4 ms·

Attack helicopters can't fly as fast, as high, or carry as much weight. They also don't have weapons like the A-10 does, nothing else in the world short of wars

Attack helicopters can't fly as fast, as high, or carry as much weight. They also don't have weapons like the A-10 does, nothing else in the world short of warships does. That gun is absolutely berserk. So if you're in a situation where you need constant cover, you want either an AC-130, which is usually limited to night missions since it's a gigantic slow moving target, or an A-10 which can get in and out while having a very clear sense of the battlefield by being in so close. Helicopters are better suited to anti-tank warfare, they can sneak up on them and pick them off at crazy ranges, but the last time we've seen that at scale was 1991 Iraq. The other problem with helicopters is how long they can stay airborne. Since any helicopter pilot always has one eye on the fuel gauge, where "time to bingo" is a constant concern as those things chew through gas like crazy, they're not as versatile. Some joke that the A-10's loiter time is only limited by how much food the pilot brought along, it's got massive fuel tanks and efficient engines. Consider this commentary on ground support planes: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/low-and-slow http://motherboard.vice.com/read/low-and-slow

dingaling 11y ago
> They also don't have weapons like the A-10 does, nothing else in the world short of warships does. That gun is absolutely berserk. Actually the GAU-8's ammunition was derived from that of the ( non-Gatling ) Oerlikon KCA cannon, mounted by the SAAB JA-37 Viggen. Six times the energy of most other 30mm aircraft rounds. Hughes developed a podded KCA that was tested on a wide range of aircraft, down to little Broncos! Later, a cut-down four-barrel but still full-power version of the GAU-8 was fitted in a pod as the GPU-5 and briefly carried by F-16s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1S95Cy7wg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1S95Cy7wg
- astrodust 11y ago
  Interesting. That's a similar weapon, but it's also single barrel, so it's certainly comparable, but doesn't fire nearly as quickly, and carries far fewer rounds: 126 vs. 1100. The weapon I was thinking of is the Phalanx (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS), a naval weapon, though even that fires smaller shells at a slower rate. The GAU-13 slower, smaller pod version of the GAU-8 is an interesting test, but it doesn't seem to have caught on. That video you linked to had a related video on the A-10 reloading procedure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnSpkL1InuA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnSpkL1InuA That is a lot of bullets.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > The weapon I was thinking of is the Phalanx (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS), a naval weapon, though even that fires smaller shells at a slower rate. The Phalanx CIWS uses the a version of the M61 Vulcan 20mm gatling gun, as have lots of Air Force fighters (from the 1950s through current fighters like the F-22 and F-18.) So, its not exactly a weapon that "nothing in the world short of warships" has.
    - astrodust 11y ago
      Still not sure what you're saying here. Is there a 30mm gatling gun with over 1000 rounds of ammunition on anything other than a warship? Tanks have larger bore primary weapons, but given how the gun inside the A-10 is too huge to fit in any normal tank, I doubt they're ever equipped with one.

dingaling 11y ago

> They also don't have weapons like the A-10 does, nothing else in the world short of warships does. That gun is absolutely berserk. Actually the GAU-8's ammunition was derived from that of the ( non-Gatling ) Oerlikon KCA cannon, mounted by the SAAB JA-37 Viggen. Six times the energy of most other 30mm aircraft rounds. Hughes developed a podded KCA that was tested on a wide range of aircraft, down to little Broncos! Later, a cut-down four-barrel but still full-power version of the GAU-8 was fitted in a pod as the GPU-5 and briefly carried by F-16s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1S95Cy7wg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1S95Cy7wg

astrodust 11y ago
Interesting. That's a similar weapon, but it's also single barrel, so it's certainly comparable, but doesn't fire nearly as quickly, and carries far fewer rounds: 126 vs. 1100. The weapon I was thinking of is the Phalanx (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS), a naval weapon, though even that fires smaller shells at a slower rate. The GAU-13 slower, smaller pod version of the GAU-8 is an interesting test, but it doesn't seem to have caught on. That video you linked to had a related video on the A-10 reloading procedure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnSpkL1InuA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnSpkL1InuA That is a lot of bullets.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > The weapon I was thinking of is the Phalanx (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS), a naval weapon, though even that fires smaller shells at a slower rate. The Phalanx CIWS uses the a version of the M61 Vulcan 20mm gatling gun, as have lots of Air Force fighters (from the 1950s through current fighters like the F-22 and F-18.) So, its not exactly a weapon that "nothing in the world short of warships" has.
  - astrodust 11y ago
    Still not sure what you're saying here. Is there a 30mm gatling gun with over 1000 rounds of ammunition on anything other than a warship? Tanks have larger bore primary weapons, but given how the gun inside the A-10 is too huge to fit in any normal tank, I doubt they're ever equipped with one.