Posted on 01/31/2014 6:22:10 AM PST by C19fan
In trying to reduce the cost of its specialized AC-130 gunships, the U.S. Air Force may have made them more vulnerable to enemy gunfire. This is the disturbing conclusion reached by the Pentagon’s top weapons testers in their latest annual report on the AC-130J.
According to the report, the new AC-130J Ghostrider—a Lockheed Martin C-130 transport with special sensors and side-firing guns—will only be required to have armor for its crew and their oxygen system. And the armor only needs to be thick enough to stop light machine gun bullets, around 7.62 millimeters in diameter.
That’s a significant and potentially fatal downgrade from previous gunships, which since the Vietnam War have lurked over combat zones, hunting for and gunning down enemy soldiers.
(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...
Only as long as the gunners know where your lines are.
We had one covering us make a mistake.
True true true,,, Grunts sleep just as worried about supporting arms, friendly tanks moving around at night, friendly CAS, etc.
Grunts have no friends that make them feel totally safe.
CAS like Godzilla to the Japanese, you can be grateful that it saves you from a worse monster, but you should stay careful that it doesn’t scorch you too.
What happened to classified information? Is it necessary to inform opposition of military weaknesses?
Ground-support function from fixed-wing aircraft should be returned to the Army.
“Adding weight reduces the performance of an airplane. Removing weight increases the performance of an airplane.
Just sayin’.”
Performance...Reliability...Cost.
You can only pick 2.
I bet you will like this.
LONGEST MACHINE GUN BURST EVER!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0GyZkawz3s
And you will really like this.
!AWESOME! Bell AH-1 Cobra, Night vision attack, IRAQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-mhNG2xvC0
(six and half minutes long, worth every second)
Sadly, that belongs now only to Politician's history, birth records, and felony convictions.
It’s greener. Once they switched the heat shielding on the center fuel tank of the space shuttle launch vehicle, it was so much better.
Greener is always better.
Between every conflict Navies reduce armor to gain speed, payload and range. Armies reduce armor in armored vehicles to gain mobility and range.
When the SHTF, Navies, and Armies rediscover armor. Rinse and repeat.
Agreed. The Air Force, however, seems to object to the army flying any sort of fighting airplane. It was hard enough for the Army to wangle their way into helicopters...
...and that does make me wonder how many big guns you could crowd onto a Chinook.
The ACH-47A was originally known as the Armed/Armored CH-47A (or A/ACH-47A). It was officially designated ACH-47A by U.S. Army Attack Cargo Helicopter and unofficially Guns A Go-Go. Four CH-47A helicopters were converted to gunships by Boeing Vertol in late 1965. Three were assigned to the 53rd Aviation Detachment in South Vietnam for testing, with the remaining one retained in the U.S. for weapons testing. By 1966, the 53rd was redesignated the 1st Aviation Detachment (Provisional) and attached to the 228th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). By 1968, only one gunship remained, and logistical concerns prevented more conversions. It was returned to the United States, and the program stopped.
The ACH-47A carried five M60D 7.62 × 51 mm machine guns or M2HB .50 caliber machine guns, provided by the XM32 and XM33 armament subsystems, two M24A1 20 mm cannons, two XM159B/XM159C 19-Tube 2.75-inch (70 mm) rocket launchers or sometimes two M18/M18A1 7.62 × 51 mm gun pods, and a single M75 40 mm grenade launcher in the XM5/M5 armament subsystem (more commonly seen on the UH-1 series of helicopters). The surviving aircraft, Easy Money, has been restored and is on display at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
Spent 15 years building, repairing, and testing Chinook gas turbines (T-55s) - engines had plenty of giddy-up!
But still slow as all hell compared to a C-130.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
If the USAF doesn't want A-10s and AC-130s, give 'em to the Army and the Corps...says anyone with a lick of sense.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
That's the range in horizontal distance. It takes more energy to fire a projectile 1,800 meters straight up.
The AC-130U "Attack altitude: Between 5,500 and 10,500 ft. above ground level depending on the threat environment"
Besides ground fire, they also have to worry about man-carried anti-aircraft missiles.
Is that really a problem if you're flying CAS?
Super “puff the magic dragon” ping
Would just take longer to get on station, also use much more fuel for it's size (shorter loiter time).
Thanks for the ping. I think the CAS mission is being taken over by drones operated by the Army.
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