Posted on 03/10/2016 12:11:46 PM PST by Kartographer
Two vintage planes used in Vietnam were brought out of retirement to help US special forces in Iraq.
A pair of OV-10 Broncos completed 120 combat missions over the Middle East between May and September last year, it has been revealed.
They are believed to have been used for 82 days as cover for troops who were on the ground fighting ISIS militants.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I thought they destroyed the tooling?
Hydra-70 compitable laser guided systems exist.
http://www.battle-technology.com/exhibitions.asp?key=239
Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) by is in production and use
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Precision_Kill_Weapon_System
I would expect that the OV-10’s if kept in use will have this system soon if not already.
OV-10’s could fly off and “land” on CV’s
No tail hook needed it looks like. These was just tests.
I believe so. But you have the product itself, you have I am sure drawings and specs. And as I said with the advances in 3D printing I would say you could get them back in production pretty quickly. I am sure their are retired engineers that could be lured out of retire to help create a new generation of Warthogs!
Well, step one would be to transfer close air support, together with its budget, from the air force to the army.
Re-draw the rules to give all single and twin engine aircraft not capable of sustained supersonic flight to the army. Air force would retain all current equipment with three or more engines, or capable of sustained supersonic flight.
If that works out OK, eventually transition all transport to the army. That way the fighter jocks could keep their toys, and the heavy bombers.
Qung Tri did not have a bomb dump, and no airbases nearby to borrow them from, so logistics would have been interesting.
cant private reply, so here goes.
Agreed your post on Sky Raiders is on point. The primary problem with Sky Raider or anything in that weight/performance range is the per hour cost of flight.
One of the reasons for drones is the low cost per hour on station. Something like a OV-10 or AT-6 give a nice middle ground between a “Strike” aircraft and the Predator or Reaper.
The extra set of eyes of also help in many COIN operations I would think.
10 Pledge Allegiance and 5 Preambles to the Constitution and you will be absolved FRiend. ;-)
New gen of Wankels is coming, Charge Cooled, with a slick way to cool the Rotor ( patented and it goes under the acronym of "SPARCS"). This equals great HP / Weight Ratio and with JP Fuel capability ( potentially ) it might give something like the Bronco much better range than the current Turboprop.
For instance this engine below is 120 hp and 62 lbs. A 6 Rotor or larger sized multi Rotor version of this would be a game changer for COIN aircraft IMHO...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1d4k5nW-oc
As a fan of the A-10 and OA-10 I would have liked for them to stay in production longer. The only issue is that the plane was made for pretty much 1 task, tank hunting with the GAU-8 30mm gun.
This is not the mission that the OV-10 and other COIN aircraft are made to do.
If a modern version was put in to production the odds are that it would not have the GAU-8 but a much less heavy gun system and more precision guide weapons systems.
I knew there was Grace & Redemption from my fellow Freepers!
Thanks!
..Biggest problem with putting the A-10 back into production; Most if not all the jigs have been scrapped, and the workers who built them have been doing something else for the last 25 years...
You can say the same for the mighty Saturn 5 rocket. But, most of the engineers who put it together are long gone. Then, there’s the Obama problem for both.
Mostly because of the gun. You only get a few short bursts, applicable mostly against Eastern-Bloc tanks, which would perform poorly in the overgrown jungles of Vietnam.
bolt a PW150 into a A-1E airframe, strengthened and lightened with laid up composites, titanium plates in all the right places and there you go! 4 20mm cannons and 15 hard points.
From a retired USAF pilot who flew Broncos as an FO/FAC...
FAC and artillery spotting...No warning or countermeasure systems...Low and slow...
Solid airframe that could take damage, 2-man crew, high viz cockpit, rear cargo area and short/rough field capable, Navy used ‘em off carriers I’ve read...
Likely never utilized to its full mission potential...Might be ideal for anti-ISIS missions...
Probably much more survivable with today’s countermeasure systems and cameras. One of the factors making lighter aircraft more viable is the return of the 250 lb class bomb. It is also one of the errant ways people criticize the F-35, because it will be some years before those weapons can be carried internally. The design of the F-35 weapons bay didn’t include those weapons because they weren’t in development yet.
If you’re talking about Boeing’s GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, I know one of the project engineers...I’ll be sure to ask him, if he can talk about it...Did not know about the F-35 not being capable of carry internally...
And it may have sounded like I’m the former pilot...I am not and should have worded that better...Former USAF pilot was father of a good friend, and used to tell us stories of his KC-135, O-1 and OV-10 days...Great guy, and now gone to his reward...
ARC LIGHT has got to be one of the best, most eerily connotative code names ever.
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