Next Major Update - Rumor Round-Up & Discussion

built to british specs to be exported only to the British however got adopted into US service.

Literally British in its entire design, built in the US under licence

A worse Wessex

Designed as an export vehicle for the RAF, wasn’t intended for American service. most notable variants use the British rolls royce merlin engine built under licence by allison

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F-4
F-18 radar
American missiles
and bombs
and rockets

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its… the same plane

And also bro look at the wiki lmao

bandicam 2024-12-23 17-20-06-692

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primarily employed on light attack or multi-role missions, ranging from close air support of ground troops to armed reconnaissance. The AV-8B is used by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), the Spanish Navy, and the Italian Navy. A variant of the AV-8B, the British Aerospace Harrier II, was developed for the British military, while another, the TAV-8B, is a dedicated two-seat trainer.

The project that eventually led to the AV-8B’s creation started in the early 1970s as a cooperative effort between the United States and United Kingdom

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The UK dropped out of the original improved harrier program 1975, and then US dropped out of it too. but McDonnell Douglas continues with another redesign in 1976 bc there was still a want from the USMC, they make the YAV-8B with new intake, exhaust, and wings. After seeing how it was actually going somewhat well, UK rejoined the project in 1981, which granted did help it, but it was originally an American redesign

I did look, you left out some important parts

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Full airframe redesign make it a new airplane, it was based on the first harrier, but it’s still a new aircraft

So you agree the Old mustang was British since the Americans redesign it into a better aircraft : P

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Like the old old mustangs? With the Allison engines?

Made in US by North American but yeah initially USAAF wasn’t involved so I’d consider them more of a joint project from a design standpoint, but in service it was a British aircraft

Not just engine, the entire aircraft

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Made by North American? Originally to British request but from P-51B onwards was for USA, by US manufacturer

It was made by a US company, but was developed completely independently from the US, being developed for britain to british standards. Hell without britain, theres a good chance the Mustang would never have existed (or at least not in its historical config) without the British, since at the time North American had never built a fighter aircraft and were more focused on things like the Harvard

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I know, that’s why I specified from P-51B onwards was made on USA for the USA

Earlier ones were for UK, made in USA

Yeah, from the B onwards they were more of a joint project, and both nations used them extensively

im not entirely sure what people are arguing about here but Im strongly of the opinion that if a nation used a vehicle in large enough numbers, or it fills a gap that it should get it

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I mean without Malysia they would of most likely not had the rubber for it lol

The rubber for the tires used on the P-51 Mustang during World War II likely came from a mix of sources, primarily tied to the global rubber supply situation at the time.

Key Sources of Rubber for P-51 Mustang Tires:

  1. Natural Rubber (Pre-War and Limited Wartime Use):
  • Southeast Asia: Before World War II, most natural rubber used in U.S. industries, including aircraft tire manufacturing, came from British Malaya (modern-day Malaysia), Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian regions.

    • During the war, Japanese control of much of Southeast Asia in 1941–1942 disrupted natural rubber supplies, forcing the U.S. to pivot to alternatives.
  • Synthetic Rubber (Primary Source During Wartime):

  • With natural rubber supplies cut off, the U.S. ramped up production of synthetic rubber through programs like the U.S. Rubber Reserve Company.

  • Synthetic rubber was produced from petroleum-based feedstocks, such as butadiene and styrene. The key manufacturing centers were in the United States, particularly along the Gulf Coast and Midwest.

  • Companies like Goodyear, Firestone, and U.S. Rubber Company developed and manufactured tires specifically for military aircraft, including the P-51 Mustang.

What part of “before WW2” doesn’t make sense to you?

If only they had won a few more battles they would be on top of this chart

image

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okay and?

without US oil Britain likely wouldnt have won the battle of Britain

soo all of the 1940s RAF aircraft for the US?

WW2 was team effort, the whole idea that any one nation would have single handedly won it is wrong, the war could have turned out very differently if any of the allies weren’t involved

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Someone made a claim that UK should get merkava bc loose technical connection/they controlled the region a while ago. I made a list of aircraft and ground vehicles with similar/closer technical ties to the US which are present in other trees to highlight why their reasoning was pretty bad, then ppl started arguing about the av8b and mustang not being american, and then we are here

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image

Okay so, trying to digest that roller coaster of a paragraph

That has to be bait or a joke, because thats just stupid

yeah, whilst harrier was originally a british design, the Harrier II was largely done by the US until the UK rejoined later on, with the First GR.5 prototype being assembled from an AV-8B airframe, and both the British and American Harrier IIs having some pretty distinct differences.

as said above, the early mustangs not really, but from the B onwards were more of a joint project.

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