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Are US Air Force F-35s expected to be engaging ground targets with their guns?
by arethuza 7y ago
Are US Air Force F-35s expected to be engaging ground targets with their guns?
- josefresco 7y agoYes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II#F-35A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning...
- arethuza 7y agoSorry, what I meant was more is that something they are expecting to do regularly or is it a backup if other weapons systems aren't available?
- mitchty 7y agoThey're meant to replace the A-10 eventually, so yes regularly would be appropriate. At least: "its in the expected role of the airframe"
- rurounijones 7y agoNot really. The F-35 might replace the A-10 in the CAS role but it will not be achieving it in the same manner. Whereas an A-10 may roll in for a gun-run at low altitude the F-35 will be dropping precision SDBs (Small Diameter Bombs) from high altitude instead. I would be astounded if the F-35's gun gets anywhere within spitting distance of "regular" usage, especially since getting into gun range puts your exceedingly expensive plane into range of MANPADs. I agreee that it is a requirement of the design but I have serious doubts it will ever be actually used that way.
- thearn4 7y agoYes, ultimately the intention (quite surprisingly) of the USAF is to replace the A-10 series with the F-35.
- pirocks 7y agoI'm no expert(casual aviation nerd) but I'm under the impression that the gun exists mostly for completeness and isn't expected to be used regularly. The F35 is meant to conduct air support a10 style, but will use missiles instead of bullets, since it can't really carry a huge cannon like the a10.
- clSTophEjUdRanu 7y agoThe A-10s cannon is overrated. Everytime I see it used most of the rounds miss the target. Targeting should be less dependent on the pilot IMO.
- blattimwind 7y agoOn the other hand, most targets probably only require a single hit from that cannon.
- clSTophEjUdRanu 7y agoYeah, then sprays the other 50 rounds over the rest of the village.
- blattimwind 7y agoIt's precision and recall all over again.
- GhettoMaestro 7y agoCute reply. Simple remedy: Don't be a fuckin combatant in the middle of a civilian area. . . . Wait... wait... let me guess... "Still your fault"
- thrower123 7y agoSuppression is part of the point. Stuka dive bombers didn't have their 'Jericho Sirens' attached for no reason, despite their disadvantages.
- 7y ago
- tomatotomato37 7y agoFor current third-world proxy war purposes its not very useful; but in a real war its an expected possibility that missile & countermeasure tech accelerates such that an F-35's current missile armament's range may shrink to dogfight range, at which point you need a cannon. Of course a ground-attack plane shouldn't be dog-fighting in the first place but you gotta have that multi-role capability
- RugnirViking 7y agoYes. In the sense that current gen figters are often called upon to strafe ground targets, in the absence of air targets. Even in less asymmetrical warfare, its very common for there to be not very many ground targets for periods of time, and then a whole bunch all at once. This means that while we can have dedicated ground attack planes to take up the baseline loads, it's useful to have fighters able to take up the slack on any variable load spikes, even if they aren't quite as good at it, they can be used for other things when demand isn't quite so high.
- AdrianB1 7y agoYes; by comparison, Vulcan rounds are extremely cheap versus guided rockets (tens a dollars per round versus hundred thousand dollars plus per missile), so if you have a low threat engagement like a sniper in a house in Afghanistan it is very effective to shoot 50 cannon rounds at it. Same for a small truck convoy, a plane can get on the target faster than an attack helicopter just because it is 3 times faster at low altitudes. It is not meant to replace an Apache or Cobra helicopter, but to occasionally take out ground targets.
- Brave-Steak 7y agoHow long can a plane like the F-35 fire on a target with the cannon before it passes over it?
- AdrianB1 7y agoThe time is not the important factor, the number of shells on target is. These guns have very high rates of fire, dozens of shells per second. A plane can empty the entire cannon load in 5-6 seconds.