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1991 British Army Lynx Shootdown
On 13 February 1991, an Army Air Corps (AAC) Westland Lynx Mk7, serial number ZE380, was shot down by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the vicinity of Crossmaglen, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland. The IRA's South Armagh Brigade ambushed the aircraft while approaching the joint British Army-RUC base in Crossmaglen using automatic rifles, general-purpose machine guns and heavy machine guns. The heavily damaged helicopter was forced to crash-land in an open field; the aircraft and its crew were eventually recovered by British forces. Background In 1976 southern County Armagh was declared off-limits by the British Army to routine military vehicle traffic, including patrols, because the danger posed by an IRA landmine attack was considered too great. As a result, all regular military movement and resupply missions to British Army outposts across South Armagh became the responsibility of helicopters alone. This policy was criticised by politicians and British mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. Sometimes described as an Asymmetric warfare, asymmetric or Irregular warfare, irregular war or a low-intensity conflict, the Troubles were a political and nationalistic struggle fueled by historical events, with a strong Ethnic conflict, ethnic and sectarian dimension, fought over the Partition of Ireland, status of Northern Ireland. Unionism in Ireland, Unionists and Ulster loyalism, loyalists, who for Plantation of Ulster, historical reasons were mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavy Machine Gun
A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or tactically mobile, have more formidable firepower, and generally require a team of personnel for operation and maintenance. There are two classes of weapons generally defined as HMGs: * The historical definition refers to machine guns, typically chambered in standard full-power cartridges, that are identified as being "heavy" due to their weight and cumbersomeness, which prevents infantrymen from transporting them on foot. Examples include the Maxim machine gun and M1917 Browning machine gun. * The modern definition refers to "heavy caliber" machine guns, pioneered by the German Empire's MG 18 TuF which was a Maxim derivative chambered in 13.2×92mmSR fielded near the end of World War I. They are designed to provide increased effec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sangar (fortification)
A sangar (or sanger) () is a temporary fortified position with a breastwork originally constructed of stones, and now built of sandbags, gabions or similar materials. Sangars are normally constructed in terrain where the digging of trenches would not be practicable. The term is still frequently used by the British Army, but has now been extended to cover a wider range of small fortified positions. Etymology The word was adopted from Hindi and Pashto and derives originally from the Persian word ''sang'', "stone". Its first appearance in English (as recorded by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') is in the form ''sunga'', and dates from 1841. The word has also occasionally been used as a verb, meaning "to fortify with a sangar": however, this usage appears to have been limited to the first decade of the 20th century. Traditional usage The term was originally used by the British Indian Army to describe small temporary fortified positions on the North West Frontier and in Afghanis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Active Service Unit
An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) Clandestine cell system, cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units. The concept was first pioneered by Tom McEllistrim (1894–1973), Tom McEllistrim and other members of the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army. History In 1977, the IRA moved away from the larger conventional military organisational principle owing to its perceived security vulnerability. In place of the battalion structures, a system of two parallel types of unit within an IRA Brigade was introduced. Firstly, the old "company" structures were used to supply auxiliary members for support activities such as intelligence-gathering, acting as lookouts or moving weapons. The bulk of attacks from 1977 onwards were the responsibility of a second type of unit, the ASU. To improve security and operat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Door Gunner
A door gunner is a crewman tasked with firing and maintaining manually directed armament aboard a military helicopter. The actual role will vary depending on the task given on a particular mission. For certain aircraft a door gunner would use a fully automatic Gatling gun placement. On many larger aircraft such as military planes a turret is used along with heavy cannons. Origins The concept of the ''door gunner'' originated during the Vietnam War, when helicopters were first used in combat in large numbers. The original personnel who served as early door gunners aboard CH-21, UH-34, and UH-1 helicopters in Vietnam, were enlisted men, with a designated and specially trained '' crew chief'' serving as both the aircraft's maintenance manager and a door gunner. Normally, a second enlisted soldier served as a second door gunner (such as on a UH-1, and UH-34, which both used two gunners – one on each side of the aircraft). Later, as the war progressed, the door gunner posi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knot (unit)
The knot () is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, exactly (approximately or ). The ISO standard symbol for the knot is kn. The same symbol is preferred by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ( IEEE), while kt is also common, especially in aviation, where it is the form recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO). The knot is a non- SI unit. The knot is used in meteorology, and in maritime and air navigation. A vessel travelling at 1 knot along a meridian travels approximately one minute of geographic latitude in one hour. Definitions ;1 international knot = :1 nautical mile per hour (by definition), : (exactly), : (approximately), : (approximately), : (approximately) : (approximately). The length of the internationally agreed nautical mile is . The US adopted the international definition in 1954, having previously used the US nautical mile (). The UK adopted the international nautical mile defi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cargo Hook (helicopter)
A cargo hook is a device suspended below a helicopter and allows the transport of external loads during flight. Common terms for this operation include slingwork, underslung loads, external loadwork, and external load operations. Hook types Primary hooks Primary, or "belly", hooks are designed to mount directly to the airframe belly, i.e. underside, of a helicopter. Because they are attached to the fuselage, or "skin," of the aircraft, belly hooks are regulated by the various worldwide civil aviation authority, aviation regulatory agencies. In the United States, belly hooks are governed under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Federal Aviation Regulations, FAR Part 133. Belly hooks are designed, manufactured, and approved for use on specific aircraft models. Belly hooks that have been certified by the FAA receive a Type certificate#Supplementary/Supplemental Type Certificate (STC), Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) that describes the aircraft models that are authorized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of County Tyrone as well as north County Monaghan and south County Londonderry. List of notable actions from 1971 until Loughgall Dates highlighted in bold indicate three or more fatalities. *14 September 1971: a British soldier (John Rudman, aged 21) was shot dead while on mobile patrol, Edendork, near Coalisland, County Tyrone. He was the first British soldier killed by the East Tyrone Brigade *14 March 1972: A two-man IRA unit armed with sub-machine guns ambushed a joint British Army/RUC patrol on Brackaville Road outside Coalisland. Over 50 shots were fired by the unit. The RUC officer, William Logan (aged 23), who was driving the police patrol vehicle was mortally wounded and died the foll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of , making it the largest of Northern Ireland's six counties by size, and the second largest county in Ulster after Donegal. With a population of 188,383 as of the 2021 census, Tyrone is the 5th most populous county in both Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the 11th most populous county on the island of Ireland. The county derives its name and general geographic location from Tír Eoghain, a Gaelic kingdom under the O'Neill dynasty which existed until the 17th century. Name The name ''Tyrone'' is derived from the Irish , meaning 'land of Eoghan', the name given to the conquests made by the from the provinces of and Ulaid. Historically, it was anglicised as ''Tirowen'' or ''Tyrowen'', which are closer to the Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augher
Augher (from meaning "edge/border") is a small village in south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies just 6 miles to the border with County Monaghan and is 16 miles south of Dungannon. It is situated in the historic barony of Clogher and the civil parish of Clogher. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 399. The town gives its name to the local Gaelic Football Club. Historical By the time of the Nine Years' War Augher was important enough to be used as a garrison town by the forces of Lord Mountjoy, Elizabeth I's Lord Deputy of Ireland, to disrupt the army of the Earl of Tyrone. In 1613, after the war and as part of the Plantation of Ulster an area of 315 acres (127.5 ha) around Augher was given to Sir Thomas Ridgway who had been the Treasurer at War for Ireland. The land grant was strict about what the Undertaker i.e. Ridgway, could do with the land in terms of who had to be settled there and what provisions had to be given to the settlers. Ridgway was successful in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aérospatiale Gazelle
The Aérospatiale Gazelle (company designations SA 340, SA 341 and SA 342) is a five-seat helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aircraft company Sud Aviation, and later by Aérospatiale. It is the first helicopter to feature a fenestron tail instead of a conventional tail rotor, as well as being the first helicopter to be adapted for single-pilot operations under instrument flight rules. The Gazelle was developed during the 1960s as a successor to the Aérospatiale Alouette II, Alouette II as well as to meet a French Army requirement for a new lightweight observation helicopter. The Gazelle is considerably larger than the preceding Alouette series, yet is still powered by a single Turbomeca Astazou Gas turbine, turbine engine. Innovations in the design of the Gazelle, aside from the fenestron, included an emphasis on minimal maintenance requirements from the onset of development and the use of a Helicopter rotor#Semirigid, semi-rigid composite materials, com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
