#FLAK

Photo Of The Day: When I was a kid, the German Flakpanzer Gepard was my all-time favourite tank. Finland has a similar take on the concept. They moved their existing Marksman turrets, a British short-range air defense system, from old T-55AM chassis to new Leopard 2 chassis. The main armament of ItPsv90 is two 35 mm Oerlikon autocannons holding 440 rounds of fragmentation and 40 anti-tank rounds. The Leopard is powered by a V-12 diesel engine with 620 hp and probably more torque than we can count.

This Photo Of The Day takes place at night, somewhere in Switzerland. The country is landlocked, so we can assume that they spend more on their army and airforce than their navy. I’m not sure which kind of anti-aircraft guns are used in these pictures, but perhaps the Oerlikon GDF, Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannons? Or do you have a better idea? Oerlikon is now part of Rheinmetall Air Defence AG.

If and when the machine overlords decide to take over the planet, the Skyshield will likely be their air defense weapon of choice. The Skyshield, a modular and potentially mobile air defense system, has been developed by Switzerland’s Oerlikon Contraves Air Defense, to protect critical assets. The SHORAD system, or SHOrt Range Air Defense system is a combination of sensor nodes and weapons emplacements.

Patriot Ballistics is a new company (established in 2016) located in Analomink, PA. They load pretty unique ammunition called FLAK .45. That cartridge (or rather load) is essentially a .45ACP with a special projectile. The projectile consists of a Sierra hollow point bullet (185 gr) sitting on a sort of fine birdshot. That shot is what actually called FLAK. It is a  proprietary Italian-made material, which is denser than lead. The FLAK shot is separated from powder by a gas check. The latter also has a terminal effect on the target. Here is the diagram of the cartridge from Patriot Ballistics website: