ASAP

https://www.2951clss-gulfwar.com/statistics.htm#:~:text=Iraq Assets Destroyed by A-10's During,the Gulf War 987 tanks destroyed 987 tanks pretty sure it was mostly maverick and gun kills I think A-10s were mostly dumb bombs still

Yeah I bet dive angle and open-fire ranges and burst length really matter and make a huge difference in your chances of killing a tank Also, A-10s killed a lot of Iraqi tanks with the gun back in the gulf war, so there’s that.

On the bright side it’s over very very fast. Possibly, but considering the A-10 and the DU API round was designed to kill main battle tanks, and we are talking about penetrating thick armor I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that the word tank here is referring to MBTs. Armor also means IFVs and APCs but In every conversation I’ve ever had in the Air Force “tank” is a general term for MBTs. Fuel tanks would normally be called POL, fuel trucks, etc…

my understanding is the API is still A very effective kill mechanism against modern tanks. from everything I’ve read/heard it only takes one round penetrating even modern armor to achieve a kill. They fire longer bursts to get bullet density to basically ensure they get good penetration since some of the rounds will probably ricochet. ERA as I understand it is more geared toward defeating explosively formed projectiles from shaped charges. API rounds don’t work like that. Here’s an interesting article I found about it. the API rounds are pretty grotesquely lethal to tanks apparently. https://taskandpurpose.com/news/a-10-warthog-armor-piercing-incendiary-rounds/

A JFO: "provides targeting information in support of CAS; and performs terminal guidance operations (TGO). JFOs cannot perform terminal attack control of CAS missions and do not replace a qualified JTAC/forward air controller (airborne) (FAC[A]). A JFO is allowed to brief a CAS 9-line, but you still need the JTAC to say the words cleared hot and authorize weapons release. It makes sense what EricJ's saying because the JFO is used in a situation when a JTAC would not be able to see the target himself and relies on a JFO to provide the information to a fighter. The JFO isn't allowed to clear an aircraft hot, and if the JTAC could see both the fighter and a target there would be no need for a JFO. That does not mean that a JTAC is in any way restricted from doing type 1/2/3 controlls. From what I understand they want to be as little restrictive as possible, which usually leads to type 2 controls because type 3 has been too unrestrictive for the type of wars we've been fighting the last 2 decades. Based on the video this could have been either a type 1/2. The pause in giving the pilot clearance after he called in suggests to me that it might have been a type 1 because the JTAC delayed to analyze the fighters nose position. But it could have also been the JTAC being slow to respond because he was taking enemy fire. I'd call that unassessable. It's not a request. Its also explicitly stated in the JPUB that giving a direction like "south to north" is still a restriction. It means 360 +-45 degrees. Any time a cardinal direction is passed its that direction +- 45 so its very specific, just a big window and "less restrictive" for the aircrew. Less restrictive means that it is just easier for the pilots and they don't have to try and hit a 10 degree heading or anything. It does not mean its not a restriction though. The only time it would be a recommendation is if the JTAC says something like "all final attack directions approved, recommend ____" All services have JTACS. JTAC is a qualification, not a branch specific role. The majority of JTACS that conventional army guys work with are probably Air Force though because that's the deal between the services. But tons of special forces guys of all branches get JTAC qualified. Marines most the time will have their own JTACS. Its not that the JFO isnt' trusted or that there is a negative view of them, and has nothing to do with an inter service rivalry. Its just they are not trained to the same standard and haven't done the same training and don't have the qualifications. Thats a DOD wide regulation. It's just about who's able to give the control. JFOs can't say cleared hot. For a type 1 the person saying cleared hot needs eyes on the target and fighter. if the the JTAC is there and meets both those criteria, the JFO isn't necessary. The JFO is the method by which the JTAC has the requisit target information and situational awareness to clear a fighter hot. Even for a type 2 the pilot cannot drop or shoot without a cleared hot call. Even if the JFO passes the 9 line the pilot is still going to call IN and a JTAC would call cleared hot.

Yeah I totally thought the same thing the first time I heard all friendlies are to the north. After watching the rest of the video it was a lot less concerning. He never says what they are north of though, and he throws it out as the pilot says he’s visual the friendly position and the target. Based on context I think he meant all friendlies are north of his (the jtacs) position that the pilot called visual on. Either way it wasn’t very clear or situational awareness enhancing comm for us armchair quarterbacks watching after the fact. But based on the fact that the friendly position was marked to the west of the target it makes the most sense. the easy thing to forget is that these guys had probably been flying overhead and talking to these guys for a while and were probably supporting their operation and understood where everyone was. The pilot probably didn’t query the JTAC after he said it because he understood what they meant, knew they were safely out of the way and it wouldn’t be a factor. If we had the full 9 line along with ground commanders intent remarks and restrictions this whole thing would probably be a lot more clear cut.

I'm pretty sure it would melt my graphics card, but this would be awesome. I want.

Well I'm not sure where that assertion comes from. The risk estimate distance for the gun is about a third the size of a JDAM, and I've seen A-10's shooting out at the range from 500 feet away. They are extremely percise. every round within about 30 feet of the target, most of them struck the vehicle they were aiming at. That vs a 500 lb with significant blast and fragmentation effects... Whatever, danger close numbers speak for themselves on that one. Whats "this" refering to exactly? That's a strange thing to doubt. The pilot had the steerpoint called up for a reason. Presumably the JTAC passed his grids. No A-10 pilot that could pass a checkride would not at least plot that out. That would mean he could also see where they are on the TAD. Plus he had visual on the friendlies, as he stated multiple times throughout the video, so even if the steerpoint is off (unlikely), it doesn't matter as long as the pilot was visual friendlies and able to make sure he had a clear line of fire and he was complying with the JTACs run in restrictions. The JTAC most assuredly does give his distance and direction from the target in the CAS 9-line brief which happened before the video, its a requirement. The video picks up as they are doing target correlation, which is a few steps further down the timeline after the pilot was already briefed on the target and given attack remarks and restrictions. The pilot was visual the friendlies and they were visual the A-10. Also there are more than 4 directions in real life. North does not mean they were 360 degrees north of the target. In CAS Its generally accepted that cardinal directions are +- 45 degrees. But again the pilot had eyes on both the target and friendlies, and was able to determine there was no danger to the ground party. The JTAC also had eyes on the aircraft and target and came to the same conclusion. Both JTACS and A-10 pilots are very very familiar with the capabilities and limitations of gun, and all that is weighed in the weaponeering decision. The ground commander also allowed the JTAC to call in that strike and the JTAC was probably talking to the ground commander as it was happening. Lots of people had a chance to step in if they saw a problem and nobody did. Saying the word "north" alone doesn't make anything unsafe. Your assertion here seems to be predicated on the idea that everyone here is braindead. The pilot obviously wont point directly and friendlies on a strafe pass. The pilot absolutley cannot change the run in without the JTACs coordination. He asked the JTAC if he (and by extension the ground commander) wanted to change anything and the response was do the same thing again. So clearly the ground commander, JTAC, and two pilots all disagreed with your assessment that it was unneccessarily risky.

LOL. Did we watch the same video? Luck had absolutley nothing to do with it. Superior training, discipline, and teamwork kept the friendlies safe. Man I love these forums. CAS pilots are not hillbillies with shotguns shooting at anything that moves. Those are very experienced pilots working with a very experienced JTAC following strict JP 3.09-3 procedures, and have done their due diligence to make sure they don't shoot the wrong guys. The pilot does an excellent job of pumping the breaks and methodically identifying where the target is and doesn't let his wingman shoot on the first pass becasue the wingman doesn't have high enough situational awareness. Pointing guns at friendly forces is bad. Never said it wasn't. What I'm saying is that is very clearly not what happened in that video. Obviously a steerpoint isn't going to prevent weapons effects on the friendlies. I pointed it out because it shows the pilots knew exactly where the friendly forces were when he employed. Since we clearly had very different takeaways from the video... I'd like to point out a few things: At 28 seconds into the video he fly's up the river valley and says "I'm visual you, I'm in for a low pass show of force. I have white smoke in sight (The JTAC said the enemy is marked by smoke a few seconds earlier), confirm that's the enemy" While doing this you can see that steerpoint container which is labled "FRND" is on the west side of the river about a half mile from the white smoke (bad guys) which is visible on the east side of the river. He's on a 355 heading which is roughly his attack direction later. you can see that the friendlies are west-north-west of the bad guys, well clear of any strafe fan ricochet pattern. The JTAC responds "That's the enemy PUT ROUNDS ON THAT TARGET NOW" The pilot then says "copy I'm repositioning" and sets up for a directly south to north run in after having just established that the friendlies are well clear to the west along that attack axis. Also indicating that is probably the run in direction the JTAC told him he wants when he passed the 9 line (I'm making an assumption because you never here the 9 line passed). He then calls "HAWG 01 is friendlies in sight, building in sight south to north run in, in hot" Then he rolls in, calls "IN" again and gets cleared hot. Here's why that is important: the "IN" call means means they were using TYPE 1 or 2 control, and the delay in the JTACS response probably means that the JTAC didnt' clear him immediatley because he was doing his job and analyzing the A-10's nose position to make sure he wasn't pointed at friendlies. If the A-10 was pointed at them the JTAC would have spoken up and stopped the attack. When the A-10 shoots you can see that the good guys are so far west of that river that runs between good and bad guys that they are well outside of the A-10's HUD. Again the A-10 pilot knows this. The wingman didn't see where the bad guys were so the flight lead told him to cover and wouldn't let him shoot because he didn't have the required level of SA. The JTAC was so comfortable with the run in direction that both he and the pilot picked that he said "GUNS GOOD" and subsequently approved him to use the exact same run in direction even after the pilot says "Confirm you want another south to north run in?". to which he respons "good copy south to north run in" Here's a screen shot from the video showing the relationship between friendly forces and the target. Notice how they friendly's are slightly north but mostly west of the target. Why did the JTAC say all forces to the north? I don't know, maybe he was referencing a different reference point that he was north of other than the target. Maybe he mixed up directions while talking on the radio in the middle of a fire fight. I'd bet the 9 line restrictions probably sounded something like "make final attack heading south to north or north to south, keep all weapons effects east of the river" or "north to south, don't over fly or point at friendlies." Also the 9 line has a line that says where the nearest friendlies are in relation to the target. The utmost care was taken to protect friendlies. This got long winded... my point is... This is not a video of anyone doing anything reckless or dangerous to friendly forces. It was skill and training that keep the guys on the ground safe not luck. This is a perfect example of a highly trained pilot working with an expert JTAC to dispense very percise destruction on enemy forces and saving the guy on the ground. The dude probably got a well deserved air medal for it.

Realistically there’s no way of assessing this was unsafe based on this video. The JTAC would have to get approval from the ground commander prior to the strike regardless of whether or not its danger close, multiole clearances we’re given, so he didn’t seem that concerned. The video doesn’t include any of the coordination that happens prior between the pilot and the JTAC, but You can see the pilot had the friendlies in a steerpoint and you can see in the HUD it’s more than 30 degrees off of his run in direction and they were some distance away. So he had situational awareness of the target and friendlies. Presumably there was a run in restriction passed along with the 9 line prior to the strike that we didn’t hear. Also the pilots and JTACs both know their strafe/ricochet fan, and risk estimate distances. And we don’t know where the friendlies were and what kind of cover they were taking. A-10 pilots are smart and their tactics are designed around doing stuff like this. I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. also a cardinal directions like “attack south to north” means their nose can be pointed anywhere between 325-045 degrees magnetic. So it’s not that hard to not point at or overfly friendlies. Sounds like the JTAC was giving less restrictive run in directions because he probably trusting the guy he was talking to was competent.

It’s the pod hitting the gimbal limit and unwinding. Does it automatically. That’s a real thing. In the video it never snaps back to being centered in the HUD. Wasn’t the pilot hitting boresight. He was also rolling in to make a mark with the HDC so there isn’t much of a chance he was also also messing with the TGP while doing that. Yup. Dip check. You pull the target and the steer container into the HUD to see where it is (this video predates HMCS). He had the friendly steerpoint selected so he could see where they are in relation to the target he was marking with his HDC.

You cannot in real life load stations 5,6,7 at the same time I’m pretty sure. It’s either 5,7 or 6 for this reason. The jet shouldn’t let you even load it in DSMS I believe. Also to echo Yurgon, no tanks in combat. Those tanks come with some ops limitations and also increase the general explodyness of the aircraft.

You can also press the mfcd buttons at the bottom of the screen. First press of the button under TAD selects the TAD. Second press makes it SOI. Same for the maverick and TGP

All that stuff is done before the pilot gets to the jet. The airplanes are typically refueled immediatley after they land and shutdown so water vapor can't condense in empty tanks. Weapons are loaded sometime prior. The pilot does not come out to the jet until maintenance calls ops and lets them know the jet is ready. Also their is an external battery switch that powers the canopy actuator and a couple of other systems. The ladder drops either way. Crewchiefs can lower it down slowly but its just a telescoping metal pipe. Pilots open it all the time from inside the cockpit if they are cross country and there is no A-10 crew chief to catch the jet. I've seen a pilot do a really awkward move where they left one of their feet hanging to catch the bottom rung of the ladder and raise it himself as he climbed up the jet. It was super awkward looking though, and i'm guessing its not normal. theres an external battery switch that powers the essential electric bus. The crew chief turns it on before the pilot gets to the jet.

Fantastic question, I don't have the slightest idea how the F-16 does it. Any Viper SMEs out there know anything about how it works in that jet? Is the SIM inaccurate or does the jet do some simple image processing to invert the video to black hot?

I’ve heard there’s also a cooling cycle where the gun rotates around and makes a pretty audible clunk every 30 seconds or so for a few minutes after the gun shoots. It would be a cool bit of realism.

The maverick is always showing WHOT. The boat switch and the crosshairs are telling the missile if it’s looking for a hot object in a cold back ground (white crosshairs) or a cold object on a hot background (dark crosshairs)

Its a more accurate way for aircraft to match up their engines power output. ITT is a better comparison of the amount of thrust the engine is producing. No two engines are tuned exactly the same so two engines at 98% RPM could be producing a slightly different amount of thrust. Two aircraft at 750 ITT will be producing a very similar amount of thrust. Generally engine cruise settings are set as a function of fuel flow not ITT. By setting a fuel flow every aircraft is burning gas at the same rate so its easy math for everyone involved and someone isn't bingoing out earlier than everyone else. ITT is used for something like an instrument trail departure where it's critical that aircraft keep consistent distance behind eachother as they are flying instrument procedures. Like Ready said, if everyone climbs at a set airspeed and ITT you cannot possibly catch up to the guy in front of you if you are flying the same ground track you should be a pretty much set distance and altitude behind the guy in front of you. Also "best" cruise airspeed is a bit subjective. If a pilot really wants to gnats ass the cruise setting they'd want to use long range cruise in most cases, unless fuel or time they can stay airborne is an overriding factor. Long range cruise is faster and burns more gas than the max range cruise indicated on your AOA guage. but it gets you to your destination a lot faster for reasonably small increase in fuel consumption. That is calculated with a lot of variables. Weight, altitude, air temperature, etc... and it's something you have to mission plan prior or look up through a spaghetti chart in the dash-1, which means fighter pilots are probably going to resort to a rule of thumb. From everything I've read, at higher altitudes (>20K) the fuel flow setting for long range cruise is pretty close to where max power is, so if the wingman is able to hang on, I'd just fly at max power.

Yeah there is a limit to how much negative G flight the airplane can tolerate even with the fuel pumps My understanding is the radio call is basically for the pilots to confirm that the fuel system is function and feeding properly. Around 7 k pounds is when you should have both tanks dry. If one tank still has gas at that point it indicates you could have trapped fuel or a fuel pump issue that requires the pilots attention. They say it over the radio so the pilots can back each other up and provide mutual support.

In the real jet pac-1 engages as long as you are holding the trigger in the first detent and goes to pac-2 when you pull the trigger. I’ve only ever played DCS with the warthog HOTAS so I’m not sure about your pac question. I’d guess you have to hold it. don’t trim while you are shooting As far as the mechanics of shooting, try this… use the CCIP gun cross if you are at 5k and have hmcs fly at a 45-60 degree angle off of the the target and watch the target in your hmcs monocle. If you fly straight and level and watch the target through your hmcs you should see it start to slowly fall down the hmcs pitch ladders. As soon as the target is approaching 20 degrees nose low push the throttles to max roll to point the top of your head at the target and start a steady tone pull toward the target. As the target enters your HUD roll out and put the gun cross right below the target. As you get closer the cross will slowly move up to the target. When the cross is on the target engage pac-1. If you like your aim point squeeze the trigger and hold it for as long as it takes you to say “die-rat-bastard-die” if you did it right the tank should die. I have more success if I wait til I’m around a mile ish to shoot. Why 20 degrees? I think it’s an easy angle to shoot and more importantly It gives you something to make your guns passes more mechanical and repeatable which is good while you’re learning. You can try and make your gun roll ins look the same if you have some idea of what parameters you want to use. That way after every pass you can think of what you did and how to fix it. And then put yourself in the same position you were last time to try and improve. Also if 20 degrees at 5k has you making a very rushed close in shot then bump up your altitude by 1000k and try again

The left and right fuel systems are isolated from each other. To start the right engine you need the boost pumps running other wise there is simply no gas going to the engine. I know the wings feed first but I don’t know if they have to be on to start. I’d suspect the main tank would suffice, but you’d get a nasty fuel imbalance if you left the right wing tank off. the reason you don’t need the left main boost pump on to start the left engine is because there is a backup DC fuel pump in the left system that is always on and you don’t have a switch for in the cockpit.

Those airplanes aren’t going to be rolling inverted or experiencing high positive/negative g loads, and probably don’t have jet engines. The A-10 engines can run by suction feeding but they are likely to flame out with aggressive maneuvers without positive fuel pressure being continuously provided. the A-10 fuel system is automated to make pilot workload easier. I’m sure the wing tank pumps probably do shutoff on their own when the tanks run dry or fall below a certain level, but the pilot doesn’t do it.

well yes, but... There’s approach speed and then theirs touchdown speed. Most people interpret that wrong from what I’ve seen. The A-10 is not flown by AOA like swept wing fighters. What the AOA indexer is showing you is your touchdown speed. Which is about 10 knots slower than your final approach speed. You don’t get that slow until you start your transition to land. From a the dash one I found on the internet somewhere it says “fly the approach at on speed AOA or calculated landing speed, whichever is higher” unless you are landing immediately after takeoff with a full load of weapons, the AOA will get you slower than you should be. Also if you’re doing that you are probably experiencing an emergency and would fly at single engine approach speeds which are much higher anyway. I had the opportunity to ask an A-10 pilot I know when and how he uses the AOA indexer. His answer was “we don’t”

What are you struggling with with the gun? Send a video maybe you can get some pointers.

If your high the ideal fuel flow is whatever you get at max. Once your up at 20k or above the most you’ll get is like 1500 a side anyway. Down lower in the teens 1800-2000 on each engine works well. Wing and main tanks boost pumps stay on all the time. Unless you have an emergency or a big fuel imbalance. You shouldn’t turn off the wing tanks even when it’s empty. for external tanks: leave them off on the ground. Turn them on at altitude. Shut them off when they are empty. As far as I’m aware the engines take fuel from the internal tanks no matter what. The jet just transfers fuel from the externals into internal tanks every so often to top them off.