Cold War Archives - Mechtraveller

Rare MiG-17 booked for Hampshire Air Festival

Alastair — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:16:17 +0000

The new Hampshire Air Festival has confirmed the appearance of a rare MiG-17F in the festival’s opening year flying display. Taking place at Thruxton Aerodrome on 12–13 September 2026, Hampshire Air Festival is a new two-day aviation weekend created to celebrate “The Age of Flight” through flying displays, static aircraft and a Saturday evening extravaganza […]

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London Tunnels to house the Museum of Military Intelligence

Alastair — Thu, 22 May 2025 14:58:19 +0000

The London Tunnels project has announced a partnership with the Museum of Military Intelligence (MMI) which will put part of the museum’s collection on permanent display in the tunnels, showcasing the history of military intelligence and the military use of the tunnels. London Tunnels are developing the former World War II tunnel complex 30 metres […]

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Bränsklekärra 91 – The monowheel fuel tank

Alastair — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 16:47:28 +0000

The Swedish army has always wanted to arm itself independently with Swedish designed vehicles (The Strv S being an obvious example), but at the same time it has been pragmatic enough to recognise when local design and development is lagging behind, and has gone shopping for foreign vehicles to plug the gap. This is how, […]

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Review: Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum

Alastair — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 17:32:25 +0000

The Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum is a treasure trove of aviation history, all crammed into a small site, and definitely worth a long visit, or two, to do it justice. The museum started life in 1972 as the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Society, a small group of aviation enthusiasts who started building a collection […]

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Submarine Espadon – Saint Nazaire

Alastair — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 14:05:22 +0000

Espadon (“Swordfish”) is a French submarine from the Cold War era, now a museum ship on display in Saint-Nazaire. Other Saint-Nazaire Posts Operation Chariot Battlefield Trail in Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire Mystery Wreckage Submarine Espadon – Museum Ship EOL Centre éolien – Learning Centre Écomusée – Industrial Heritage Museum Escal’Atlantic – Transatlantic Liner Experience Chantiers de l’Atlantique […]

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Possible New Ship Museum on Lake Erie

Alastair — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 09:12:34 +0000

The city of Erie in Pennsylvania on the east bank of Lake Erie, is considering the creation of a new ship museum using a Cold War era, Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate. The connection is Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the 19th century American naval commander, who is a local and national hero for defeating […]

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Rocket-assisted F-104 Starfighter

Alastair — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 11:57:00 +0000

In the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, NATO developed ZELL – the Zero-Length Launch system, using rocket-assisted F-104 Starfighters and other primary attack aircraft. Being right on the border with the Eastern Bloc, West Germany in particular had little time to identify and intercept any airborne attacks should they occur. Getting airborne […]

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Review: Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston SC

Alastair — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 13:20:14 +0000

The Naval and Maritime Museum at Patriots Point is pretty spectacular and definitely worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood. By ‘neighbourhood’ I mean pretty much anywhere on the central east coast of the continent! The largest exhibit by far is the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown CV-10. It dominates the shoreline at Mount […]

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ZSU-23-4 “Shilka”

Alastair — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 16:35:37 +0000

The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is a Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft system. I thought the Shilka was an old piece of Cold War kit, but it turns out that, while it may be old, many countries have developed upgrade packs and are still using it. The ZSU-23-4 (Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka = “anti-aircraft self-propelled system”, 23mm x 4 guns) […]

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A Cold War Missile Site in North Dakota is Now Open to the Public

Alastair — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 14:21:11 +0000

Picture this. East v. West relations have deteriorated to the point where somebody in the Soviet Union launches a flurry of nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) at the USA. Suddenly, as they begin to re-enter the atmosphere over northern Canada, a set of steel hatches behind a wire fence in the remote plains of North […]

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