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'Sneaky Pete' is good for saturating a relatively small area with a massive amount of firepower, which can be useful if you have a relatively concentrated group of hostiles that will not be able to escape rapidly.
But if your hostiles can easily scatter like roaches, and worse, if they are mixed in with non-combatants, it isn't quite so useful. Other weapons may be more appropriate.
The AC-130 is a large, fairly noisy and slow aircraft. It gives ample time for targets to scatter like rats on a baseboard. And while it's great at servicing a target, even in an urban area, it has sensors that must first acquire, then identify, and finally target a potential martyr. Not only does that take time, in some cases it's a matter of being in the right place at the right time. From someone who's been there trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack... at 15K everyone looks the same in a targeting pod. You need good intel.
You would think at this point they would be able to put a kill switch on these arms. When the Americans left Iran the f-16's they were servicing magically no longer worked, they disabled or took a vital part making the jets paper weights. If you could do that remotely then you really have something. Basically smart gun technology on a grand scale. For example all the equipment seized by ISIS. Wouldn't it be fantastic when this Mosul operation starts in earnest while there is battle raging it all just stops working. LOL
Iran had F-4s and F-14s when the shah was deposed. No F-16s.
In general, foreign military sales (FMS) do not allow the best stuff to go to any but a select few allies.
As for a "kill switch", it's been thought of (especially when I was instructing FMS students in the 90s) but think about it, someone would try to hack it and if successful could use the aircraft as a weapon themselves. Freeze flight controls or disable the aircraft over friendlies (our guys), use it as a bomb. It's impractical and would be the first thing I would disable if I were a DRPCB.
Everytime I look at the "cone of fire" that a single AC-130 gunship delivers, I say to myself how can ISIS still move around, deploy, mass, attack then withdraw to some safe zone. Why doesn't the commander in chief calls in the generals and tells them nobody leaves Raqqa? There is not a more hospitable terrain for air raids than the desserts of the middle east.
Not sure that a C-130 Gun Ship is the weapon of choice to annihilate these b astatrds, but, as a self professed hawk, I like the idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyRider
Ok, so let's pack up and go home. We'll never be able to fight a war if that's the criterion. Besides, what I am suggesting does not involve civilians.
Hence why we have been "fighting" this war for years and made virtually no progress in stopping the global threat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rmm0484
You are fighting ISIS (an insurgency) with conventional weaponry, which is like trying to address whack a mole with one hammer.
.....ISIS is not a standing army, but a roach infestation.
Your best bet is to deploy reapers....
We had the same deal in Viet Nam. You couldn't separate the Viet Cong from the friendly folks. Indeed, the locals would hide the Viet Cong, perhaps under threat, or perhaps under national patriotism. Either way, they were hard to ferret out and one big reason why we lost that war.
My own view is that you solve the problem by dropping flyers/get the word out: We are coming at 8 PM this evening. If you wish to live, you will leave the area and give up the dirty soldiers which you are harboring. If you don't leave you will die. Give them a couple hours to scram, and let all hell rain down on them such that everyone remaining is killed.
Whatever physical property is left belongs to us. We can choose to let people back in, or level it and make sure no one ever lives there again. Getting very tired of sending our troops into a "PC" war.
Everytime I look at the "cone of fire" that a single AC-130 gunship delivers, I say to myself how can ISIS still move around, deploy, mass, attack then withdraw to some safe zone. Why doesn't the commander in chief calls in the generals and tells them nobody leaves Raqqa? There is not a more hospitable terrain for air raids than the desserts of the middle east.
Seriously? You may want to put down the Xbox and do some research on the true capability of a single gunship as it related to actual combat operations , not some fantasy.
The AC-130 is a large, fairly noisy and slow aircraft. It gives ample time for targets to scatter like rats on a baseboard. And while it's great at servicing a target, even in an urban area, it has sensors that must first acquire, then identify, and finally target a potential martyr. Not only does that take time, in some cases it's a matter of being in the right place at the right time. From someone who's been there trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack... at 15K everyone looks the same in a targeting pod. You need good intel.
I suspect the closest the OP has gotten to combat is pressing the go button on their game controller.
The "kill" switch is actually the specialized battery. Once it dies, it is hard to find replacements for them. That said, there is no substitute for physically destroying equipment. F-14s are STILL flying in Iran after 30 years of embargos, wars and upheavals. No one else has them anymore, including the US.
IF iran is still flying F14s, they are;
1: the A model with no upgrades
2: are using russian copies of american parts, and thus are likely inferior quality
3: the iranian pilots dont have proper training to fly these aircraft to their limits like american pilots can
in the end its unlikely that any F14s are flying in iran since they cannot get spare parts, or tech who know the aircraft. and there is good reason we dont fly the F14 anymore, and that is they are a maintenance hog.
Clearly you understand military strategy and not rules from a video game.
War College paid off!
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