1957 ... stuff of nightmares!

... DoD illustration (Gordon Phillips) of 'Project Pluto' nuclear powered ramjet. This was an idea for an unmanned  'SLAM' ( Supersonic Low Altitude Missile). After disposable booster rockets got it aloft and up to supersonic speeds an unshielded light-weight atomic reactor became the heat source for the Mach 3 ramjet. No conventional fuel was needed. Range and time aloft was virtually unlimited.

The design called for a payload of multiple atomic weapons which could be ejected at given points on various targets along the flight plan. Just the shockwave of the vehicle passing over at tree-top level at Mach 3 could kill you. Then there was the matter of that unshielded reactor  irradiating and poisoning large swaths of land as it criss-crossed across the USSR. Nicknamed 'the flying crowbar' a swarm of these death birds could continue operating weeks after anyone was left to kill or care. The Pentagon abandoned plans for the locomotive sized missile after analysis concluded it was just too ... crazy!

Recently Russia has been looking into cheap and scary new ways to intimidate US and Nato; their SSC-X-9 Skyfall is a rebirth of the basic concept. Dr. Strangelove would approve!

In 1958 a science-fiction movie was made with a suspiciously similar 'monster' LINK

... ground based laser!

... an illustration from the National Archives; selling 1980's 'Star Wars' concepts.

I'm diggin' the ink on parchment, notebooks of DaVinci treatment!

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... cutie commie!

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1966 ... know your missiles!

... speedy helicopter-jet!

... more dreams of VTOL. Conventional helicopters are limited in speed by the physics involved with their rotors. This large flat triangle shaped rotor would become a fixed wing for jet-powered forward travel. Design proposed by Hughes aircraft (1980's?)

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1951 ... Atom subs on the way!

1951 ... F-7U "Cutlass" Navy fighter

... looking cool was about the only thing this early US Navy jet fighter did right. Jet engines were still not very powerful or reliable and earned this plane the nicknmae of 'The Gut-less Cutlass'

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1950 ... Atomic Attack!

... three pages from the book "Atomic Attack: How to Survive". It is important to keep in mind the military and historical context. 1950 is only five years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and only one year since the Soviets have tested their first atomic bomb. At this point Russian nuclear weapons are in the 20 kiloton range ( the same size as the Hiroshima "Fat-Man" bomb). Much of the Civil Defense instructions concentrate on avoiding the type of injuries that occurred in Japan. Atomic weapons are not magical and most of the casualties were of the same types suffered in conventional bombing.

The Cold War is still in it's very early phases and much of the technology and strategy we take for granted were not in place yet. The irony is that many feared a surprise attack by Russia more during this period; than later when bombs and stockpiles were much larger and "Mutual Assured Destruction" wad a well known factor of deterrence. Stalin ruled the Soviet juggernaut and a common theory was that Russia would strike as soon as they were capable!

1953 ... big-nose sub!

... USS Bonita of the 'Barracuda' Class.

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fever dreams of VTOL

The Navy longed for a means of air cover for vital and vulnerable merchant convoys. What better way than to launch fighters straight up off the decks of the cargo ships? Landing these flying vego-matics left even veteran test pilots with a bad case of the shakes; that was on several acres of tarmac; now try it on the pitching deck of a ship!

 
We may note that the Navy conservatively held onto prop driven aircraft because they were proven and more fuel efficient than those new-fangled jets. It wasn't until those British invented steam catapults and angled carrier decks that the Navy gave up on wonderfully impossible designs like these.------------------------------------------------------------

top- a real budget-buster from Leifpeng's flickr site

middle- XFY Convair "Pogo"

bottom- XFV-1 Lockheed "Salmon"

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note for all the non-geeks out there- VTOL= vertical take-off and land
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Another Cold War benefit of VTOL is you don't need to rely on airbases with their miles of concrete runways; with a big bulls-eye painted on them. Imagine how cool it would be to have one of these stationed in the backyard next to your swing-set! "Hey mister, you want some lemonade!"