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New here, and I am just doing some poking around, there was a debate on another forum in refernce to CAS, and I am thinking not many know many capabilities of the Hog. They know the A-10 is reliable, and something good to have in the AO. I have done a little research but not much. Figured may be you all would be more than happy to help. Anyway, what is the minimum airspeed you can travel? What range is danger close? How do you fix on targets? What is a general airspeed while engaging targets? And just to rock the boat here a bit, what would you rather have on station if you were in a mix and required some CAS, A-10, AC-130, AH-64, AH-6, MH-60 DAP?

Well, some of that stuff is classified, and OPSEC/COMSEC is a very strong issue here. As for what plane, I would definetely want the Hawg covering my six. After the Hawg I'd go for AH-64 or AC-130, either one, depending on the situation.

"Retreat, hell! We just got here!"-Captain Lloyd Williams, 2nd Marine Division, Belleau Wood, France, WWI

Edited by - bigross86 on Jun 11 2003 10:38 AM

Ok, what about the minimum speed it takes to keep the Hawg in the air? I am not looking to violate any security though, if it is not to be spoken of well that's cool. I will just do some more hunting. Thanks for setting me straight. I have never had any experience with CAS and the A-10. I have had some with the AC-130, AH-6, and the DAP. I like the AH-6 little bird, that thing kicks butt, but the AC-130 would be the preffered tool if that weren't applicable or capable. The Apache can sit in the hangar for all I care. Anyway, thanks again.

Whoa! One moment! I didn't mean to say anything that would scare you off or anything like that, just that some stuff isn't said here. I'm not in the military, so I couldn't tell you this stuff or if it was confidential or not, but eventually someone here WILL be able to answer these questions for you.

"Retreat, hell! We just got here!"-Captain Lloyd Williams, 2nd Marine Division, Belleau Wood, France, WWI

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Ok, what about the minimum speed it takes to keep the Hawg in the air? I am not looking to violate any security though, --------

Since I have been out of the Navy for 20 years they can't touch me.

You have alert birds and then it's a function of distance. They normally won't run Spectre in daytime either. They had two shotdown in the Gulf War when they stayed out in daylight. Alert birds can be 5-15 minutes to launch.

Then how close is the danger? Snakes, Apaches, and Hog can work in pretty close.

If you just want a reference for the Iraq War. They ran the piss out of the attack choppers. The biggie in CAS is positive ID of friendlies and then bad guys.

Aviation Week is a good source for data.

Jack

It's always OK to ask, those responsible will let you know what they aren't allowed to answer.

A sucking chest wound is life's way of telling you to slow down...

I want to chime in just a bit. Iknow that we breifed some snake eaters overseas that we could fire the 30mmm from as little as 110 yds out. Most depends on the fragmentation from the targets that they are hitting. A spec ops guy can fill you in on that if they want to get in on the conversation. The gun can be fired on the ground as long as the overide switch is in overide.

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YGBSM !

[quote]
I want to chime in just a bit. Iknow that we breifed some snake eaters overseas that we could fire the 30mmm from as little as 110 yds out. ----------

AW had a piece on CSAR. If they couldn't pick up Hog cover for the choppers, they had to increase the safety range for the other fast movers. For the MH-60s, that meant they probably would need to install .50 cals for longer range. Yeah, they cited 110 yards or so.

Jack

Anyway, what is the minimum airspeed you can travel? What range is danger close? How do you fix on targets? What is a general airspeed while engaging targets? And just to rock the boat here a bit, what would you rather have on station if you were in a mix and required some CAS, A-10, AC-130, AH-64, AH-6, MH-60 DAP?

The minimum airspeed you can travel depends on configurations, altitudes, etc. When you are landing you are generally going about 135KIAS on the approach. Tactically you would want to be going faster so that you could easily maneuver and get away from anything that was shooting at you.

Fixing on targets is primarily accomplished in the A10 by using your eyes. You carry binos for medium altitude work so that you can see, but still maintain standoff. A-10s also carry the Maverick missile that can provide some standoff capabilities for fixing and killing targets. Some Guard A-10s have special pods that can see longer distances (litening pods). But every A-10 pilot would tell you that they prefer to see what they are killing before they do it.

Airspeed while engaging targets varies by what type of weapon you are delivering, how high you start, and the type of delivery you choose. You can expect all tactical maneuvering to be in the range of 200-375KIAS.

If I was on the ground and needed CAS, I would want A-10s (obviously biased). If I had alot of killin' that needed done I would want AH-65 Longbows (daytime) or AC-130s (night)

Danger close also varies. It is based on the type of weapon that you are employing. It accounts for a .1% or greater chance that a soldier in winter clothing in a prone position will be incapicated. Obviously a 2000# bomb must be dropped further away to keep this from happening than a 30mm bullet.

These are all open source definitions and general enough information that it is no problem to answer. Ask away....when you get Danger Close the answers will stop.

YEP YOU CAN FIRE THE GAU-8 ON THE GROUND WITH THE RIGHT SWITCHES FLIPPED,ALONG WITH THE AGM-65 TOOOOOOOO!
NOT TO LEAVE OUT ROCKETS OR FLARES.

JUST NOT THE THING TO DO!!!!!

OH AND YOU CAN ALSO FIRE THE GAU-8 WITH A SPEEDHANDLE WHILE BACKING UP THE GUN,3 ROUNDS BEFORE YOU GET THE "SH**" SCARED OUT OF YOU" AND THE FOLKS AROUND YOU ALL LOOK LIKE GLAZED EYE DEER!!!!!

GLAD I WASNT A LOADTOAD!!!!

PRESS TO TEST

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\"Live Free Or Die\"

Thanks, I appreciate the responses. Without a doubt the Hawg kicks butt. I wish I had gotten a chance to learn a bit more about the bird. Lots of good info here, did realize that thing was pretty much hauling tail when it lets loose. It is moving, guess that is the reason for the distance on the danger close. The further away the better. What is typical for identifying freindlies, I mean like vs-17, marking the target with fire, strobe??? What would be something useful.
I've been doing a little more research on the A-10...What a badass Machine!

NSDQ!