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From: norton@manta.nosc.mil (Scott Norton)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Naval use of A-10's
Message-ID: <1991Mar25.064817.29163@amd.com>
Date: 25 Mar 91 06:48:17 GMT
References: <1991Mar20.034011.1839@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@amd.com
Organization: Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command
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From: norton@manta.nosc.mil (Scott Norton)

	[ redudant quoted text deleted --CDR ]

I had a chance to defend a missile cruiser against a flight of
A-10's a number of years ago.  They were not hard to detect (note
that an A-10 and a fishing boat are about the same size), and were
slow enough that we got a number of missile shots at them.

As to the lethality of the 30mm gun, I would not overestimate it.
It will make many many 30mm holes in the ship.  Now its a matter
of chance whether these holes are in a radar transmitter or a 
coffee maker.  I recall an item from history, about how US 
destroyers, in the battle of Savo Island in WW II, escaped from
a superior force of Japanese cruisers.  The cruisers, expecting
other heavies as opponents, had fired armor-piercing shells, which
punched through both sides of the destroyers without exploding.

Of course, if the A-10 shot a Maverick, he could do substantial
damage.  But other faster aircraft can do that too.

One more consideration is that the A-10 doesn't have the avionics
to find ships at sea.

LT Scott A. Norton, USN  <norton@NOSC>MIL>