scott%sting.Berkeley.EDU@ (Scott Silvey) (07/18/90)
From: scott%sting.Berkeley.EDU@ (Scott Silvey) Is it possible for a 2-crew bomber with an advanced "360 degree" laser designator to guide an in-flight weapon while simultaneously dropping unguided ordinace ballistically on another target? If this is not possible, is it because of either (1) avioncs/weapon systems limitations or (2) the fact that this is way too complicated for an air crew to perform under fire? This sounds sort of crazy to me but what I envision is for something like an F-111 with PAVETACK in a (common?) situation where it needs to release a lot of ordinance on several targets in a short period of time. Since you want to minimize the time near the target, you only want to make one fly-by per aircraft. The bombardier could control in flight laser-guided weapons while the pilot lines up another target for some sort of "laydown" attack (releasing a lot of bombs in a line to increase the hit probability of a ballistic drop). Would an A-6F be capable of something like this? Are there any other aircraft that could do something similar? Finally, if this IS possible, is it a technique that is used? In the Lybia raid I remember seeing press-release videos from the F-111 with a PAVETACK system that was attacking some grounded Lybian transports. However, these aircraft seemed to be controlling only one weapon drop each. Scott
gwh%monsoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) (07/24/90)
From: gwh%monsoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) In article <1990Jul18.040913.14392@cbnews.att.com> scott%sting.Berkeley.EDU@ (Scott Silvey) writes: >Is it possible for a 2-crew bomber with an advanced "360 degree" > laser designator to guide an in-flight weapon while > simultaneously dropping unguided ordinace ballistically on > another target? If this is not possible, is it because of > either (1) avioncs/weapon systems limitations or (2) the fact > that this is way too complicated for an air crew to perform > under fire? I doubt it. The primary reason is timing; the average operational self- illuminating laser guided bomb drop only has the weapon in the air for a few (less than five) seconds. That's too short to do much of anything else in the way of lining up on another target. You might pop off some gun rounds, tho... Not to mention the lack of mission planning. When a target needs multiple weapons drops, the general rule is one plane per individual target. Why? The one pass rule... More than one pass over a target area lets the air defenses have an unreasonable chance of nailing one of your planes. Much better to hit them all at once. >Would an A-6F be capable of something like this? Are there any > other aircraft that could do something similar? What A-6F? The navy never bought any. 8-( == George William Herbert == * Warning: This person contains chemicals * == JOAT for Hire: Anything, == ** known to cause Cancer, Birth Defects, ** =======Anywhere, My Price.======= ************ and Brain Damage! ************ == gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu == == ucbvax!ocf!gwh == The OCF Gang: Making Tomorrow's Mistakes Today
root@uunet.UU.NET (Superuser) (07/24/90)
From: edat!root@uunet.UU.NET (Superuser) In article <1990Jul18.040913.14392@cbnews.att.com> scott%sting.Berkeley.EDU@ (Scott Silvey) writes: > > >From: scott%sting.Berkeley.EDU@ (Scott Silvey) > >Is it possible for a 2-crew bomber with an advanced "360 degree" > laser designator to guide an in-flight weapon while > simultaneously dropping unguided ordinace ballistically on > another target? If this is not possible, is it because of > either (1) avioncs/weapon systems limitations or (2) the fact > that this is way too complicated for an air crew to perform > under fire? > >This sounds sort of crazy to me but ... Yeah, there is no reason to do this. It sounds like your trying for some type of MIRVed delivery schema of small targets. No, you might go in with a mixed load of smart and gravity for a primary and secondary targets, then use one load per target. You want to inflict maximum damage according to target type without excessive collateral damage. Say hit a substation without destroying the dam nearby. But if the targets are close enough for a single pass of smart and gravity, screw it, load up and go. If the two targets are separted by enough distance for a second pass, you let the wingman standoff, designate while you go in and splat them. Then it your turn to designate and he does his thing. That's SOP because that wingman needs to be watching for hostiles as you take a run. There is strength in numbers. "I speak only for myself and for as long as I can, regardless of what Florida politicians and legislators think" Brian Douglass Electronic Data Technologies 1085 Palms Airport Drive Las Vegas, NV 89119-3715 Voice: 702-361-1510 X311 FAX #: 702-361-2545 uunet!edat!brian