MGS3 is full of some really sweet technology. I instantly assumed most of the stuff in game was either made up or totally taken out of context. I decided I’d assess several pieces of in game weaponry to try and figure out where Kojima had hit and where he had missed.

Davy Crockett



What is the Davy Crockett? Four words: Tactical Nuclear Recoilless Rifle. Developed in the late 1950’s, its sub kiloton payload was enough to destroy structures, level entire formations of enemy troops and irradiate the ground for at least 48 hours. With a range of several kilometres, it could be carried and fired by something as small as a jeep or a platoon. Maybe not one psychopathic Russian but still...

MC-130E Combat Talon



The Combat Talon first took to the skies in the early 1960’s, proving Snake Eater to be righton the money. Jam packed with state of the art radar and countermeasure systems, the Combat Talon was so awesome right off the bat that the pilots gave it such an awesome nickname. Its primary role included ‘Infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces’, which sounds quite similar to its portrayal in the game. The aircraft has had a long and illustrious service career since, making propaganda drops in Vietnam and dropping Daisy Cutters in Iraq. My research neither confirms nor denies whether this aircraft did in fact carry the weapons it possessed in Snake Eater. The 20mm Gatling Guns and the 105mm Howitzers which do feature in MGS are characteristic of the AC-130 Spectre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC-130_Spectre). The Spectre, on the other hand, first entered service in 1967, which fails to coincide with the games events. Perhaps one of us is getting confused...

Fulton Surface to Air Recovery System



This is mentioned only briefly in the early stages of the game but it is nevertheless an awesome piece of technology that deserves to be on this list. As the name implies, the Fulton System allows aircraft to pickup personnel and light cargo without the need for a landing. A small package containing a balloon, helium gas and a nylon lift line could be dropped to, say, a Foxhound agent waiting in the jungles below. The aircraft would orbit overhead and extend a scissor-like attachment from its nose. The recoveree would then inflate the balloon, attach a harness and wait until the overhead plane snagged the balloon, wrenching the hapless individual skyward and eventually aboard. Although it was an admittedly dangerous procedure, it was used on several key occasions to great effect and only one death was ever incurred by the device. The Fulton System was in fact standard on the Combat Talon aircraft and was developed in the early 1950’s meaning that Kojima once again got his facts correct. Unfortunately, the system was deemed too unsafe (translation: too damn cool) and has been removed from all aircraft.

A-12/D-21/M-21



The A-12 was a direct precursor of the SR-71 Blackbird, the World’s fastest and highest flying aircraft, so one could be forgiven for confusing the two. Much like the plane it would later evolve into, the A-12 was designed as a reconnaissance platform that wouldn’t have to deal with enemy SAM installations, simply fly by at Mach 3.3 or 29 kilometers up and concentrate on taking happy snaps. It first saw operational use in 1964. The D-21 on the other hand, was an unmanned drone that rode astride the A-12 and used in ultra-long range or especially dangerous flights. When the mother aircraft neared the target, it would launch the D-21 which would take its photographs, drop its important cargo for retrieval and then detonate. I assume here that MGS3 appropriated the use of the D-21 as a manned infiltration device, due to the fact I’m struggling to find any similar attachment to the aircraft. Even if it may not be 100% accurate, the game can be forgiven for taking this slight creative license.

Mi-24 Hind A



This early version of the ubiquitous Hind first took to the skies in 1972. Considering it was still on the drawing board in 1968 there is pretty much no way this lethal gunship could have appeared in Snake Eater. It does show how quickly the Russians implemented a good idea, but unfortunately MGS seems to have stretched history a bit here. However, they did get the helicopter pretty much right, including its glasshouse cockpit and standard armament.

Colt XM16E1



This assault rifle began serving in the jungles of Vietnam in 1964 carrying its XM prototype designation, and despite initial design flaws has evolved to become quite a competent weapon. Some 8 million of the rifles and their predecessors have been manufactured and the great majority are still in use today.

The Patriot (M231)



Now, I could be a little off the mark here but I believe that the Boss’ Patriot is in fact a much simpler weapon with a big-ass drum clip strapped on. The M231 Firing Port Weapon is a heavily modified M16 at heart but with several key differences. It is short, stubby and fully automatic (capable of upwards of 1000 rounds per minute) and designed chiefly for firing out of vehicles. It carried a 30 round box magazine, just like the Boss’, but unfortunately bar the unlimited ammo. This weapon entered its testing phase in 1972, which makes it highly unlikely to be in the hands of the boss in 1964. It is, nevertheless, pretty cool if a little impractical.

WIG (Ekranoplan)



I was absolutely stunned to find out that WIGs do in fact exist. Despite carrying such a poor sounding acronym, Wing-in-ground effect vehicles are a mixture between aircraft and hovercraft. They are designed to take off and cruise only meters above the ground (but exponentially higher as wing size increases). Here, the vortices created by the wings of the WIG as it speeds across the water (or even ice or land, so long as it is flat) support and cushion its own mass, meaning that it can fly far more efficiently and generally more safely than standard aircraft designs. Generally the larger the wingspan, the more pronounced the WIG effect is, meaning that bigger aircraft are far more affected than their smaller cousins. The Russians pioneered and exploited the technology from the late stages of WWII and since then it has been regarded as an interesting but flawed form of flight. Key issues include a lack of longitudinal stability and the fact that they are considerably slower than high-flying aircraft. However, the WIG’s portrayal in game is considerably off the mark. Firstly, I can’t find any record of a WIG that looks like that. Secondly, WIGs can’t fly like traditional aircraft; they must remain close to the surface at all times to achieve lift. Still an awesome and practically unknown technology that should be in more goddamn movies.

The Shagohod

No, I don’t think so.

Them Little Flying Jetpack Thingys

Nup.

Volgin’s Eletricity Fists

No way.

The Sorrow

He is fucking ghost. Kojima goes to all this effort to get things nice and correct and he puts in a fucking ghost.

The Pain

Shoots killer bees. Need I say more?