USAF does something useful and valuable.

[Dayton3]

MSN

www.msn.com

I've been a big believer in air power expert and writer Bill Gunston about the idea that large air bases would be largely unusable within the first hours of another major war (due to aircraft and missile strikes). Gunston of course is a big promoter of the Harrier family of combat aircraft and similar designs. I agree with this in part but I think moving to using regular highways and even dirt strips is a step forward in this line of thinking as well.

Thoughts?

 

[eagle1462010]

Agree we should train for this possibility. It's very likely in a first strike we could take severe damage to airfields in a Pearl Harbor moment.

That is why we need layered defenses. China the last I heard produces the hell out of defensive systems. We need more defense and hardened bunkers for aircraft here.

 

[para bellum]

Runways are easy to repair, cratering one doesn't really shut it down for long. But parked AC are juicy targets, dispersing them is always a good idea.

Depends on the country's capabilities, I guess. Aerial refueling allows the bases to be a lot farther back from the battlespace, and usually pretty well protected. The list of AC that can be operated from unimproved runways is not very long, so you still need fixed bases.

One of the reasons I think the Saab Gripen would be perfect for Ukraine is that it's designed to be used from those unimproved runways and highways with a minimal ground crew. Their MiG's and Sukhois can't do that, and their endurance is only about 30 minutes when they have to fly nap of the earth. It doesn't give the UAF a lot of operational flexibility.

 

[Likkmee]

You don't need runways for an ICBM

 

[Vrenn]

MSN

www.msn.com

I've been a big believer in air power expert and writer Bill Gunston about the idea that large air bases would be largely unusable within the first hours of another major war (due to aircraft and missile strikes). Gunston of course is a big promoter of the Harrier family of combat aircraft and similar designs. I agree with this in part but I think moving to using regular highways and even dirt strips is a step forward in this line of thinking as well.

Thoughts?

Not a new idea. The Interstate idea came from the original idea for the Autobahn which was actually used for that purpose. It was one of Hitler's brilliant ideas. Eisenhower took that idea and made it for the Interstate when he found out that there was no real way, outside or rail, that the US could transport Military Equipment from coast to coast nor land AC if the runways were lost. The problem is, in the last few years, we have encroached things on the interstates where there are very few places you can land military AC because of obstructions.

 

[JohnDB]

The main issue with most AC these days is support team hours.
Every hour of flight time has increased the support hours drastically. And where I do agree that concentrating mitary assets in a small area is dumb....spreading them out too far apart is also unworkable from a manpower perspective. It's a very difficult balance to maintain.

 

[JGalt]

Those birds would already be in the air before a first strike, and they wouldn't be coming back down, except to ditch them if the fuel tankers ran out of fuel.

 

[rightwinger]

MSN

www.msn.com

I've been a big believer in air power expert and writer Bill Gunston about the idea that large air bases would be largely unusable within the first hours of another major war (due to aircraft and missile strikes). Gunston of course is a big promoter of the Harrier family of combat aircraft and similar designs. I agree with this in part but I think moving to using regular highways and even dirt strips is a step forward in this line of thinking as well.

Thoughts?

The Air-force has been resisting the A-10 since it was first conceived and has been trying to kill it for decades

Meanwhile it has amassed an unsurpassed record in Air to Ground combat

Airfields have been bombed ever since there have been airplanes
Ground crews have been able to rapidly put them back in service

 

[eagle1462010]

The Air-force has been resisting the A-10 since it was first conceived and has been trying to kill it for decades

Meanwhile it has amassed an unsurpassed record in Air to Ground combat

It is a beast and ground killing machine. Should make more of them. I pity a column without anti air assets getting hit by these............The Russian 40 column in Ukraine would have been cut to pieces with these.

 

[rightwinger]

Not a new idea. The Interstate idea came from the original idea for the Autobahn which was actually used for that purpose. It was one of Hitler's brilliant ideas. Eisenhower took that idea and made it for the Interstate when he found out that there was no real way, outside or rail, that the US could transport Military Equipment from coast to coast nor land AC if the runways were lost. The problem is, in the last few years, we have encroached things on the interstates where there are very few places you can land military AC because of obstructions.

Eisenhower looked at the Interstates as a way to evacuate people and move troops in the event of the eventual nuclear attack

 

[Dekster]

MSN

www.msn.com

I've been a big believer in air power expert and writer Bill Gunston about the idea that large air bases would be largely unusable within the first hours of another major war (due to aircraft and missile strikes). Gunston of course is a big promoter of the Harrier family of combat aircraft and similar designs. I agree with this in part but I think moving to using regular highways and even dirt strips is a step forward in this line of thinking as well.

Thoughts?

A-10's are ugly and awesome. 9/11 probably saved the A-10 and the V-22 from the chopping block. It was a reminder to the institutional memory that they needed actual boots on the ground and close air support to win wars.

 

[Dayton3]

I was always impressed that an A-10 over Iraq was hit by a missile and lost ALL of its hydraulics. It had to land using its "manual reversion" control feature. Where the pilot simply manhandles the plane by hand using the controls attached to wires and pulleys.

Reportedly it is very physically difficult to do but the pilot did so despite being a woman.

 

[watchingfromafar]

We need to turn the Ukrainian war from a three-year bloodbath into a few months by putting American troops and air force into the mix. Defeating the Russians NOW is our best option.
-

 

[Canon Shooter]

Agree we should train for this possibility. It's very likely in a first strike we could take severe damage to airfields in a Pearl Harbor moment.

That is why we need layered defenses. China the last I heard produces the hell out of defensive systems. We need more defense and hardened bunkers for aircraft here.

Here's a sobering thought:

"Tracer" rounds are placed every fifth round. For every round you do see in those videos, there are four rounds you don't...

 

[eagle1462010]

Here's a sobering thought:

"Tracer" rounds are placed every fifth round. For every round you do see in those videos, there are four rounds you don't...

They fired 3500 rounds a minute back in my day. Don't know the number now. A wall of bullets that nothing can pass.

They are essential defense weapons in the Navy.

 

[JohnDB]

It is a beast and ground killing machine. Should make more of them. I pity a column without anti air assets getting hit by these............The Russian 40 column in Ukraine would have been cut to pieces with these.

The problem is that shoulder fired anti aircraft missiles are fairly common these days....just about every army has them. An A-10 is a target for those missiles.

 

[eagle1462010]

The problem is that shoulder fired anti aircraft missiles are fairly common these days....just about every army has them. An A-10 is a target for those missiles.

Every weapons system has a counter weapons system on the battlefield. Same as chess pieces in Chess. Each one has a purpose. That is why you need to have your shit together on a battlefield.

Killer drones will probably the real killer in a war with China. They have a blanket of anti air there already. Why we have pushed stealth to avoid it. A country without stealth capabilities is a sitting duck for stealth. But they are VERY EXPENSIVE.

 

[Canon Shooter]

They fired 3500 rounds a minute back in my day. Don't know the number now. A wall of bullets that nothing can pass.

They are essential defense weapons in the Navy.

I remember the first time I saw the CIWS used at San Clemente Island off the coast of California. We were doing NGFS ops in 1983.

Jesus.

Even when you know it's comin', it scares the shit out of you...

 

[eagle1462010]

I remember the first time I saw the CIWS used at San Clemente Island off the coast of California. We were doing NGFS ops in 1983.

Jesus.

Even when you know it's comin', it scares the shit out of you...

I always called the sound of it shooting to be a wet fart. lol

 

[Canon Shooter]

I always called the sound of it shooting to be a wet fart. lol

That's about it!