Post by Globexanter on Jun 4, 2016 8:01:54 GMT -5
(OoC: Closed thread, please do not post.)
Following the apparition of new and highly diverse platforms, such as the internet, the Ministry of Information and Culture opened up the objective of creating an internationally available source of news and documentation from Globexanterian territories. It's priorities were mainly to provide an interior based perspective of affairs occurring in Globexanter without passing through the intermediaries of other international news agencies, a preference which required the use of English in all broadcasting and publishing.
From this idea was born the Globexanterian International Report, or GIR for short. The project, holding a slight television based presence through the broadcasting of documentaries via foreign channels, mainly organised itself around an online presence internationally via video broadcasting services and news-related group websites, mainly centering itself around large news reviews and documentaries on internal subjects. Not only serving as a controlled platform for the diffusion of a Globexanterian point of view on ongoing issues, it also provided a source of passive propaganda through the many documentaries pertaining to the required opinions that the State wished to portray.
Though only lightly used in past years, the platform began to spike in activity in the early 2020s following Globexanterian interventions in regions of the world where a rather negative image was often being portrayed of the country, offering a form of counter-propaganda directly to the populations of the opposing states. A perfect example of this were the documentaries created during the intervention in Miras, especially centered around the Air Sector's long-range capacities in regards to the long distances between the area of deployment and the main airbases provided by the GNF.
The broadcast began with the standard apparition of the GIR's logo, the bright gold letters glowing off of the dark blue background before the image slowly began to fade, transitioning gradually to a slowly descending aerial shot of a Globexanterian National Forces airbase, the cris-crossed black runways standing out harshly against the surrounding clear white snow spreading evenly across the area, only breaking up in order to make space for the multiple buildings sprouting out of the ground near the runways and beyond. The camera's shot slowly continued downwards before finally being took over from a video feed on the ground covering the view of a male reporter, tightly covered up in his arctic clothing as he stood in view of the nearby glass-covered air traffic control tower.
"Welcome, to Eastern Globexanter. In fact, unless you're part of a scientific expedition or an experimental military unit, you aren't likely to ever visit these lands. The GIR however was given the authorization to shoot a documentary about some of the newest technology that will be used to protect Globexanter and it's interests, where-ever they may be. Of course, a lot of what's going on here just can't be showed on camera, but we've been promised a nice selection!" announced the reporter, turning back to finish his phrase as he walked towards the largest grey hangar, letting himself in via a side door.
After walking through several sets of security doors, having been left open for the purpose of the film, the camera crew properly entered one of the environmentally controlled hangar, the sealed door closing tightly to keep out the freezing cold. Within the building sat a massive An-225 transport aircraft with a triangular shaped object attached to it's roof, the camera taking special care to display the full size of the plane and hangar before slowly turning it's attention back to the reporter.
"Warfare, especially in our days, has found the use aircraft to be one of it's most potent, versatile and destructive tools. From the simple prop-driven fighter planes shooting their small machine guns to today's massive mights of flying machinery, there is no denying the fact that these mechanical birds have changed the face of war. But aircraft have always required pilots and crews to make them work, a fact that becomes an issue when planes are shot down and the safety and liberty of these crewmembers is put into question. This question, and many others, are going to be partially answered today by some of the hard-working men and women we'll be meeting." he continued, moving towards the rear loading ramp of the transport aircraft.
Contrary to the exterior of the plane, the interior cargo hold had undergone multiple modifications. Additional structural supports were locked into place, providing a sounder and stronger support in order to hold the load on the aircraft's roof. Also in place directly underneath the center of the roof were additional parts inside of the aircraft, providing a coverage for the mechanisms responsible for the control and release of the object above. Walking up the ramp, the reporter went up to a waiting pilot standing inside the aircraft, his black jumpsuit standing out harshly against the white interior of the plane, moving forward to greet the civilian.
"Welcome, you must be Georgi? Welcome to our little plane." greeted the pilot, gesturing towards the inner bowels of the aircraft.
"Small? You could fit the insides of my house in here! Could you tell us more about this beast?"
"Naturally. We are standing inside one of the state's An-225 Mriyas, over eighty-four meters long, eighteen meters tall and with wings spreading over eighty-eight meters all while weighing in at over three hundred thousand kilograms." answered the pilot.
"It sure is one hell of a plane. But why are we here today and, more importantly, what is that other aircraft on it's roof and why is it there?"
"That is one of our new toys, the Mitokan Skat, our new combat-capable drone. We aren't allowed to tell you much about it, but I can say that it is one hell of a machine. As much as it is a very capable drone, the main downside of these kind of aircraft comes in their restricted range when compared to regular aircraft, especially when we require long-range compatible ones. The idea being worked on here is the possibility of using larger aircraft as an aerial launching platform for remotely controlled drones, therefore greatly increasing the range of the smaller aircraft. What we'd do is fly this aircraft to the very limit of our friendly airspace, then go about releasing the drone so that it can continue on it's journey." explained the pilot.
"That sounds extremely impressive, and how does this all work? Do you just release it when flying?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, it would probably be easier to show you." answered the pilot, grinning as began to move towards the cockpit.
"Surely it's a bit dangerous, having a plane fly off another at high speeds?" continued the reporter, moving alongside the pilot.
"Of course, but we're passed the stage where they used to crash back into the plane." he answered, chuckling as the crew began to climb into the aircraft's wide cockpit.
Shortly afterwards, the image cut to the large aircraft slowly taxiing out of the hanger, pulled by an airport tractor. The An-225 was then released once it's tail had cleared the hangar, slowly advancing on it's own power onto the dark black taxiway before lining itself up on the runway.
The six engines, steadily humming since they left began to roar simultaneously, accelerating the jet on it's course down the runway, slowly lifting the An-225 into the sky. Taking off shortly behind it was a medium-sized converted commercial airliner modified for the purpose of shooting videos in the air, a small bubble being available on top of and under the fuselage as to allow a camera crew to posses a 360 degree view of the situation. It was from this aircraft that the camera's view switched to, being able to more easily observe the drone's release. After leveling out at a level altitude, the initial procedures for the release began. Progressively the drone pilots inside of the An-225 began to throttle up the jet's engines, bringing up to a level that would allow it to match the carrier's speed. Once this had been achieved, the release mechanism that kept the drone in place on top of the fuselage was released, the jet sitting on top of the larger aircraft for a few seconds before finally lifting off, pointing slightly upwards as to not disengage itself too brutally from the carrier aircraft before rolling itself over to the left as it successfully cleared it's position from the original jet.
"That it there, isn't it?" asked the reporter, the footage switching back to the An-225's cockpit as the reporter pointed out of the main windows towards the black Skat drone flying slightly in front of the jet.
"Yes, that's it. It's a bit smaller compared to us."
"Surely it would be easier to put it on top of a smaller plane? It does seem rather wasteful to have such a big aircraft for such a smaller one." asked the reporter as the An-225 began to pull away from the flight line.
"That's correct. However, it's a perfect testing base for this project. It's a large aircraft easily capable of lifting far more weight than it currently is, which means that in a worse case testing scenario where the drone somehow hit us or an engine, we'd still have a lot of aircraft left to try and get us home. There's that and the fact that the twin-tail configuration of the An-225 provided us with more than enough space to let the drone's engine pass it's heat through while having enough weight allowance to permit us to reinforce and protect the fuselage against the heat."
"So what would be the next step in this program? A smaller carrier jet?"
"That's definitely one of the ideas that the research teams are going through, there is obviously quite a bit of information that we aren't allowed to speak of or don't know, but one of the projects that should be going through sooner or later is the idea of remotely controlling the carrier jet as well."
"Sounds a bit risky, an even bigger drone?"
"Well obviously this is in the early stages of planning, we're not going to allow anything that new to fly over inhabited areas for quite a while yet." answered the pilot.
On the final note, the camera view slowly switched back to another location, showing the drone land at the same airport which the carrier jet had took off from, ending the documentary on the whine of the Mitokan Skat's Klimov engine, continuing over the Globexanterian flag which symbolized the documentary's end.
Following the apparition of new and highly diverse platforms, such as the internet, the Ministry of Information and Culture opened up the objective of creating an internationally available source of news and documentation from Globexanterian territories. It's priorities were mainly to provide an interior based perspective of affairs occurring in Globexanter without passing through the intermediaries of other international news agencies, a preference which required the use of English in all broadcasting and publishing.
From this idea was born the Globexanterian International Report, or GIR for short. The project, holding a slight television based presence through the broadcasting of documentaries via foreign channels, mainly organised itself around an online presence internationally via video broadcasting services and news-related group websites, mainly centering itself around large news reviews and documentaries on internal subjects. Not only serving as a controlled platform for the diffusion of a Globexanterian point of view on ongoing issues, it also provided a source of passive propaganda through the many documentaries pertaining to the required opinions that the State wished to portray.
Though only lightly used in past years, the platform began to spike in activity in the early 2020s following Globexanterian interventions in regions of the world where a rather negative image was often being portrayed of the country, offering a form of counter-propaganda directly to the populations of the opposing states. A perfect example of this were the documentaries created during the intervention in Miras, especially centered around the Air Sector's long-range capacities in regards to the long distances between the area of deployment and the main airbases provided by the GNF.
The broadcast began with the standard apparition of the GIR's logo, the bright gold letters glowing off of the dark blue background before the image slowly began to fade, transitioning gradually to a slowly descending aerial shot of a Globexanterian National Forces airbase, the cris-crossed black runways standing out harshly against the surrounding clear white snow spreading evenly across the area, only breaking up in order to make space for the multiple buildings sprouting out of the ground near the runways and beyond. The camera's shot slowly continued downwards before finally being took over from a video feed on the ground covering the view of a male reporter, tightly covered up in his arctic clothing as he stood in view of the nearby glass-covered air traffic control tower.
"Welcome, to Eastern Globexanter. In fact, unless you're part of a scientific expedition or an experimental military unit, you aren't likely to ever visit these lands. The GIR however was given the authorization to shoot a documentary about some of the newest technology that will be used to protect Globexanter and it's interests, where-ever they may be. Of course, a lot of what's going on here just can't be showed on camera, but we've been promised a nice selection!" announced the reporter, turning back to finish his phrase as he walked towards the largest grey hangar, letting himself in via a side door.
After walking through several sets of security doors, having been left open for the purpose of the film, the camera crew properly entered one of the environmentally controlled hangar, the sealed door closing tightly to keep out the freezing cold. Within the building sat a massive An-225 transport aircraft with a triangular shaped object attached to it's roof, the camera taking special care to display the full size of the plane and hangar before slowly turning it's attention back to the reporter.
"Warfare, especially in our days, has found the use aircraft to be one of it's most potent, versatile and destructive tools. From the simple prop-driven fighter planes shooting their small machine guns to today's massive mights of flying machinery, there is no denying the fact that these mechanical birds have changed the face of war. But aircraft have always required pilots and crews to make them work, a fact that becomes an issue when planes are shot down and the safety and liberty of these crewmembers is put into question. This question, and many others, are going to be partially answered today by some of the hard-working men and women we'll be meeting." he continued, moving towards the rear loading ramp of the transport aircraft.
Contrary to the exterior of the plane, the interior cargo hold had undergone multiple modifications. Additional structural supports were locked into place, providing a sounder and stronger support in order to hold the load on the aircraft's roof. Also in place directly underneath the center of the roof were additional parts inside of the aircraft, providing a coverage for the mechanisms responsible for the control and release of the object above. Walking up the ramp, the reporter went up to a waiting pilot standing inside the aircraft, his black jumpsuit standing out harshly against the white interior of the plane, moving forward to greet the civilian.
"Welcome, you must be Georgi? Welcome to our little plane." greeted the pilot, gesturing towards the inner bowels of the aircraft.
"Small? You could fit the insides of my house in here! Could you tell us more about this beast?"
"Naturally. We are standing inside one of the state's An-225 Mriyas, over eighty-four meters long, eighteen meters tall and with wings spreading over eighty-eight meters all while weighing in at over three hundred thousand kilograms." answered the pilot.
"It sure is one hell of a plane. But why are we here today and, more importantly, what is that other aircraft on it's roof and why is it there?"
"That is one of our new toys, the Mitokan Skat, our new combat-capable drone. We aren't allowed to tell you much about it, but I can say that it is one hell of a machine. As much as it is a very capable drone, the main downside of these kind of aircraft comes in their restricted range when compared to regular aircraft, especially when we require long-range compatible ones. The idea being worked on here is the possibility of using larger aircraft as an aerial launching platform for remotely controlled drones, therefore greatly increasing the range of the smaller aircraft. What we'd do is fly this aircraft to the very limit of our friendly airspace, then go about releasing the drone so that it can continue on it's journey." explained the pilot.
"That sounds extremely impressive, and how does this all work? Do you just release it when flying?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, it would probably be easier to show you." answered the pilot, grinning as began to move towards the cockpit.
"Surely it's a bit dangerous, having a plane fly off another at high speeds?" continued the reporter, moving alongside the pilot.
"Of course, but we're passed the stage where they used to crash back into the plane." he answered, chuckling as the crew began to climb into the aircraft's wide cockpit.
Shortly afterwards, the image cut to the large aircraft slowly taxiing out of the hanger, pulled by an airport tractor. The An-225 was then released once it's tail had cleared the hangar, slowly advancing on it's own power onto the dark black taxiway before lining itself up on the runway.
The six engines, steadily humming since they left began to roar simultaneously, accelerating the jet on it's course down the runway, slowly lifting the An-225 into the sky. Taking off shortly behind it was a medium-sized converted commercial airliner modified for the purpose of shooting videos in the air, a small bubble being available on top of and under the fuselage as to allow a camera crew to posses a 360 degree view of the situation. It was from this aircraft that the camera's view switched to, being able to more easily observe the drone's release. After leveling out at a level altitude, the initial procedures for the release began. Progressively the drone pilots inside of the An-225 began to throttle up the jet's engines, bringing up to a level that would allow it to match the carrier's speed. Once this had been achieved, the release mechanism that kept the drone in place on top of the fuselage was released, the jet sitting on top of the larger aircraft for a few seconds before finally lifting off, pointing slightly upwards as to not disengage itself too brutally from the carrier aircraft before rolling itself over to the left as it successfully cleared it's position from the original jet.
"That it there, isn't it?" asked the reporter, the footage switching back to the An-225's cockpit as the reporter pointed out of the main windows towards the black Skat drone flying slightly in front of the jet.
"Yes, that's it. It's a bit smaller compared to us."
"Surely it would be easier to put it on top of a smaller plane? It does seem rather wasteful to have such a big aircraft for such a smaller one." asked the reporter as the An-225 began to pull away from the flight line.
"That's correct. However, it's a perfect testing base for this project. It's a large aircraft easily capable of lifting far more weight than it currently is, which means that in a worse case testing scenario where the drone somehow hit us or an engine, we'd still have a lot of aircraft left to try and get us home. There's that and the fact that the twin-tail configuration of the An-225 provided us with more than enough space to let the drone's engine pass it's heat through while having enough weight allowance to permit us to reinforce and protect the fuselage against the heat."
"So what would be the next step in this program? A smaller carrier jet?"
"That's definitely one of the ideas that the research teams are going through, there is obviously quite a bit of information that we aren't allowed to speak of or don't know, but one of the projects that should be going through sooner or later is the idea of remotely controlling the carrier jet as well."
"Sounds a bit risky, an even bigger drone?"
"Well obviously this is in the early stages of planning, we're not going to allow anything that new to fly over inhabited areas for quite a while yet." answered the pilot.
On the final note, the camera view slowly switched back to another location, showing the drone land at the same airport which the carrier jet had took off from, ending the documentary on the whine of the Mitokan Skat's Klimov engine, continuing over the Globexanterian flag which symbolized the documentary's end.
