HN commenters repeatedly recommend it as a beautiful, approachable explanation of analog mechanical computation, and many have rewatched it.
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The best military history & warfare videos, according to Hacker News
121 videos about military history & warfare that Hacker News commenters keep pointing each other to, ranked by how many separate months they were recommended. Part of Politics, History & Society.
HN treats it as the classic demonstration of how analog mechanical computation works, especially the differential gear section.
HN readers recommend it as a detailed, intelligent documentary about wartime technology that assumes viewers aren't stupid.
Recommended during Afghanistan withdrawal threads as a sobering look at why the transition to local forces was failing.
After the 2022 invasion, commenters spread it widely as an eye-opening explanation of Russian mindset, corruption and propaganda, though a few doubt the presenter's rigor.
HN commenters call it a favorite introduction to Valley history and cite it whenever government and military funding of tech comes up.
HN commenters send people here for a detailed first-hand account from the pilot, and some say it changed their view on the sightings.
HN recommends it for its information-dense maps and voice-over and for showing how commanders decide with limited information.
HN commenters use it to point people to Threads, which they call the most harrowing depiction of nuclear war and say should be mandatory viewing.
HN recommends it as an eye-opening, once-secret history of where Silicon Valley came from, and cites it whenever the military roots of tech come up.
Pointed to as the clearest, evidence-based debunk of the Gimbal footage, and a model of how to analyze such claims.
HN commenters recommend it as a clear explanation of how disinformation campaigns work and where today's tactics came from.
HN recommends it as an entertaining, clear explanation of nuclear weapons basics from a policy expert.
Shared in hypersonic and missile threads as a compact, impressive overview of what Sprint achieved in the 1960s.
HN invokes it as the standard reference whenever drone swarms, autonomous weapons or military AI come up in the news.
HN recommends it as a funny but sobering overview of nuclear weapons safety failures.
Recommended as a classic documentary on military training and the psychology of going to war.
HN keeps citing it whenever drone swarms, autonomous weapons or AI warfare come up, as a believable depiction of where this leads.
HN cites it for an insider's look at defense work and at how the military thinks about information operations and cyberspace.
Strongly recommended for its funny, human account of Los Alamos, which one commenter calls almost a stand-up act.
Recommended as a deeply researched, visual series that shows how overwhelming the coalition air campaign was.
HN recommends it as an in-depth look at the mechanics of intelligence work from a veteran who ran a nonproliferation operation.
Used in hiring and management debates as an analysis of fast evaluation, quick dismissal without stigma, and the cost of keeping underperformers.
HN commenters recommend the series for its in-depth, hands-on explanation of how V2 turbopumps and peroxide decomposition work.
HN recommends it for its comparison of tank factory efficiency and the Soviet approach of building cheap tanks with short lifespans.
HN recommends it as a thorough, nuanced account of why the bombings happened and what led Japan to surrender.
HN points to it as an unusually clear teaching film on how celestial navigation works, and as an example of how good old military training material is.
HN commenters recommend it as an excellent introduction to massive forging presses, especially in threads about gigacasting and large manufacturing machines.
Plugged repeatedly in AI and drone threads as a concise statement of the dangers of automated weapons.
Recommended in life-advice and motivation threads as worth watching in full, especially for its point about starting small by changing yourself.
HN commenters bring it up as a good related watch in any thread about fallout, nuclear tests or detecting hidden events through indirect evidence.
HN cites it for a sense of the scale of WWII casualties by country and the long decline in violence.
HN commenters recommend it as a fascinating, Emmy-winning look at US chemical weapons stockpiles and their dangers.
HN commenters point to it as eyewitness testimony and multi-radar evidence in UFO threads, though some dispute it.
Linked in nearly every F-35 or procurement thread as the classic illustration of feature creep and design by stakeholder committee, including in software.
HN readers recommend it as the way to learn what Boyd actually meant by OODA, straight from a collaborator, rather than from the popularized loop diagram.
Pointed to as an authoritative answer, from a former Abrams commander and tank historian, to claims that tanks are obsolete.
HN considers it the key experimental evidence on how effective longbows really were against armour.
Strongly recommended in nuclear-accident and weapons-history threads as an excellent documentary on how nuclear weapons were made safe and secure.
HN cites it as the one dramatic real-world proof that a launch escape system works.
HN points to it as a compact, reasoned case for Russian responsibility, though at least one commenter found the argument unconvincing.
Recommended as a long but insightful explanation of how corruption works inside institutions.
Recommended as a clear overview of military logistics, often as a contrast with civilian infrastructure efforts.
Cited as one of the best visualizations of how overwhelmingly dominant US industrial output was in the Pacific war.
Recommended in submarine threads as the start of an access-rich series on life aboard a US fast attack sub.
Recommended as a great example of early VR and pre-computer simulation.
HN cites it whenever drone swarms or autonomous weapons come up, as a dramatized warning that now feels increasingly plausible.
HN cites it in threads on military AI as a vivid depiction of where autonomous warfare could lead.
HN points to it as the best source on why these barges are designed for invasion and how they overcome limited landing beaches.
Used as a striking visualization of the sheer scale and rhythm of nuclear testing, and as a model for conveying scale with a counter.
HN commenters recommend it as a practical explanation of microwave hazards and shielding, and of using microwave ovens safely without an enclosure.
HN commenters link it as the primary source for the phrase 'military-industrial complex' and urge people to hear the full speech rather than the soundbite.
Linked as unusually clear real footage of ICBM reentries and impacts whenever missile tests or the Marshall Islands come up.
Commenters point to it as a clear explanation of the different types of night vision and why analog image intensifiers behave differently from digital ones.
Commenters bring it up in nuclear-fear and WWIII threads as an unnervingly realistic piece of fictional news coverage.
It is recommended in threads on the F-35 and defense procurement as a funny, mostly factual look at how requirements balloon, with some warnings about its accuracy.
Recommended as a fascinating and still relevant look at the physical footprint of government secrecy.
Mostly used as a joking or nostalgic reference in threads about nuclear war, AI and security exploits.
Cited as a vivid illustration of autonomous weapons and machines that keep running after their creators are gone.
Cited in UFO threads as a short, first-hand pilot account worth hearing, even without papers or data.
Cited in nuclear-risk threads as evidence that Castro was ready to use nuclear weapons and accept the consequences.
Used in AK versus AR reliability debates to show that the AK's legendary mud-proof reputation is overstated.
HN uses it as a visual reference for hand-built firearms and craft gunsmithing, especially in threads on 3D-printed and home-made guns.
HN uses it as an example of Cold War fear and persuasion, with some defending the advice as sensible against blast debris and others mocking it.
It comes up in discussions of magnetohydrodynamic propulsion as a long explainer from an MHD specialist.
HN cites it as striking evidence of long-standing kinetic interceptor and hover-control technology.
Linked in drone and military AI threads as a chilling dramatization, though some find it alarmist.
HN cites it as an insider's critique of the F-35 whenever the program's problems come up.
Cited as a first-hand account of how intelligence agencies have placed stories in the press.
HN points to it as the best accessible explanation of submarine ice breaking and sub controls.
HN mostly quotes it as a joke about the nuclear missile Harrods would sell, and one commenter praises the show as political education.
Cited in AR versus AK reliability debates as evidence that the AR-15 handles mud better than its reputation suggests.
HN commenters use it as a source for Paine's continental-versus-maritime framework and her views on sanctions when discussing geopolitics.
HN commenters link it as the go-to example of what a carrier deck can handle and as an impressive flight feat.
Cited as a fun, well-explained account of objects surviving nuclear blasts, relevant to Orion-style and spacecraft survivability discussions.
Recommended as useful background on Russia's growing influence in West Africa and France's role there.
Mostly quoted as a joke in nuclear war and doom threads, with one commenter praising Lehrer's satire.
Posted in F-35 threads as an insider's critique from a legendary aircraft designer.
Cited in discussions of how quiet diesel-electric submarines can evade detection by large navies.
HN mentions it mostly in nuclear-weapons threads as a witty or darkly funny aside, rather than as a recommendation.
Cited as the classic real-world use of Morse code to smuggle out a message under duress.
HN cites it in threads on military recruiting and obesity as an early warning from a senior general that still applies.
Cited in discussions of cosmic rays and alien threats, especially the idea of sterilizing a planet from afar with an electron beam.
HN mostly uses it as a joke about secrecy or as an illustration of mutually assured destruction.
Cited as evidence that ammunition cooking off in a fire is much less dangerous than people assume.
HN cites it as the key evidence of what Chelsea Manning leaked and as an example of civilian deaths in war, with some early commenters disputing how to read the footage.
Used as a joke whenever a stray or malfunctioning Russian munition is in the news.
Cited as a reference whenever threads turn to the NSA, drones, defense contractors or whistleblowers.
Linked in threads about the demon core and criticality accidents as a dramatic recreation.
Mentioned only in passing, cited as support for claims that US interventions were driven by resources and that Western war reporting is biased.
HN mentions it only in passing, as a reference for instrumented dummy warheads and implosion-test data in nuclear-testing threads.
Cited for the concept of vranyo and as an explanation of how corruption and cultures of lying cause failures.
HN cites it as the source of the released UFO footage, though commenters often debate whether the video shows anything beyond camera artifacts.
Cited as the moment Trump supposedly broke the Bush dynasty's hold on the GOP by making the Iraq War a wedge issue.
HN commenters cite it as primary-source evidence that the public was misled about the second Tonkin attack.
HN cites it in Assange, Manning and press-freedom threads as evidence of alleged US war crimes, not as something to recommend.
HN links it as a reference for the history and distribution of nuclear tests, and occasionally as an example of audio data presentation.
Cited in surveillance and facial or gait recognition threads for tradecraft such as putting a pebble in the shoe.
Cited in threads about military influence on movies and American cultural exports.
Cited as an example of overly ambitious engineering, such as brittle caseless ammunition and heat-ejection problems.
Cited in surveillance threads as a concrete example of persistent wide-area aerial surveillance that already existed in 2013.
HN cites it as footage of what thruster-driven interceptors look like, including as a mundane comparison for odd-looking motion in UFO videos.
HN cites it as evidence that small underground nuclear devices were used to stop well fires and leaks.
Used as a concrete example of automation successfully saving an incapacitated pilot.
Linked in missile defense threads as a striking illustration of the Sprint's acceleration and its interception tests.
Cited as visual evidence when commenters compare energy scales, such as nuclear yields versus volcanoes or charged bodies.
Linked as a vivid illustration of automated close-in defense when threads discuss drones and autonomous defense.
HN cites it as an example of programmable airburst ammunition used against drones and fast aircraft.
HN cites it as evidence that microwave and electromagnetic weapons against drones are real and already tested.
Cited as historical precedent for large government industrial investment and for modern gigacasting.
Cited by commenters as a source of examples of Napoleon's cruelty and poor decisions.
Referenced as a source of Cold War nuclear command footage and for realistic depictions of the era.
Referenced when discussing how real the disguise technology shown in spy movies is.
HN links it as striking footage of how fast and heat-stressed hypersonic interceptors and ICBM re-entry vehicles are.
Used as an example of existing anti-drone-swarm defences in threads on drone warfare.
HN links it as a concrete demo of what wide-area aerial surveillance can do, in discussions of surveillance planes and cameras.
HN cites it as shorthand for the tic-tac-toe lesson, especially in threads about AI and nuclear strategy or games that cannot be won.
Referenced when commenters discuss unaccounted government money, conspiracy theories, or financial fraud.
HN commenters post it as a punchline whenever a thread turns to some 'gap' or to surviving nuclear catastrophe.
HN cites it as primary evidence of US conduct in Iraq and as the leak most associated with Julian Assange's prosecution.
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