,000-pound wooden telephone pole, and the contraption was launched from the sea in 1960.
📷 www.newspapers.com/article/prog...