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I have been looking at online articles describing the OV-10 Bronco. A quite versatile aircraft: forward air controller, , spotting for artillery and naval gunfire, low level photography, helicopter escort, ground attack, troop carrier, medical evacuation, etc..... Armament included machine guns, rockets, bombs. Of course, there is the idea of reviving the Bronco.
Last edited by Tim Randal Walker; 05-28-2017 at 01:40 PM..
Looked at an article promoting F-35 in the CAS role. I began reading the scenario presented, in which American troops are attacked by quad-copter drones.... At that point I stopped reading. Supersonic jets against small, drone quad-copters?
I figured that if you are going to shoot down such a target with aircraft, your choices would be:
1. Manned helicopter
2. Manned prop plane.
The wikipedia article indicated that the A-29A Super Tucano has the capacity to intercept "low performance aircraft". Come to think of it, maybe a Bronco could do the same?
I've never seen an A-10 fly or heard the GAU-8 in person, but, it seems like it would be one of the most terrifying to hear as the enemy and awe inspiring if it was coming to your rescue.
Anyone who has heard the sound of the flying Gatling gun how would you describe it? Just based off watching video clips, the best I could come up with is it's the sound of God farting. It seems like it would be a devastating psychological weapon was well, advertising its presence on the battlefield.
That is as good as any description that I could think of. A-7s would also work over our local training area but I don't ever recall seeing, or hearing them low on an actual live firing training run. There was the one time my driver left his mike open when a pair of A-7s made a low altitude run over our road march convoy. One of those death from above with everything being safe and then here were a pair of jets that just popped out of nowhere and had you as dead meat if it was real.
I have been looking at online articles describing the OV-10 Bronco. A quite versatile aircraft: forward air controller, , spotting for artillery and naval gunfire, low level photography, helicopter escort, ground attack, troop carrier, medical evacuation, etc..... Armament included machine guns, rockets, bombs. Of course, there is the idea of reviving the Bronco.
Interesting that back in the 80's when the OV-10 Bronco Marine and AF fleets were declared surplus,
and were to be placed on the DERMO list, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,and Firearms suddenly found
a purpose for the Bronco's! When the question of WTF does ATF plan on doing with surplus aircraft with multiple hard points, they suddenly lost their collective voice! TX Congressman Dick Armey, at the urging
of several constituents, raised the issue in the House. The ATF suddenly lost interest! (This entire fiasco predated two others; Ruby Ridge, ID and Waco, TX!)
One can only wonder for what purpose a tax collection agency might have in mind with a fleet of combat/CAS aircraft? Maybe has something to do with every Cabinet agency having it's own SWAT
teams?
Article, Business Insider, Military & Defense, US military test shows the A-10 'Warthog' can obliterate the small-boat swarms that Iran Uses, Mar. 2, 2017 by Alex Lockie.
An exercise in which fishing boats simulated a swarm attack on a U.S. Navy ship. Surprisingly, a plane intended to fight Soviet tanks could provide CAS for Navy ships.
By strafing boats with that big Gatling gun.
Of course, this kind of attack isn't entirely theoretical-two suicide bombers used a small fiberglass boat in their attack on the U.S.S. Cole.
Last edited by Tim Randal Walker; 05-29-2017 at 02:10 AM..
Looked into the idea that the Air Force should give the A-10 to the Army.
Basically, the Keywest Agreement of 1948 forbade the Army from flying armed, fixed wing aircraft. (The new fangled helicopter was a loophole). Naval aviation was allowed to continue as before.
Well, just for the sake of argument, what if the Air Force did give the A-10 to the Army?
An ironic scenario comes to mind-the Navy requests that the Army provide close air support for...aircraft carriers.
(Actually, I'm aware that the Air Force has turning A-10s over to the Air National Guard).
Last edited by Tim Randal Walker; 05-29-2017 at 02:33 AM..
Article, Business Insider, Military & Defense, US military test shows the A-10 'Warthog' can obliterate the small-boat swarms that Iran Uses, Mar. 2, 2017 by Alex Lockie.
An exercise in which fishing boats simulated a swarm attack on a U.S. Navy ship. Surprisingly, a plane intended to fight Soviet tanks could provide CAS for Navy ships.
By strafing boats with that big Gatling gun.
Of course, this kind of attack isn't entirely theoretical-two suicide bombers used a small fiberglass boat in their attack on the U.S.S. Cole.
We exercised that back in the mid 80s with some COPE THUNDER exercises in the Philippines. We played scenarios with A-10 aircraft supporting Special Ops forces hightailing it away from the coast in zodiacs with national forces in pursuit.
The Special Forces guys reported how interesting the A-10's gun striking waterborne targets in the distance created standing ripples in the water, and they could feel the vibrations through the bottom of the boat.
As I understand it, the Air National Guard has traditionally received aging aircraft from the Air Force, hand me downs. Perhaps the ANG could hang onto all the A-10s, if the Air Force doesn't want them?
Last edited by Tim Randal Walker; 05-29-2017 at 10:35 AM..
Looked at an article promoting F-35 in the CAS role. I began reading the scenario presented, in which American troops are attacked by quad-copter drones.... At that point I stopped reading. Supersonic jets against small, drone quad-copters?
I figured that if you are going to shoot down such a target with aircraft, your choices would be:
1. Manned helicopter
2. Manned prop plane.
The wikipedia article indicated that the A-29A Super Tucano has the capacity to intercept "low performance aircraft". Come to think of it, maybe a Bronco could do the same?
Interesting postulation. It would seem that using high tech, supremely expensive both to produce and operationally, fighter/interceptors to shoot down drones is a huge waste. Especially with lots of other options that would be FAR less expensive and more effective are available in profusion. Slow and precise would be the way to go, and just for knocking down mosquito like drones it wouldn't take very heavy weapons.
I can imagine quite a bit in this role. The OV 10 with a 5.56 rotary cannon would be extremely cool. There are a lot of other prop aircraft I can see in this role. The small caliber rotary cannon concept seems very doable but say, a pair of M 249s would do the job as well. Could carry lots of ammo and targets would be engaged a pretty close range. I'm going to think on this for a while and do some looking around on Google. More to come....
Hmmm, after looking at that A 29A I can't hardly envision a better plane for this job. Small, 360 degrees visibility. That small caliber rotry cannon I mentioned would be a great tool for the pilot but the SAWS would do it to. Scratching drones with a setup like that would be a hoot. Yipeeeee! It could carry a LOT of ammunition in a small caliber like 5.56, though if it had to double as ground support a 30 cal mini gun might be a better option. Either way, I think it would be a little hotrod in its role.
Last edited by NVplumber; 05-29-2017 at 10:53 AM..
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A-10 as boat buster
