Ain't she sweet?
Good afternoon, everyone.
It seems that engineeredLSMFT is shirking work today, skiving off to go watch a rally event that’s taking place up in his neck of the woods. The bastard! How dare he live so close to such a cool (literally) racing event! Bah!
Out of sheer jealousy, I’ve decided to steal a march on him, and do a weapons post. Better yet, a weapons porn post.
I adore 30mm cannons. They seem to me to be just about the ideal weapon to subtly announcing your presence to the enemy, from knocking on the door of a bunker, to saying ‘hello’ to an armored vehicle. You might say that they make an impact.
My very favorite however, is the GAU-8 Avenger cannon, upon which the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft was constructed. It is just a thing of beauty, its voice is that of an angel. Two of my most prized possessions are the 30mm display rounds I have that were fired from a GAU-8 and had projectiles refitted to them. They dwarf a 20mm and 25mm round:
A 30mm round compared to lesser munitions
The GAU-8 and Thunderbolt II, a.k.a. The Warthog, are well known to most of the Atomic Toasters readers, because most of us here are weapons nuts. So rather than repeat a bunch of information that you already know, I’m just going to show you a few videos and a bunch of cool pictures of the GAU-8 that you may or may not have seen. If you have any cool GAU-8 photos, share them in comments, would you?
The first video is a clip from a National Geographic show on the A-10, and has either Japanese or Chinese subtitles. My knowledge of kanji sucks.
This is a short video of a GAU-8 being test in a lab. Good sound!
This next video was shot by some of our troops in Afghanistan. They have calling in for a gun run on a badguy hideout.
The last video is another gun run, but this time in a pretty mountainous area. The sound of the GAU-8 is incredible here.
If you want to see what the news is in the A-10 community, go check out The Warthog News. Lots and Lots of pictures of A-10s, and lots of news about the pilots and support people, etc.
Whats the helicopter pictured? The cockpit makes it look like a drone or CGI.
Oh and if you look at the front of a Warthog you will find the front landgear is off center. They couldn't fit it in the belly of the plane with the gun. The poor A10 has been removed from service twice so far. Before and after Gulf War 1 they thought they had a better replacement with the F-16 in this role.
The F-16 doesn't have the loiter time or the protection of the A10. It's like the B52 in that we will never see a replacement for it. A drone will soon do it's job
That was something I blundered across. In the post was a picture of the magazine article where the helicopter picture originated, but it was of such poor quality that it was unreadable. It was something that DARPA was playing with is all I know. I'd like to see a video of the firing of the cannon – I'll bet that it really threw that little chopper around.
It would have to be a tailless design to start with. Plus have enough computers onboard to counter the torque from the gun. Also I would bet it's limited to being forward at a hover only because otherwise it would throw it out of control. Kind of a fun mental exercise.
The A10's had a hard time in Kosovo due to terrain and a couple other issues. Then they developed some sort of stability augmentation system that gave them an increased stand-off range that enabled them to stay in the fight.
I love the Wart Hog! We used to have a Fighter Wing that flew out of Madison. http://www.tankkiller.com/squadrons/176/176tfs.ht… They always would seem to be going over the Marsh and down the Wisconsin River. SLLLLLLOOOOOWWWWLLLY. They looked so evil coming at you. I Think it was Tom Clancy's novel "Red Storm Rising". The Russians in the novel nicknamed them the "Iron Cross". I thought that was a cool nickname.
I'm with you. The Warthog is just about my favorite plane, and is my favorite armed aircraft. It just has that wonderful 'built for business' look to it. I have a great 1/32 A-10 model kit that I've been meaning to build for years, really detailed. I has a great complete GAU-8 assembly. I'd like to find a model of a loader for the thing, it'd make a great diorama.
Instead of a loader how about getting a diecast beetle and reproducing this shot
<img src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-cgTV23H0CvG3HmTY3BMkRXb6aEDjNJ49IdWbdwwJqmAbcT1HBqSpQpCDfw" width="600">
When I was scrounging around for photos, I came across a photo where someone had built a model VW bug and a scale GAU-8 and mounted them on a display stand. I tried to retrace my path, but I couldn't find it again.
Well then it's not original enough. Ok how about hanging a model A10 from the ceiling. Putting cotton on the gun to look like it's firing. Then having a model tank on display with LED's going off to look like it's being hit? That seems simple enough
It takes practice. I still can't get the gallery to do what I want, but that's typical of the editor.
Yes, that would be better.
I'm going to put this here so you get the email. Jeb Hoge from Twitter and Google+ found out about that proposed helicopter
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/a160-hummingb…
Thanks! It's great to find out what that thing is for, basically, although with the payload specs they give, it shouldn't be able to haul around a GAU-8. Gee, you think that they're sandbagging us?
Just a little. I'd be curious to hear more about it though. To see if they are still working on the design or have gone forward at all on it.
I'm a little late to the party, as usual, but this is a crazy piece of machinery. Here's a couple of pictures I had the good fortune to be able to take at the Reno Air Races a few years back:
<img src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v346/189/61/1227745/n1227745_42144565_1053.jpg", width="500">
Close enough to (just) see the rifling…
<img src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v346/189/61/1227745/n1227745_42144588_8155.jpg", width="500">
Shot from the access cover on the Warthog's underside — the ghostly white object in the corner is my hand for scale (although I really like fodder's shot of the cannon next to a Beetle, above, for establishing the crazy size of this thing…)
Thanks for the pictures! I really appreciate it!
My pleasure, Prof!
A few months back I took a training class. There was a guy from Boeing there. The Boeing plant in south Georgia is making the next gen wings for the A-10. They plan on keeping them around another 20 years or so, just keep refurbing/upgrading the existing airframes.
That's really good news. I think the AF was shocked when they found out how useful the A-10s were, when they finally got around to trying to use them. I don't think that a drone will be able to fly their mission for quite some time.
BTW – I'm looking for a depleted uranium display round if you come across one in your travels.
how about a steel display round: http://www.ebay.com/itm/30mm-dummy-round-pgu-16-a…
My steel rounds look nicer than that and cost me about half as much. I'll post you a picture of them when I get back from the gym.
Thanks for looking, though.
Here is a picture of some of my display rounds/projectiles: long rod penetrator dart from a 105mm sabot round, two 30mm GAU-8 practice rounds, and a 20mm practice round.
<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6773481283_eb36ae3942_z.jpg" width="481" border="2" style="border:2px solid black;" alt=" " />
From wiki they are expecting Boeing to be done this year but this is indeed good news. So the B52 will be 80 years old when they retire it in 2040. The A10 will be 68
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In 2005, the entire A-10 fleet also began receiving the Precision Engagement upgrades that include an improved fire control system (FCS), electronic countermeasures (ECM), and the ability to aim smart bombs. The aircraft that receive this upgrade are redesignated A-10C. The A-10 will receive a service life extension program (SLEP) upgrade with many receiving new wings.[23] A contract to build 242 new A-10 wing sets was awarded to Boeing in June 2007.[24] In July 2010, the USAF issued Raytheon a contract to integrate a Helmet Mounted Integrated Targeting (HMIT) system into A-10Cs.[25] Two A-10s flew in November 2011 with the new wing installed. The service life of the re-winged aircraft is extended to 2040.
Billions of dollars spent developing the F22 & F35, neither of which are seeing much (if any) service, and here we are continuing to use aircraft designed with drafting tables and slide rules.
They don't make 'em like they used to.
They will never spend money on a simple dump truck design. Which is what the B52 and A10's are. They dont have whiz bangs and at least go supersonic. Even the Russians are seeing this with the SU-25 Frogfoot staying in service so long because there isn't a modern replacement.
Ten million per plane could have developed a new simple attack place but again why bother if the A-10 does the job?
Hell, if you read the news, they can't even keep them in the air longer than 15 minutes, that is, when they're not grounded. It's very disappointing how both programs have been handled. I used to have pretty high expectations of the aircraft, but not so much at the moment.
Our geriatric bomber fleet. I know how they feel.
Haha! If they still work, no reason to
drop 'em.
This reminds me of a lyric from an old
Lightnin Hopkins song;
"may be old, ninety year;
ain't too old to shift them gears..
gotta bottle it up 'n go"
This is the only reason I'd ever join the military. To fly this gun. (because really the A-10 is just a very awesome delivery system)