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A-10C II GAU-8 tracer ammo


Red_Camarada

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The the logic behind a tracer round is to trace the bullet flight path and make necessary ballistic corrections for drift & drop over range to target. 
As much as tracers might be an awesome sight to see, especially at night, I can't see it's practical application in a real war zone with an A-10C GAU. 
a) ground impact is pretty visible; day or night regardless of the rounds fired.
b) HUD visual 'cueing' tells me the range and impact area.
b) it's not like you can 'swing the barrel' XX° degrees like an M249, .50-M2HB0 or even the GAU on a AC-130; you'd need to steer the whole plane.
c) the visual effect would probably be a detriment to the pilot's vision, especially at night, leaving him/her with temporary blind spots...at 300kts heading downhill !!!! Even a 'subdued tracer'; one that delays burn for a hundred or more yards downrange, combined with gun barrel exhaust would create a visual impairment. 

The only benefit I can see is the tracers use to 'mark the target' for other friendlies, whether air or ground forces. Oh, and the obvious self-induced 'chubby' from watching the spectacle. :clap::clap_2::clap::clap_2:


Edited by AvgWhiteGuy
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  • 2 years later...
On 6/10/2021 at 9:43 PM, Harzach said:

The only tracer ammunition fired by the GAU-8 is the PGU-15 TP training round.

 

They are just steel slugs TP rounds don’t have tracers. The ccip symbology makes tracers pointless. 

On 6/11/2021 at 12:03 AM, AvgWhiteGuy said:

The the logic behind a tracer round is to trace the bullet flight path and make necessary ballistic corrections for drift & drop over range to target. 
As much as tracers might be an awesome sight to see, especially at night, I can't see it's practical application in a real war zone with an A-10C GAU. 
a) ground impact is pretty visible; day or night regardless of the rounds fired.
b) HUD visual 'cueing' tells me the range and impact area.
b) it's not like you can 'swing the barrel' XX° degrees like an M249, .50-M2HB0 or even the GAU on a AC-130; you'd need to steer the whole plane.
c) the visual effect would probably be a detriment to the pilot's vision, especially at night, leaving him/her with temporary blind spots...at 300kts heading downhill !!!! Even a 'subdued tracer'; one that delays burn for a hundred or more yards downrange, combined with gun barrel exhaust would create a visual impairment. 

The only benefit I can see is the tracers use to 'mark the target' for other friendlies, whether air or ground forces. Oh, and the obvious self-induced 'chubby' from watching the spectacle. :clap::clap_2::clap::clap_2:

 

You’re right. I don’t think the visual impairment is a huge issue though. At least no bigger an issue than rockets or mavericks firing. From what I understand the NVGs are so bright you don’t really have much night vision anyway.

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@ASAP...........I'm sure they tested it somewhere along the way but I don't think it compares to rockets or Mavs because a) the gun smoke would defuse that tracer glare right in front of your face making it a bigger impairment, and b) the Mavs and rockets are firing from behind you, and to the side. 

In any case I'm sure some creative genius could create a MOD that might simulate this spectacle. Might be fun to eval


Edited by AvgWhiteGuy
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19 hours ago, AvgWhiteGuy said:

@ASAP...........I'm sure they tested it somewhere along the way but I don't think it compares to rockets or Mavs because a) the gun smoke would defuse that tracer glare right in front of your face making it a bigger impairment, and b) the Mavs and rockets are firing from behind you, and to the side. 

In any case I'm sure some creative genius could create a MOD that might simulate this spectacle. Might be fun to eval

 

I think if its something people want then sure, I'm sure someone can probably make a mod no big deal. My point was that ED doesn't need to, since they are trying to make things that are accurate.

 

From what I've heard, on NVGs the pilot actually can see the gun firing in front of the jet and it's pretty bright. A pilot I talked to said it isn't dazzeling or anything but it kind of looks like you're jet is breathing fire, which sounds pretty awesome to me. Also, The mav and rocket motors are both still burning as it leaves the rail. I've seen HUD video and the maverick burns pretty much all the way to the target. Rockets have a much shorter burn but they are still in front of the jet when the motors burn out.

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..topic belongs under AH-64   😛 

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