Post #406,520
11/24/15 9:35:09 PM
|
One for Drook: A-10s in action against Daesh.
Reuters: U.S.-backed Syrian rebels launched an attack late last month on Islamic State militants near the town of Hawl in northern Syria. They regained control of roughly 100 square miles of territory, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
“It was a fairly straightforward, conventional offensive operation,” Army Colonel Steve Warren told reporters via video conference from Baghdad, “where we estimated … several hundred enemy [fighters] were located in that vicinity.”
Warren continued his description. “There was a substantial friendly force — well over 1,000 participated in the offensive part of this operation. And they were able to very deliberately execute the plan that they had made themselves.”
Two types of U.S. warplanes, both optimized for precision attacks in close coordination with ground troops, were critical to the Syrian rebels’ success, Warren revealed. “We were able to bring both A-10s and a Spectre gunship to bear,” he said, “… It can only be described as devastating …. it killed nearly 80 enemy fighters and wounded many more.”
Video shot by a correspondent from the Kurdish Hawar News Agency showed A-10s wheeling over the battlefield as rebel fighters advanced.
The lumbering Spectre gunship, basically a cargo plane with side-firing guns, is one of the Air Force’s favorite aircraft. It’s the beneficiary of billions of dollars in new funding to buy new models and upgrade older ones.
But the twin-jet A-10, an ungainly-looking, single-pilot plane with thick, straight wings and a massive, nose-mounted cannon, is out of favor with Air Force leaders — despite being vitally important to the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State. [...] It's a long piece and makes a good case that the A-10 is needed. I've argued before here, based on a seemingly sensible piece I read, that that A-10 is a sitting duck for relatively simple anti-aircraft missiles. But it's clear that it has an important role that it can play in battles against bands of gunmen that the civilized world faces far too often these days. More details on the planes used against Daesh with lots of photos is at TheAviationist. Cheers, Scott.
|
Post #406,528
11/24/15 11:21:31 PM
|
I'll take the A-10 over the C-130 anytime.
If someone ever starts shooting back for real, that "sitting duck" label may be on the wrong bird. And as to effectiveness, shooting out the side is all fine when you don't have to dodge things. Once forced to turn hard, I can't see that thing keeping a target.
|
Post #406,530
11/24/15 11:27:52 PM
|
not really
having had a son in law maintain them and was allowed to inspect one on the flight line. The A10 is better for some tasks, however a sharp bank or dive doesnt really lessen the c130 effectiveness. you can kill people for America at age 18 but need to be 21 to buy a beer
|
Post #406,534
11/24/15 11:59:23 PM
|
They've had 40+ years to try to optimize them for their missions.
The Aviation Zone: Although the AC-130 gunship programs were considered highly successful, the slow-moving airplane was very susceptible to ground fire. Consequently, eight AC-130s have been lost during combat operations. The first casualty took place when tail number 54-1629 was hit over Laos and crashed during a landing attempt at Ubon, Thailand. A second AC-130 fell to enemy fire over Laos in April 1970. The third and fourth losses took place within hours of each other in the spring of 1972, and a fifth was shot down a few weeks later while supporting friendly forces during the siege of An Loc in South Vietnam. A sixth gunship was shot down over Laos in December 1972. A total of 75 crewmembers were lost in the AC-130 mission in Southeast Asia, before hostilities ended in 1975. Since that time two other AC-130s have fallen in both Kuwait and Somalia.
On 31 January 1991, the first AC-130H was lost in combat while supporting coalition forces engaged in ground combat during the battle of Khafji in Operation Desert Storm. A second aircraft supporting operations in Somalia was lost on 15 March 1994 when the 105mm cannon exploded while the aircraft was airborne. The eight remaining AC-130H "Spectre" gunships are still flying with the 16th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), part of the 16th Special Operations Wing (SOW), at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
AC-130U 'Spooky II'
The AC-130U, commonly referred to as "U-Boat", is the most complex aircraft weapons system in the world today. It has more than 609,000 lines of software code in its mission computers and avionics systems. The newest addition to the command fleet, it is the latest in a long line of heavily-armed, side-firing gunships and is named "Spooky II" in honor of the first gunship model, the AC-47D. All other AC-130s are referred to as "Spectre". The prototype AC-130U (#87-0128) made its first flight on 20 December 1990. The initial flight test period lasted through 21 December 1991 and consisted of 48 test flights, a total of 165 hours.
The "Spooky II" gunship program consists of 13 new Lockheed C-130H airframes modified by Boeing with improved armament, advanced sensors, a Hughes APG-180 fire control radar system, GPS, the ALQ-172 Electronic Countermeasure System, an ALR-56M radar warning receiver, an APR-46A panoramic receiver, and an AAR-44 infrared warning receiver integrated with a series of ALE-40 chaff & flare dispensers. The modifications allow the aircraft to perform the full range of special operations and conventional gunship missions, at night and in adverse weather. These aircraft also have the capability to loiter for long periods over targets, while providing precision fire support.
A multi-mode strike radar provides extreme long-range target detection and identification. It is able to track 40mm and 105mm projectiles and return pinpoint impact locations to the crew for subsequent adjustment to the target. The fire control system offers a Dual Target Attack capability, whereby two targets up to one kilometer apart can be simultaneously engaged by two different sensors, using two different guns. No other air-ground attack platform in the world offers this capability.
Targeting equipment installed in the gunship includes an advanced All-Light Level Television (ALLTV) system with a laser illuminator, laser target designator, laser range finder, infrared detection set, and night vision goggles for the pilots. Navigational devices include the inertial navigation system (INS) and global positioning system (GPS).
The side-firing weapons array consists of one 25mm GAU-12 Gatling gun (firing 1,800 rounds per minute), one 40mm L60 Bofors cannon (with a selectable firing rate of single shot or 120 rounds per minute) and one 105mm M-102 Howitzer cannon (firing 6 to 10 rounds per minute). Defensive systems include a countermeasures dispensing system that releases chaff and flares to counter radar infrared-guided antiaircraft missiles. Also, infrared heat shields mounted underneath the engines disperse and hide engine heat sources from infrared-guided antiaircraft missiles. They're much bigger than an A-10, so presumably they can carry a lot more ammo. But they have different strengths in different situations. Cheers, Scott.
|
