Bearfoot Posted October 28, 2017 Posted October 28, 2017 So, why does the GUV-1 have two calibers of weapons, of which only one can be fired at a time? I guess I understand a light and heavy caliber if only one or both can be fired simultaneously --- you use the lighter caliber for aiming and then when rounds are hitting the target, you throw in the heavy caliber (as long as the trajectories are similar). But not only can you not fire them simultaneously, but it the pilot has to flip a switch on the overhead console to change calibers and that has got to disrupt the run so much that switching in the same pass let alone the same target must be challenging. So, two questions: (1) What as the "problem" that the mixed calibers fixed? What made someone say, "you know, what we need here are two smaller guns beside this one large one, and they don't even need to be fired at the same time". (2) How do you use these? Use up all the larger caliber ammo and then switch to the smaller one?
Weta43 Posted October 29, 2017 Posted October 29, 2017 They have quite different trajectories, so firing together would be problematic. Smaller caliber @ much higher rate of fire for infantry and un-armoured targets, 50 cals for lightly armoured targets and things you don't want to get quite so close to, but still want to reach out and touch... Cheers.
Bearfoot Posted October 29, 2017 Author Posted October 29, 2017 They have quite different trajectories, so firing together would be problematic. Smaller caliber @ much higher rate of fire for infantry and un-armoured targets, 50 cals for lightly armoured targets and things you don't want to get quite so close to, but still want to reach out and touch... Thanks. So you think the reason for packing two calibers in the same pod was to be able to attack soft vs. semi-hard targets? Wouldn't it have been simpler and more flexible just to have two dedicated pods that you could load up as needed? Mix-and-match at pod-level?
Weta43 Posted October 29, 2017 Posted October 29, 2017 Hmm First, you might not be 100% certain which one you'll want when you take off ... (CAS - are the targets going to be in a field, or in a house, or hiding behind a vehicle ?) Second - As you can only put MG pod on pylons 3 & 4, & there's no 'left' or 'right' switch for MG pods, you'd only be able to take 1 or the other, and why would you limit yourself to either one or the other if you have the capability to take both (that would be less flexible not more) ? + even if you could put a 7.62 on one side and a 12.7 on the other, wouldn't that require the same switch toggling as you're objecting to, and reduce the flexibility of the pod for other aircraft ? Cheers.
Bearfoot Posted October 29, 2017 Author Posted October 29, 2017 Hmm First, you might not be 100% certain which one you'll want when you take off ... (CAS - are the targets going to be in a field, or in a house, or hiding behind a vehicle ?) Second - As you can only put MG pod on pylons 3 & 4, & there's no 'left' or 'right' switch for MG pods, you'd only be able to take 1 or the other, and why would you limit yourself to either one or the other if you have the capability to take both (that would be less flexible not more) ? + even if you could put a 7.62 on one side and a 12.7 on the other, wouldn't that require the same switch toggling as you're objecting to, and reduce the flexibility of the pod for other aircraft ? Hi Weta, I am not actually objecting the toggling between the 7.62 and 12.7 as such. I was just wondering why you would want them both in the same pod. Speculating on the reason one might want both calibers in a single pod, and, from e.g., WW2 a/c with mg's and cannons, I thought it might be to use the lighter caliber to get an aiming solution and the heavier one for effect. But this is not feasible with a toggle either/or situation, so that is why I brought that up. Of course, as I have now learned thanks to you, the trajectories of the two classes of weapons are different so that would not work even if you could fire them together. What you say about soft/hard targets as justification for each of the respective calibers makes sense to have the need for two, and what you say about the the limitations of the pylon configs makes sense why you would want both calibers in a single pod. Thanks for clearing that up for me!
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