Frostiken Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Of course, you could have just bought Paveway IV (and upgrade all you PWII and III kits with GPS capability as well :D) like we did and have the capability now rather than several years down the line. ;) Yeah well, this is what happens when you're poor :D [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Eddie Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Hang on a minute, I'm sure this conversation is supposed to be the other way around...... It is nice to have something you yanks don't every once in a while, even if it's only for a short time. :megalol: But seriously, I really need to find a way to bodge PWIV on to my Hog.
Rainmaker Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) Of course, you could have just bought Paveway IV (and upgrade all you PWII and III kits with GPS capability as well :D) like we did and have the capability now rather than several years down the line. ;) IIRC, I have seen this exact same statement from you before. :D And I cited some examples of why the GBU-54 is a little better. :smilewink: Also as a correction, the GBU-54 was fielded in less than 17 months from first request. So saying that it set us back in capability for years is not very accurate. It's not the bomb that is the issue, it was the software/pilot upgrades that took longer. That would have happened regardless of which weapon we are talking about here. Edited January 26, 2012 by Rainmaker
Rainmaker Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 No. Our F-15Es (and if an F-15E can't do it with a bomb, nobody can) carry GBU-12s in Afghanistan specifically because JDAMs cannot hit moving targets with any serious reliability. If someone's driving a truck around on a road, you just point your laser at them and the bomb will follow it and hit them every time. JDAMs, being inertial, have to know where they're going to hit before they even release and that's pretty much all there is to it. One thing specifically what BlueRidge is referring to is the ability to air-burst JDAMs. This isn't modeled in the sim because the damage system isn't robust enough to simulate the effects of an air-burst bomb. As near I can tell the damage is the same as in any old FPS game, so an air-burst bomb would actually be much less effective. Hopefully some day this will change and we can at least get some rudimentary simulation of earth penetration and shockwave bounce. The current problem we have in Afghanistan is that PAVEWAY IIs cannot air-burst. JDAMs cannot hit moving targets. Then someone thought 'What if we stuck a PAVEWAY IIs nose on the front of a JDAM...?' and the GBU-54 was born :D Just some info to update you as you might not have been in the AOR recently, but I haven't seen any one in Afghanistan carry a 12 in over a year. The kits have been pretty much shelved as far as I can tell. The standard is a mix of 38's and 54's with a 31 still in the center. The dart world is also doing the same.
Eddie Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 IIRC, I have seen this exact same statement from you before. :D And I cited some examples of why the GBU-54 is a little better. :smilewink: Also as a correction, the GBU-54 was fielded in less than 17 months from first request. So saying that it set us back in capability for years is not very accurate. It's not the bomb that is the issue, it was the software/pilot upgrades that took longer. That would have happened regardless of which weapon we are talking about here. Pah, why let mere facts get in the way of some sarcastic mockery. :D In reality, as you probably know, both weapons were ordered and delivered at around the same time. I think we just got PWIV in to operational use quicker as we started using them in AFG on the Harriers back in 07, whereas afaik you guys were still doing initial trials on LJDAM back then.
Rainmaker Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 Pah, why let mere facts get in the way of some sarcastic mockery. :D In reality, as you probably know, both weapons were ordered and delivered at around the same time. I think we just got PWIV in to operational use quicker as we started using them in AFG on the Harriers back in 07, whereas afaik you guys were still doing initial trials on LJDAM back then. We are notoriously slow at approving things..... Same thing happened with the GBU-39. Tested, fielded, dropped in combat, then forgotten about. And where are those these days? Probably covered in dust somewhere. :D I believe the LJDAM will be around a little longer however. It's what we should have developed in the first place.
Frostiken Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 Just some info to update you as you might not have been in the AOR recently, but I haven't seen any one in Afghanistan carry a 12 in over a year. The kits have been pretty much shelved as far as I can tell. The standard is a mix of 38's and 54's with a 31 still in the center. The dart world is also doing the same. Well, it's been a year, so... :D [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
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