Forum: F-16 News

U.S. to send 12 F-16s to South Korea

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 9:28:03 EST

SEOUL, South Korea — The United States will deploy 12 F-16 fighter jets to South Korea to replace a fleet of Apache helicopters bound for Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. and South Korean military officials said Tuesday.

[...]

The U.S. military said it remains committed to the defense of South Korea. Washington has about 28,500 troops in the South as a deterrent against communist North Korea.

In actuality, the vipers are replacing the scheduled A-10s, not the apaches directly......and pardon the dumb question, but there is a squadron of A-10s at Osan already, correct? Were they planning to expand A-10 ops in the 25th, or put up a whole different squadron someplace? 12 jets is a squadron's worth, huh? All the A-10 guys get to go play in Korea occasionally?

That and the A-10s here at Osan are pretty broke right now. One thing I've heard is that a squadron not too far away from Korea that specializes in SEAD and DEAD missions is comin' this way...

F-16s Replacing Worn Out A-10s

January 16, 2009: U.S. plans to withdraw half its 48 AH-64 helicopter gunships from South Korea, while adding a dozen A-10C ground attacks aircraft, have been modified. The A-10s are not available, because so many of them are having their worn out (cracks are developing) wings replaced. So the air force is sending a dozen F-16s to do the job.

The A-10 was designed for low level strafing, using a 30mm cannon, but F-16s, with a new, and more powerful, gun sight, have proved to be very effective at strafing. However, F-16s moves faster than the A-10, and is more difficult to control on the deck. That's a necessary trade-off, because the F-16 is a multi-mission aircraft, while the A-10 just does ground support.

Three years ago, an F-16 pilot was killed when, on a low level strafing run in Iraq, he was momentarily distracted, and his aircraft crashed. The U.S. Air Force considers it an acceptable risk to come in that low to use its 20mm cannon on a ground target. Because of safety concerns, pilots are not allowed to perform that kind of maneuver during peacetime training. Since it's now wartime, such training is allowed. Last year, an F-16 was practicing firing at ground targets at night (where much of the action takes place in Iraq), became momentarily distracted, and shot up an SUV on a nearby highway.

While F-16 pilots are willing to come in low and use their cannon, the F-16 was not designed for this sort of thing. The aircraft is too fast. An F-16 coming in low to use cannon on ground targets is going at least 400 kilometers an hour. An A-10 can slow down to 250 kilometers an hour. In addition, the A-10 is designed to more easily maneuver down low and slow, and is armored to better survive ground fire. Not so the F-16. But the air force insists the F-16 can do the job, and pilots die as a result.

What the F-16 can do is carry a dozen or more smart bombs, and in that role it is very useful to the ground troops. The newly upgraded A-10s can also carry smart bombs.

source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairf ... 90116.aspx

...F-16s, with a new, and more powerful, gun sight, have proved to be very effective at strafing.

..."the F-16 was not designed for this sort of thing. The aircraft is too fast."

However, F-16s moves faster than the A-10, and is more difficult to control on the deck.

"...the air force insists the F-16 can do the job, and pilots die as a result".

Quote:
However, F-16s moves faster than the A-10, and is more difficult to control on the deck.
Says who? People like the nitwit that wrote that jewel of journalistic excellence?