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At least our aircraft can self-designate though, they don't require a laser on the ground.

• throw1234651234 6y ago
  So can the SU-25, it has a laser pointer in the nose (ignore if you mean former Soviet bloc by "our"). My point is that a lot of US aircraft use TV/IR targeting frequently, whereas Russian ones don't have that capability except on the higher-end bombers/fighter-bombers (e.g. SU-34, and it's still rarely used with TV/IR guidance). I don't understand if this is a cost, tech, or reliability issue. Furthermore, self-designation is useless when an aircraft is doing close air-support and can't tell apart friendlies from enemies, which is an extremely common scenario.
  • jki275 6y ago
    I meant US, I'm far less familiar with soviet bloc aircraft. Dropping LGBs in close air support isn't a thing. There are other tools for that. Target designation with a laser designator isn't something that anyone is going to do in a danger close CAS situation.
    • throw1234651234 6y ago
      It's a common practice for Russia. They just did it a bunch in Syria. >There are other tools for that. Not really, artillery is going to have the same problems if not more. Unless you have a Reaper, Apache, or Spooky on station.
      • deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]