There’s no shortage of military-themed videos on You Tube, covering everything from unheard of battles to potential near-term conflicts. We regularly peruse the site, looking for pertinent information that either helps to sell the product we carry or addresses items of interest to the average military enthusiast. Some videos and influence peddlers use all sorts of graphics to draw you in, from Transformer-like images used to depict upcoming aircraft to film clips that have nothing to do with the subject at-hand. At the end of the day, many of these videos are little more than flash without any appreciable substance.
There are, however, several “influencers” that I regularly check out if I’m looking for reliable information on historical topics or the latest in behind-the-scenes information that no one else seems to possess. One is Airpower, which is run and narrated by the gravelly-voiced Alex Hollings, who regularly does his homework before putting pen to paper and voice to video discussing his salient position. Recently, for instance, Alex spent 30-minutes explaining why the US Air Force has been using similarly shaped missiles for the last sixty years and how it could take its game to the next level by investigating some new technologies now coming on line.
For historical videos, I oftentimes turn to Megaprojects, hosted by the prolific Simon Whistler. Simon has posted literally dozens of self-narrated videos covering everything from Maxim machine guns to Iran’s attempt at building a stealth fighter. While he does branch out and covers other topics of interest such as China’s electric car industry, its his military-themed videos that have proven to be the most invaluable, using period war-time clips, animations and other proven videographic techniques to draw the viewer in from start to finish.
There are other “influencers” that I some times turn to that seem to know what they’re talking about either because they were once in the military themselves or have access to unclassified data and information that the average person has no idea how to get. These include Mark Felton Productions, Military News, Defense News, Task & Purpose and War & History, to name just a few. Anyway, be careful who you turn to to get the latest word on military platforms still in development as well as battles of yesteryear that may be tainted by extremist political viewpoints.