Ship's Locker: Out of the Closet

Advanced Combat Rifle

1. Probably the premier paramilitary smallarm in Traveller.

2. Impossible to replicate.

3. I'll assume it's the natural evolution, in concept, from the assault rifle.

4. Since I can't replicate it, I'll assume that the Terrans stole the design from the Vilani.

5. Which makes it lost technology of alien origin.

6. Originally, I came up with two different brands, Clash(nikov), and Ass(ault Rifle)Lite.

7. Considering we want to smuggle them into the Imperium, as well as sell them, legally, as hunting rifles, modularity seemed called for.

8. Russian intransigence makes modularity moot.

9. But I like the Clash brand.
 
Actually, I do happen to think the advanced combat rifle is alientech, ripped off from the Vilani.

And, it's possible, the Vilani stole it from someone else.

Cos, seriously, four and a half hundred metres range for an intermediate cartridge.

Gyrostabilizer and every possible electronic sensor for a thousand starbux.

Ammunition for likely a quarter of a starbux per round.
 
And, it's possible, the Vilani stole it from someone else.

Cos, seriously, four and a half hundred metres range for an intermediate cartridge.

Gyrostabilizer and every possible electronic sensor for a thousand starbux.

Ammunition for likely a quarter of a starbux per round.

Terrans don't need the Vilani to rip the ACR off of, but by the 57th century, records are unclear.
The Vilani didn't need other aliens to have ripped it from. By the Interstellar Wars, records were lost. Oh NO, of Course they Didn't Do It Deliberately.


Everything else, I agree with.
 
If you think about it, the Terrans met the Vilani, while they were at technological level nine.

Someone from the Western Hemisphere must have seen the technological level ten assault rifle, and thought that would be ideal for hunting Bambi's mom.
 
Falsifying History by Destroying Cities

Could an advanced ancient civilization have built grand utopian cities all over the world—only to have them destroyed or covered up? In this video, we explore the real historical “cover-up” behind these provocative photos, focusing on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Join me and architectural conspiracy expert Zach Mortice explore the iconic “White City” at the World’s Fair which birthed modern urban planning—and might have accidentally fueled the Tartarian conspiracy theories. We’ll take on why these grand structures vanished, the rise of the City Beautiful Movement, and how Parisian-style boulevards replaced entire communities in American cities.




1. Cultural facades.

2. Then, we find out that the Vilani build pyramids.
 
If you think about it, the Terrans met the Vilani, while they were at technological level nine.

Someone from the Western Hemisphere must have seen the technological level ten assault rifle, and thought that would be ideal for hunting Bambi's mom.
Those Westerners and their guns
 
Halo's Vehicles suck and you know it!

We begin our journey into the crappy world of hover trash by pulling apart one of the most beloved franchises in recent history. Bungie and 343's HALO




1. Open topped spacecraft - less volume, more performance.

2. Unlimited man power pool.

3. Cheaper variant.

4. Add jump drive; or, add wheels to scoutship.

5. Unlimbered hamster wheel - all all terrain vehicle.

6. If it's fast enough, will drive on water.
 
The US Army's wheeled Workhorse | The Mechanical Mule in the Vietnam War

The M274 Half Ton utility Platform truck dubbed the Mechanical Mule by the troops that used it, is for me one of the most iconic vehicles used by the US forces during the Vietnam war. I take a look at the history of this unique load-baring platform from its inception to its use as a base for the 106mm Recoilless Rifle during the Battle for Hue in 1968.




1. Really open topped.

2. Naked controls.

3. Almost like a go cart, but uplfited.

4.
horse-drawn-cart-vector-23336237.jpg


5. You could weld another trier of rails on them, for either cargo or passengers.
 
Is Your Office Designed to Control You? [The 'Severance' Effect]

In Severance, Lumon Industries’ eerie, minimalist offices are designed to sever employees from their identities—both literally and architecturally. My video explores how corporate office design has long been a tool of control, tracing its roots to figures like Frederick Taylor, who pioneered “scientific management” to maximize efficiency, and Robert Propst, whose “Action Office” was meant to free workers but was distorted into cubicle farms. We examine how buildings like Eero Saarinen’s John Deere HQ and the Bell Labs complex shaped the sterile corporate aesthetic, while real-life disasters like the Waterside Mall’s Sick Building Syndrome revealed the dangers of hyper-controlled workspaces. Drawing parallels to The Backrooms, liminal space, and memory palaces, I break down how Severance turns office life into psychological horror. Ultimately, the video asks: Where does your job end and your identity begin? And how can we design workplaces that respect humans, not just efficiency?




1. What's more hermetically sealed than a spacecraft?

2. Is your starship making you sick?

3. You'll be spending more time there, than at the office.

4. Controlling and feeding you information.

5. You byte the bits.

6. Severing your memory from identity.

7. (A)mazing.

8. Maybe, no corridors?

9. Kenopsia.

A. Time and logic completing dissolving could describe jumpspace.

B. Is escape impossible during transitions?

C. Could jumpspace be bland?

D. Menus do seem depend on the what the Captain decides on.

E. Losing track while in jumpspace.

F. Your identity as a Traveller.

G. I am an artificial intelligence.
 
Is Your Office Designed to Control You? [The 'Severance' Effect]

In Severance, Lumon Industries’ eerie, minimalist offices are designed to sever employees from their identities—both literally and architecturally. My video explores how corporate office design has long been a tool of control, tracing its roots to figures like Frederick Taylor, who pioneered “scientific management” to maximize efficiency, and Robert Propst, whose “Action Office” was meant to free workers but was distorted into cubicle farms. We examine how buildings like Eero Saarinen’s John Deere HQ and the Bell Labs complex shaped the sterile corporate aesthetic, while real-life disasters like the Waterside Mall’s Sick Building Syndrome revealed the dangers of hyper-controlled workspaces. Drawing parallels to The Backrooms, liminal space, and memory palaces, I break down how Severance turns office life into psychological horror. Ultimately, the video asks: Where does your job end and your identity begin? And how can we design workplaces that respect humans, not just efficiency?




1. What's more hermetically sealed than a spacecraft?

2. Is your starship making you sick?

3. You'll be spending more time there, than at the office.

4. Controlling and feeding you information.

5. You byte the bits.

6. Severing your memory from identity.

7. (A)mazing.

8. Maybe, no corridors?

9. Kenopsia.

A. Time and logic completing dissolving could describe jumpspace.

B. Is escape impossible during transitions?

C. Could jumpspace be bland?

D. Menus do seem depend on the what the Captain decides on.

E. Losing track while in jumpspace.

F. Your identity as a Traveller.

G. I am an artificial intelligence.
The thing I hate about your YouTube asides is that they take me down another rabbit hole and now I have another subscription... good thing I'm going to retire this year or I won't have to to watch all the videos :unsure:
 
The Future of Shotguns is Insane

Every U.S. Army infantryman needs to be issued a shotgun as a last line of defense against FPV explosive drones. Even if its just a last resort! Over the past year, shotguns have increasingly become the weapon of choice for infantry to take down drones in the field. The U.S. military has taken notice and in response they’re asking the defense industry to develop specialized counter-drone shotgun shells and detection systems.




1. Shotguns - they're better than nothing.

2. The issue for Traveller might be, how far can you customize and/or improve them, before they are in violation of a law level.

3. Effect, rate of fire, and/or ammunition capacity.

4. Grenades should be by then be small enough.

5. Shotgun armed drones.
 
The thing I hate about your YouTube asides is that they take me down another rabbit hole and now I have another subscription... good thing I'm going to retire this year or I won't have to to watch all the videos :unsure:

Dami Lee is one of the more worthwhile channels, though.
 
Mules: The AK-47 of Logistics Recommitting to Pack-animals Across the Spectrum of Conflict
by SWJ Staff

05.20.2021 at 12:47am
Mules: The AK-47 of Logistics

Recommitting to Pack-animals Across the Spectrum of Conflict

By Christopher D. Booth


“He has been weighed anew in the scales of battle … and not found wanting … he marches up among the roaring guns with a steady nonchalance that lends confidence and faith to the fighting men who depend so much on him.”

Dispatch on Mules from World War I – 1917

Considered by many to be an anachronism is this technological age, there are grounds to reconsider their use for future conflict. Pack-animals can carry up to a third of their bodyweight in cargo. Pack-train logistics could not only play a role in supporting U.S. special operations units engaged in irregular warfare, but would be well suited for the U.S. Marine Corps’ expeditionary advanced base operations concept. They provide mobility with a limited logistical tail, as they do not require fuel, lubricants, or spare parts; and in the case of mules require little forage (and often can subsist off of indigenous plants) – ideal for dispersed units who may be cut-off or irregularly supplied in a great-power conflict. Furthermore, they are not susceptible to many of the counters China is expected to employ to blunt U.S. technology. At a minimum, the Marine Corps’ new Marine Littoral Regiment could serve as a test-bed for an experimental unit equipped with pack-animals as the Corps engages in force design. A review of the history of military pack-trains helps highlight their continued relevance.

History

Mules ability to endure heat, carry heavy loads across great distances for extended periods, and subsist on poor fodder made them ideal for the U.S. Army, which long relied upon them as a mainstay of military logistics. They were first used in great numbers during the Mexican American War, and were the predominant transport system during World War I and in select theaters in World War II. Pack-trains were used in the Korean War, but the Army deactivated its last unit in 1956.

Considered the “father” of modern pack-trains, General George Crook perfected the packing and use of mules in the American Indian Wars of the 1870-1880s. Pack mules provided the mobility for the Army to chase the Apaches and other tribes across the difficult terrain of the South-west. Mules were ideally suited for this environment given their hardiness and sure-footedness. They also eat less, and require less protein and forage than a horse. As an example, over a 30-day period of the winter of 1872 in Arizona Crook’s mules each carried a net weight of 320 pounds over 30 miles a day; and in some cases mules sustained 60-80 miles a day. In 1881, a troop of scouts with a pack-train chasing Apache across rugged New Mexico traveled 85 miles in 12 hours. In one of the final campaigns of the Indian Wars, the Fourth Cavalry’s pursued Geronimo for over 2,000 miles. Most troops had to be replaced due to exhaustion, but the mules averaged over 30 miles a day and subsisted solely on native grasses.

The Army recognized the importance of pack-trains during its counter-insurgency in the Philippines, where they allowed units to operate with extended supply-lines across areas with limited trails. The critical role that well-loaded and cared for mules played in the operations is demonstrated by the fact that the commanding general ordered all officers below command rank to take mule packing courses, where they were graded by civilian packers with results provided to their superiors. (Poorly loaded mules were not only inefficient for supplying forces, but ill-fitting loads led to sores that could incapacitate valuable animals).

Pack-animals played a crucial in the Second World War in Italy, campaigns in the Pacific, and in the China-Burma-India theater. The legendary “Merrill’s Marauders” relied upon mules to carry their supplies in the terrible terrain. Writing about New Guinea, the British War Office’s Imperial General Staff recognized that porters and “animals moving on foot were the best, and really the only, means of penetrating far into the dense jungle and mountain country.” Vietnam and the modern wars demonstrated the value of helicopter casualty evacuation, but in the absence of aerial assets, pack-animals provide a means to move casualties. As the British observed in New Guinea, the wounded were less roughly treated when carried on horseback – as if the horse understood its job – than carried by a bouncing vehicle.

In his study of guerrilla warfare, theorist, revolutionary, and tee-shirt icon, Che Guevara stressed the value of mules in covert transport, stressing that well-trained guerrilla “muleteers” and their mule teams could create “regular four-footed armies of unbelievable effectiveness.” In the 1980s, U.S. supported insurgents employed such teams during the war in Afghanistan. Soviet helicopters prioritized attacks on mujahedin supply-trains. The CIA shipped thousands of Tennessee mules to replace those killed in air-strikes, dying through misuse or after being eaten by the holy warriors. A few years later the “Horse Soldiers” of the initial invasion in Afghanistan became famous. These Special Forces units were the first Americans to use horses in that conflict, but were not the last. It was common for the most remote outposts to rely upon pack-animals for resupply.

Despite a new focus on great power conflict with near-peer competitors, some suggest that irregular conflict is more rather than less likely in today’s environment. Pack-animal logistics provides a tool for use across the spectrum of conflict from counter-insurgency operations to supporting Marines in the second-island chain in a conflict against the Chinese.

Survivable Systems

In addition to the limited logistics tail that pack-animals require, they also perhaps provide a robust capability that is immune to many of the strategies adversaries are expected to employ to counter American technology. While planners in the XVIII Airborne Corps pine for autonomous resupply drones, an industry is evolving to counter them. Russia is a leader in developing counter-GPS jammers, used to great effect in Ukraine. Unmanned aerial vehicles rely upon the network of U.S. satellites for everything from relaying telemetry to providing accurate locational data. Russia has invested in counter-space weapons and has practiced attacks on U.S. satellites. China too seeks to dominate space as a military domain and has its own counter-space systems. As mules do not rely on GPS, nor do they emanate anything on the electromagnetic spectrum they can avoid the fate of many platforms – namely anything sensed with a U.S. military signature can be struck by adversaries. A bonus defensive capability relied upon by Appalachian moonshiners was a mule’s ability to hear men approaching from a mile away and alerting in that direction.

Delivery

Locally procured animals obviate the need for delivery in theater, though the preference would be to have trained teams of handlers and animals. Shipborne delivery remains the cheapest method to deliver large quantities of supplies. But aerial delivery is an option. In 1944, during his second long-range penetration of occupied Burma, irregular warfare pioneer Orde Wingate and his “Chindits” carried their supplies via mule. After establishing beach-heads in Japanese territory, Wingate’s forces were resupplied by air – with 1,300 additional mules brought into theater by glider and C-47 aircraft. The U.S. Army conducted exercises in the 1940s demonstrating that mules could be airdropped. The U.S. Forest Service relies upon mules to support fire-control operations and exposes young mules to helicopters as they will often be working in close proximity fighting wildfires. In their cabins the Marine Corps’ heavy-lift helicopter the CH-53 can carry up to 35,000 lbs. and U.S. Army Chinooks can carry 20,000 pounds. Thus, aerial delivery of pack-animals is a reasonable possibility.

Who/What?

Already during the Second World War experienced muleskinners and packers were in short supply, and since then the lack of experienced handlers has become pronounced. Proficient saddlers, farriers, and pack masters are not produced overnight and developing a bond between the handlers and their animals to function as a team requires time (K9 handlers and their dogs are a similar example). The Army learned in the Indian Wars that without experienced packers mules were of little use; and teams became more efficient the longer they worked together. It is noteworthy, that Germany – one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world – maintains a specialized unit equipped with mules in its Mountain Infantry Brigade. The trust built by regularly working together is a key reason that the unit has its own mules rather than playing a “pick-up game” and deploying to a region and looking for what is on-hand. (The Wehrmacht’s reliance on horses for transport throughout the Second World War on one-hand demonstrates that pack-animal logistics can function at scale, but on the other the downsides of this method predominating in a high-intensity global conflict.)

Which Animals?

Mules are the signature pack-animal, but horses can be an adequate substitute. (Many Marines know the story of Sergeant Reckless, the Korean mare who made 50 solo trips carrying recoilless rifle rounds and evacuating the wounded during the 1953 battle of Outpost Vegas). The mule population has fallen from a peak of nearly six-million in 1925 to 28,000 in 2007. However, the number of wild mustangs loose in the American West is far in excess of what is environmentally sustainable, with their population increasing by 15 to 20 percent a year. Some estimate there may be 95,000 on the range. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management works with Nevada, Arizona and other states’ prison systems to have inmates train wild horses that it captures rather than destroy them. These mustangs have been placed with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Border Patrol, and state wildlife agencies. Inmates working with horses have reduced recidivism rates after they are released. Similarly, there are programs supporting veterans working with pack-animals as a means to help treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The potential to further a nascent industry in training pack-animals could benefit the military as well as support efforts to provide improved outcomes for prisoners and recovering veterans.

Current Doctrine & Training

The allure of pack animals as a mode of logistics transport for challenging terrain or remote areas periodically resurfaces. This happened during the Vietnam War; in the 1980s when the Army developed a “Mule Committee” to consider their use in the secret wars in Latin America; and over the past two decades of the “Global War on Terror” through a renewed focus on doctrine and training. The Army has issued FM 31-27, Pack Animals in Support of Special Operations Forces (published in 2000) and ATP 3-18.13, Special Forces Use of Pack Animals (2014).

Army Special Forces and U.S. Marine Corps offer training courses in the use of pack animals in their mountain warfare schools: as part of the Special Operations Advanced Mountaineering School, or the Marine Corps’ Animal Packing Course. Unfortunately, producing several dozen graduates a year who return to their home units is insufficient. No soldier would be allowed to sling-load a helicopter five years after attending Air Assault School if they had not kept their skills current. Similarly it is too much to ask for them to not only plan pack-loads for animals, but manage, care, and work with them as well. The Pentagon should increase the number of classes, the number of sites, and the Military Occupational Specialties that they are sending to these courses – with the aim of not only providing training, but ultimately a cadre of animal packers and handlers. These soldiers and marines would staff specialized logistics units equipped with their own pack-animals for use not only in irregular warfare, but potentially in great power competition.

Conclusion

The age of miles-long wagon-trains supporting horse cavalry and marching infantry are long gone and no one advocates their return. Nevertheless, pack-animals represent a capability that may provide a benefit across the spectrum of conflict. The Marines and Army Special Forces are the last bastions preserving this military skill, and have engaged in the critical steps of developing doctrine and offering training on animal packing. Now is the time to consider expanding those efforts, and fielding test-units staffed with trained packers, handlers, and animals who could deliver a brutal kick when U.S. enemies least expect it.

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the U.S. Government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.


 
6 February, 2025
Russian army`s donkey. Source: SOLDATSKAYA PRAVDA channel


Russian troops start receiving donkeys for logistics

Some units of the Russian army began to receive donkeys as pack animals.

Photos and videos of the animals were published by a number of Russian Telegram channels.

In particular, the Zhyvov Z channel reported that a donkey was issued to one of the units as a regular logistics vehicle, meaning that the animal did not come to the troops on a volunteer or personal initiative.

“The guys in one of the areas were given a donkey for logistics. A real donkey. A statutory military donkey. The guys shared and accompanied the story with a lot of colorful epithets,” the statement reads.


The author of the channel, also known as “Mayorskyy kOrtyZol”, stated that the pack animal was received by one of the support units.

The same photos and videos were published by the Russian channel “Dva majora”, which show that donkeys are kept in pens built from improvised materials.

This may indicate that the donkeys were transferred to the frontline units to provide logistics both on and near the front line.

Such a drastic decision is likely due to the shortage of vehicles and unmanned ground platforms capable of performing logistical tasks.


Russian army`s donkey. Source: “ZHIVOV Z”
It remains unclear how the Russians plan to use these slow animals, which do not tolerate humid climates and require constant care and adequate nutrition.


...




 
If you wanna race away with me, I know a galaxy
And I can take you for a ride
I had a premonition that we fell into a rhythm
Where the howling can't be denied
Glitter in the sky, glitter in my eyes
Shining just like that night
If you're feeling like you lack a little bit of pack
You met me at the perfect time

You want me, I want you, Snoopy
My scooby doo, I'm gravitating
The Milky Way, we're astrogating
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof

I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight
I need you all night, come on, prance with me
I'm gravitating
You, moonlight, you're my starlight (you're the moonlight)
I need you all night, come on, prance with me
I'm gravitating

I believe that you're for me, I feel it in our energy
I see us written in the stars
We can go wherever, so let's do it now or never, Snoopy
Nothing's ever, ever too far
Glitter in the sky, glitter in our eyes
Shining just the way we are
I feel like we're forever, every time we get together
But whatever, let's get lost on Mars

You want me, I want you, Snoopy
My scooby doo, I'm gravitating
The Milky Way, we're astrogating
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof

I got you, moonlight, you're my starlight
I need you all night, come on, prance with me
I'm gravitating
You, moonlight, you're my starlight (you're the moonlight)
I need you all night, come on, prance with me
I'm gravitating (ah hoo)

You can fly away with me tonight
You can fly away with me tonight
Snoopy, let me take you for a ride
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof
I'm gravitating (ah hoo)

You can fly away with me tonight
You can fly away with me tonight
Snoopy, let me take you for a ride
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof (ah hoo)


My love is like a jump drive, watch it cast off
Hydrogen so electric, the shadow past of
And stop activation, it's too fast of
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof
 
60 MIND-BLOWING SMART CARS OF THE FUTURE 🚀|You WON'T BELIEVE the MIND-BLOWING Cars of 2025

Welcome to TEVH VERSE! 🚀 Get ready to witness 60 smart wonder cars that will blow your mind! From futuristic electric vehicles to AI-powered autonomous cars, these next-gen machines redefine innovation. Whether it's flying cars, self-driving technology, or cutting-edge designs, this video brings you the most unbelievable smart vehicles of the future.




1. Light ground vehicle chassis - one to twenty spaces.

2. Three quarters kilostarbux per space.

3. Land rowing.

4. Personal transportation technology.

5. Coracle.

6. Flying car - sixty kilostarbux?

7. Personal hydrofoil.

8. Motorized tricycle.

9. Hoverboard wheelchair.

A. Compactable/transformable.

B. Scooter bike.
 
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