🦦

I have realised the joy of making charts like these. Just goes to show how much of a success the Hawk was, it’s a shame BAE never got around to building a clean sheet replacement for the bestseller, but the options today: Aeralis, T-7 & others were quite interesting to look into!

The Race to Replace the Hawk Is Britain Too Late, or Just in Time?

Penned some of my thoughts on the #RAF’s looming trainer decision. With cheap drones eating #defence budgets alive, as seen in #Ukraine & #Israel, pitting £120M aircraft against £10k UAVs, perhaps it’s time to rethink a missing layer of modern airpower?

Read here: open.substack.com/pub/ahamadno...

Anybody got a spare one thousand seven hundred and fifty one great British pounds 👉🏾👈🏾

Source for the images: www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?to...

Stumbled on these pics of someone modelling an AEW BAe 146 back in 2006, repositioning the horizontal stabiliser to prevent turbulent air from the disk affecting elevator authority.

Doubt the RAF would have had the appetite for “Built in Britain” planes after the Nimrod debacle though.

Uni looked pretty this evening 🫠

A movie you've seen more than 7 times with a gif

I love the renders for the new Buchanan bus station in Glasgow. Would be quite an upgrade if they just stop wasting time and just shut up and build it. It’ll do wonders for the city compared to what stands there right now.

It’s hard to say what could or could not have happened. But it’s interesting to imagine it!

Furthermore, there would not be an Axis of resistance, and maybe Oslo might not have collapsed (although then again people like Netanyahu would have still done their bit) Assad in Syria would have fallen quickly and neither would the Houthis be such a pain.

5/6

That could also mean no potentially no invasion of Afghanistan, but certainly not an invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam (possibly because imperial Iran would have carried it out many years prior!)

4/6

This would intern not lead to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, no stationing of American troops in Arab states and therefore no motivation for 9/11 (though I still think Al Qaeda would have thought of another excuse for that.)

3/6

the purge of Iranian military officers wouldn’t have happened, Iran would have had much more prepared and have more American support and the 8 year war would have been much more shorter, with Saddam potentially ousted from power.

2/6

History would have been a lot more peaceful had the 1979 revolution not happened.

For starters while Saddam Hussein would have still invaded Iran (which is what the Shah was partly preparing for, his massive modernisation drive being to deter Iraq),

1/6

Been a while since I was last on here! What have I missed 👀

I kinda don’t get it, i mean around the world it’s ok to rent out your house, in places like India it’s even encouraged, why is it a scandal here in Britain?

Ever imagined what the imperial Iranian navy would have looked like if the 1979 #revolution never broke out?

Made an infographic to sort of illustrate this alternate scenario. Part of my latest #substack piece exploring Pahlavi #Iran’s #military #modernisation.

The Shah’s Immortals A look at the forgotten armies of Imperial Iran

The Shah of #Iran dreamt of building the most powerful military in the #MiddleEast — fleets of tanks & destroyers, wings of F-14s soaring over the #Gulf. But in 1979, it collapsed overnight.

My latest piece explores how this modernisation became his undoing

Link: open.substack.com/pub/ahamadno...

A Mirage in the Desert The Legacy of French Aviation in the Middle East

France may have lost its empire, but in Arab skies it a network of loyalties and dependencies, bound not by force, but by aluminium and afterburners. Here’s my latest piece, exploring how aerospace remains an enduring instrument of French foreign policy.

Read here: open.substack.com/pub/ahamadno...

I don’t back away from a good chat, if that’s what you’re asking 👀

I mean there’s no point being what I’m not, well atleast on the internet. I can wear a mask when I have to lol

In the two years I’ve been here, I’ve only once been treated unpleasantly, and that was by a fellow Indian 😭 I don’t recall any other incident.

Apparently there’s a weird mindset that older immigrants have towards those who are new here. I mean you once were in my shoes too!

Awwww thank you 💜

Single lol, nobody wants me 🤪

Anonymous messages! Anonymous messages!

Been a while since I tried this out, wonder if someone’s awake haha
ngl.link/boredmonarch...

YouTube video by Top Gear Classic Turning A Reliant Robin Into A Space Shuttle | Top Gear Classic

Came across this on Reddit this morning, couldn’t believe it until I saw it! The closest Britain’s been to its own shuttle is a Reliant Robin 😭 They must have another go!

Turning A Reliant Robin Into A Space Shuttle | Top Gear Classic youtu.be/mBVYB5GWOeo?...

Between Two Seas Charting the Birth of a Modern Bahraini Nation State

#Bahrain’s history is full of echoes from Britain’s past. Ahmed Al-Fateh stands as our William the Conqueror. A failed Omani invasion recalls the Spanish Armada, our counterstrike the English Armada. And Zubarah? Our lost Normandy.

Explore these uncanny parallels: open.substack.com/pub/ahamadno...

I really have a cursed existence. My mum went through my follow list and chastised me for looking at men, told me to think of the wider family, and that she wouldn’t allow such filth around her as long as she lived. Her tirade gave me a glimpse of what would happen if I ever decided to come out.

the solution is further innovation, invest in renewables/nuclear, develop better sustainable aviation fuels and look at carbon capture. And yes, can’t agree more about pushing hard on more high speed rail. Infrastructure and construction needs reform in the UK

Aircraft have become increasingly sophisticated and efficient in the last 25 years, noise and emissions have reduced significantly. This trend will continue and despite the increase in flights the impact won’t be as much as it used to. Makes no sense to stifle growth in the name of the climate,