Supercar

A supercar is a very expensive and high-performance sports car or grand tourer. The term is used in marketing by automakers for unusual, high-end vehicles, and has been used to refer to at least four different sorts of cars:

History

An advertisement for the Ensign Six, a 6.7 L (410 cu in) high-performance car similar to the Bentley Speed Six, appeared in The Times for 11 November 1920 with the phrase "If you are interested in a supercar, you cannot afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign 6." The Oxford English Dictionary also cites the use of the word in an advertisement for an unnamed car in The Motor dated 3 November 1920, "The Supreme development of the British super-car." and defines the phrase as suggesting "a car superior to all others". A book published by the Research Institute of America in 1944, that previewed the economic and industrial changes to occur after World War II, used the term "supercar" (author's emphasis) to describe future automobiles incorporating advances in design and technology such as flat floorpans and automatic transmissions.

Supercar (disambiguation)

Supercar may refer to:

See also

Supercar (band)

Supercar (スーパーカー, Sūpākā) was a Japanese rock band active from 1995 to 2005, and who made their debut in 1997. Consisting of composer and vocalist Kōji Nakamura (中村弘二 Nakamura Kōji), lyricist and guitarist Junji Ishiwatari (いしわたり淳治 Ishiwatari Junji), bassist Miki Furukawa (フルカワミキ Furukawa Miki), and drummer Kōdai Tazawa (田沢公大 Tazawa Kōdai), Supercar is best known for combining alternative rock with electronic music. Internationally, Supercar is best known for providing much of the soundtrack for the Japanese film Ping Pong, as well as being featured in the anime series Eureka Seven.

History

Hailing from Aomori Prefecture, Supercar was formed in 1995 when bassist Miki Furukawa placed an advertisement in a local magazine seeking fellow musicians. Junji Ishiwatari responded and convinced childhood friend Kōji Nakamura to join as well. Junji and Kōji soon recruited drummer Kōdai Tazawa, an acquaintance from middle school. After writing songs and recording demo tapes, they received a record contract. In 1997 they released their debut album, Three Out Change, and their second album, Jump Up, in 1999. This album was followed by Ooyeah and Ookeah, both also released in 1999. With the 2000 album Futurama, electronic experimentation took a larger role that would characterize the band's sound for the rest of their career. The 2002 release Highvision continued the electronic development, and the single Strobolights did not even contain a guitar. They released their last album, Answer in 2004. Perhaps their most experimental album, Answer contained balance of both rock and electronica.

BGM-71 TOW

The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided") is an anti-tank missile.

First produced in 1970, the TOW is one of the most widely used anti-tank guided missiles.

Design and development

Initially developed by Hughes Aircraft between 1963 and 1968, the XBGM-71A was designed for both ground and heli-borne applications. In 1997, Raytheon Co. purchased Hughes Electronics from General Motors Corporation, so development and production of TOW systems now comes under the Raytheon brand. The BGM-71 TOW wire-guided heavy anti-tank missile is produced by Raytheon Systems Company. The weapon is used in anti-armor, anti-bunker, anti-fortification and anti-amphibious landing roles. The TOW is in service with over 45 militaries and is integrated on over 15,000 ground, vehicle and helicopter platforms worldwide.

In its basic infantry form, the system comprises a missile in a sealed tube which is clipped to a launch tube prior to use. When required, the missile tube is attached to the rear of the launch tube, the target sighted and the missile fired. The launch, or "kick", motor (booster) ejects the missile from the launch tube, at which point four wings indexed at 45 degrees just forward of the booster nozzles spring open forwards, four tail control surfaces flip open rearwards, and sustained propulsion is subsequently provided by the flight motor (sustainer) which fires through lateral nozzles amidships and propels the missile to the target. An optical sensor on the sight continuously monitors the position of a light source on the missile relative to the line-of-sight, and then corrects the trajectory of the missile by generating electrical signals that are passed down two wires to command the control surface actuators. After launch, the operator simply has to keep the cross-hairs of his sight pointing at the target, and the guidance system will automatically transmit corrective commands to the missile through the wire.

BGM-75 AICBM

The ZBGM-75 Advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, also known as Weapons System 120A (WS-120A), was a program to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), proposed by the United States Air Force in the 1960s as a replacement for the LGM-30 Minuteman as the Air Force's standard ICBM. Funding was not allocated for the program and the project was cancelled in 1967.

Background

The Department of Defense began the STRAT-X study on 1 November 1966 to evaluate a new ballistic missile proposal from the Air Force, which was designated the Advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (AICBM). The project was intended to provide a successor to the LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM then in United States Air Force service. The program was officially launched in April 1966, and in June the project received the designation ZBGM-75, the "Z" prefix indicating a project in the planning stage.

The specifications for the ZBGM-75 called for a large solid-fuel-powered missile, which would be fitted with between 10 and 20 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs). The missiles would be based in silo launchers, which were specified to be hardened by a factor of 10 over the existing silos used by Minuteman missiles. In addition, there was also a plan to develop a railroad-based deployment system for the AICBM. Improvements in accuracy over existing missiles, combined with penetration aids under development to enhance the effectiveness of each missile, were expected to make the AICBM capable of defeating existing and projected Soviet anti-ballistic missile systems.

Tomahawk (missile)

The Tomahawk (US /ˈtɑːməhɔːk/ or UK /ˈtɒməhɔːk/) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile named after the Native American axe. Introduced by McDonnell Douglas in the 1970s, it was initially designed as a medium to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times, and due to corporate divestitures and acquisitions, is now made by Raytheon. Some Tomahawks were also manufactured by General Dynamics (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security).

Description

The Tomahawk missile family consists of a number of subsonic, jet engine-powered missiles designed to attack a variety of surface targets. Although a number of launch platforms have been deployed or envisaged, only sea (both surface ship and submarine) launched variants are currently in service. Tomahawk has a modular design, allowing a wide variety of warhead, guidance, and range capabilities.

Variants

There have been several variants of the BGM-109 Tomahawk employing various types of warheads.