Forum: F-16 versus XYZ

Hi everyone, i was watching some old news footage of the A10 over Iraq and it got me thinking.
Would an A10 warthog stand a chance against a viper within visual range at low level in a gun only engagement?

My opinion would be that the A10 with its 30mm cannon would have a chance (a slim one) what do you guys think?

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A Block 15 Viper would stand the best chance as it weighs the least (turns the best), but it is possible that the engagement could go like this.
Viper detects Hawg via Radar, Hawg begins evasive maneuvers, Viper is unable to match level turns and goes vertical to make slashing attacks, Hawg continues jinking and using terrain to its advantage causing the Viper to score glancing blows at best, Hawg is unable to bring nose onto Viper before Viper disengages, cycle repeats untill Viper runs out of gas and goes home.

This would be like the Incredible Hulk vs. the Flash. If that A-10 gets a single good spray, the Falcon is gone. The F-16's superior speed and climb could make this hard to accomplish, though.

There is a reason A10's have the highest crash rate compared to any other modern plane.... it's because they're flying extremely close to the earth. If an F-16 didn't detect the A-10 or came low before detecting it, there could be some nasty surprises. Keep in mind the A-10 not only can sustain severe damage, but has sidewinders in addition to its GAU-8

Quote:

Keep in mind the A-10 not only can sustain severe damage, but has sidewinders in addition to its GAU-8

He said it was "guns-only".

Kryptid wrote:

He said it was "guns-only".

Only fools fight fair. Very Happy

Elite 1K Joined: May 26, 2005 - 08:39 PM Posts: 1496

gyrfalcon16 wrote:

Kryptid wrote:

He said it was "guns-only".

Only fools fight fair. Very Happy

In that case, the Viper wins with an AMRAAM shot from 20 miles out. Very Happy

Id imagine this to be a very quick fight.

The Viper pilot , if he's smart, will not engage a straight wing , heavily armed and armoured aircraft at low level where the advantage will be with the Hawg ( or Su 25).

The weak point of the A-10 will be vertical manouvering, so the Viper driver, in a guns-only match, will want to bait the A-10 to get away from the deck.

Vice versa, the A-10 driver doesnt want to leave the deck, at least if he wants to live.So either someone makes a mistake and gets downed for it, or they both play aerial standoff in their advantageous altitudes until someone calls it quits.

I remember reading over a dozen years ago that in getting reading for PGW#1, an F-15C pilot commented on an exercises in Saudi Arabia, he found that maintaining a radar lock-on of the RAF Jaguar and A-10 when they were down close to the ground, while he was at 10,000-ft. was difficult. I also remember reading about a Red Flag exercise in which a couple of A-10s were attacking a armor column. An F-15C much higher up was trying to keep a radar lock-on (without much success) but, the A-10s consistently stayed to low. The A-10s knew about the F-15. The F-15 drifted in a little to close and, after one of the strafing run on the armor column, the A-10 suddenly pulled up into the vertical and got the F-15 in its sights and a burst killed the F-15.
As the F-15 pilot worked to get a missile shot at the A-10s... he had gotten to close and, the A-10 was able to point the GAU-8 at the F-15.
In an air to air kill, I don't think the A-10 is required to have the F-15 in the gun camera for 10 frames, does it?

I think Kryptid hit the nail on the head when he said this contest would be like Hulk versus The Flash except this time Flash in the F15 was maybe a bit too cocky or careless. I think this just goes to show that an experienced pilot will always fight to his advantage and also you have to show a little respect when you come across something like an A10 because they do have a nasty bite if youre unfortunate enough to be drawn into a fight of their choosing.

Forum: F-16 versus XYZ

A viper (any block) wvr against an A10 guns only?