Nope, no hockey pucks of doom for the Bug drivers. JSOW A and JSOW C only. It’ll be similar to the Bk90s, but more flexibility in terms of standoff distance and launch altitude. Realistically, should only use them in post-'97 scenarios. But from altitude and speed, you’ll be able to toss one out from ~70nmi away. Keeping in mind it is a glide bomb and won’t be going super fast, so enemy ADA can potentially shoot it down. On the other hand, it also means that you could theoretically use it to distract enemy air defenses…
Don’t have A-10C but GPS munitions can be used with pre-planned coords or on the fly. So as long as you have the coordinates for what you want to hit, you can pipe them in and the munition will go to those coords. This is also why you’re limited to a max of 4 GPS munitions for this version of the Bug: the “smart” BRU-55 twin launchers weren’t in service at the time of this variant. That could change, of course, but thus far it doesn’t seem to be on the table.
When we get a TGP, we’ll be able to use it to pipe coordinates in for GPS weapons as well.
JDAM it did, as did some F-14Bs upgraded with the right hardware and software. I am not sure if any F-14As were retrofitted.
A-6 did get HARM and Harpoon though.
HARM is going to represent quite a change for how we handle mission ADA threats. It’s not quite like the Kh-58 or Kh-25 missiles on the Su-25T; much more capable as well as faster. Still, depending on ADA logic, it might not be a golden bullet either… I know I’d plan on doing things like putting out decoy EWRs to distract from the real radar threats.
Gott im Himmel! That was a test right? Let’s see how badly we can load it and still tank it. Or perhaps some officer wanted to test how far he could push his guys before he’d find a grenade sans pin under his pillow?
More common for the Supers to use ugly loadouts, but if I had to guess based on image source, there was probably some concern over OPFOR air and limited need for munition employment given the single bomb.
Given the distance covered by the USMC/USN guys from the boat, they probably load up a wider variety of stuff to catch any requests on the ground. Sucks for the guys loading the stuff up, but that’s what the mission can call for.
Canadian CF-188s carried this load-out (except with a GBU instead of JDAM (?)) over Libya in 2011 during Operation Mobile (Operation Odyssey Dawn for US folks)
I was trying to find a good source to confirm this but it was from back on 2011 when I remember the odd configuration. Hobby Master did a scale die-cast model of one of the jets used during the operation with that layout - and I had to snap up a copy because it’s not often a Canadian jet gets the die-cast treatment.
So from that model here is what the load-out was (potato quality with some dust buildup on the canopy :-)):
It has 2x GBUs on one wing with 2x AIM-120s on the other with the odd external fuel pod layout and Sidewinders on the wing tips. The model came with an additional AIM-120 (sitting lazy under the model). The missiles off to the right are for a different model.
At the time, the configuration was used for jets who were stationed ‘on call’, so to speak, to respond where needed for almost any tasking. It was in the news here in Canada because it was the first time that the jets could carry and use, on their own (though this may have been incorrect as they were able to use PGMs in a limited fashion in Bosnia), the GBU-12’s and JDAM munitions (JDAMs didn’t come with this model) after an upgrade.
The best I can find as a source for this is a CTV news article in 2011 showing the 2x AIM-120s on one wing and, in this case 3 external fuel tanks. I am guessing they needed the special rails holding the 2x AIM-120 and couldn’t mount them symmetrically, as the photo suggests that the aircraft was taking off and not landing.
I guess we are just weird that way. Here is a Foxtrot Alpha article where we have 2x GBUs on one wing, 1x GBU on the other, 1 AIM-120 in the intake station and 2 External Fuel Pods.
Geeking out over this while I await the results of my latest code build
Looks like a lot of fun stuff. I don’t think it’s realistic to expect much of this in the next patch, though. I think they said they’d hope to have the AGM-88C out this month featuring only its SP mode, with the rest coming out later.
As for coordinates versus lasing, some people can churn out numbers from a map real quick. If they want the delivering platform to be anywhere near they will have to provide some coordinates, as well as to be able to call in indirect fire support. Another advantage is that the ground element can exfiltrate once the numbers have been passed on, and a highly capable opponent does not know it is being targeted for attack.
I don’t think decoy EWR’s will help much against the HARM since it can target specific emissions. It will ignore your EWR and go for your valuable dog ear or flat face instead
Do you have any kind of reliable source on this?
It sounds really far fetched, based on the numbers.
I know they had decoys, even some rather cheap ones, but the story of the ovens I could not find any plausible proof for.
