Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: a10 in combat Message-ID: <1991Feb11.043358.27375@cbnews.att.com> Date: 11 Feb 91 04:33:58 GMT References: <1991Feb9.025209.29262@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: U of Toronto Zoology Lines: 31 Approved: military@att.att.com From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >From: t6mx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu >I just read a A-10 shot down a Iraqi fighter for the first time in history >Any ideas of what weapons were used. Do you think the cannon could be >effecitive in high speed air warfare... If the A-10 can get a head-on shot at the attacker, the 30mm gun is reportedly extremely effective. The gunsight isn't built for air combat, so something like a head-on encounter is needed to have much chance of hitting. However, it's not prohibitively difficult to turn an encounter into a head-on one, because the A-10's low speed and high lift make it very maneuverable. The trick is to see the attacker early, because all the maneuverability in the world won't do you any good if you're taken by surprise. >Can't remember if the A-10 carries air to air's as standard payload? I don't remember A-10s with Sidewinders before the war, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're carrying them now. Sidewinder does not need much cooperation from its launch aircraft, so it's an easy add-on weapon; the British improvised a Sidewinder fit for the Nimrod patrol aircraft in a matter of days during the Falklands war, after an incident in which a Nimrod on long-range recon encountered an Argentine 707 doing the same and couldn't do anything about it. (Later on, the armed Nimrods were used for a variety of things, including providing ultra-long-range fighter cover [!] for Thatcher's visit to the Falklands.) Rumor is that Sidewinders are showing up on *everything* in the Gulf. -- "Maybe we should tell the truth?" | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology "Surely we aren't that desperate yet." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry