Posted on 10/28/2010 12:27:17 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
#AUSA2010: OV-1D Mohawk revived as modern gunship
A host of aircraft have been pitched for counter-insurgency. Revive the OV-10? Check. Convert the AirTractor cropduster into the AT-802U? Yep. Remake the T-6A into the AT-6? That too. Here's a new one:
ATK has teamed up with Mohawk Technologies and Broadbay to revive the OV-1D Mohawk for the counter-insurgency market.
The new version adds the ATK 30mm chain gun from the Boeing AH-64 Apache, plus a glass cockpit and integrated targeting system with electro-optical/infrared sensor turret.
Mohawk owns six decommissioned OV-1Ds that are available for conversion, with dozens more of the aircraft available on the used market, says JT Young, of Broadbay, which supplies the crews to operate the OV-1Ds.
The second-generation OV-1D is being pitched as a live-fire training aid for the US military's schools for joint terminal attack controllers, says ATK's Clay Bringhurst. The schools could operate the OV-1Ds on a fee-for-service basis, or buy the aircraft outright. If someone decides to push the armed reconnaissance trainers into a combat zone, so much the better. "Why not?" says Bringhurst.
But the ultimate goal is to sell the aircraft on the foreign market. The US State Department last week approved ATK's license application to market the aircraft to approved foreign customers. The OV-1D team is targeting potential military and government buyers in the Middle East and South America.
But will they still have SLAR?
30mm chain gun.... mmmm mmmm good!
That thing is like a water hose! Think of the fun you could have with it. A little squirt here, a little squirt there...
Man, I loved flying the Mohawk in Test Pilot School, back in the day. After flying the OV-10, getting in the OV-1 was like going from a Chevy Nova to a Cadillac.
TC
Too low tech for AIr Force. Not decades long, career building and later post retirement hiring oppertunities.
You’re thinking of the rotary guns, I think. This chain gun has a single barrel and fires rather slowly in comparison.
This chain gun is very cool and has quite a unique sound to it as you can hear the chain clinking as it fires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1JIAB5IAxE&NR=1
Exactly on point -- an A-10 Warthog, only with a prop. If the guys on the ground need it, the zoomies don't want to fly it or let the Army have it. Only obvious exception is the AC-130.
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