Forum: General F-16 forum

I was wondering what was the latest F-16 block used during Desert Storm and what unit/base were they from? Any block 40/42's used? Obvisously no 50/52's.

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Last edited by LinkF16SimDude on Jun 16, 2012 - 03:29 AM; edited 1 time in total

Block 40 was the highest block there. They were practically new in 1991, having just come out around '88 or so. Only the 388th FW from Hill sent B40's AFAIK and they were the first to use LANTIRN in combat. Somebody check me on that tho. The rest of the AD Vipers were of the Block 25/3X vintage. A buncha ANG A/B's also went over. McEntire and Syracuse flew Block 10s!

388th Block 40s in ODS

http://f-16.net/gallery_item260552.html

The 347 FW (Moody AFB, GA) sent 40s.

Ah...you are correct sir. Forgot about Moody.

Lots of people would like to forget about
Moody! Laughing

I heard Syracuse tried using a 30mm cannon on the belly for CAS since they just transitioned from A-10's prior to Desert Storm. True? Any pics out there of that? Did any Shaw units use block 42's in Desert Storm?

Yes, Syracuse ANG tried the 30mm gun pod. The gun was based on the GAU-8 but with fewer barrels and it rattled the airplane (and itself) so bad that it was unusable...

smines80 wrote:

Did any Shaw units use block 42's in Desert Storm?

Don't think so. They had B25s during ODS but got B42s not long after coming back. 84-1265 was one of their ODS jets with nose art.

smines80 wrote:

I heard Syracuse tried using a 30mm cannon on the belly for CAS since they just transitioned from A-10's prior to Desert Storm. True? Any pics out there of that? Did any Shaw units use block 42's in Desert Storm?

....What?

expedite wrote:

smines80 wrote:

I heard Syracuse tried using a 30mm cannon on the belly for CAS since they just transitioned from A-10's prior to Desert Storm. True? Any pics out there of that?

....What?

Was an idea to do CAS like an A-10 with a 30mm gun. There were a few ANG units that tested the pod from what I heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1S95Cy7wg

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article18.html

http://www.gdatp.com/factsheets/A015_GPU-5A.pdf

The GPU-5/A pods were also hung on the A-7s of the ANG.

From what I've heard from A-7 and F-16 pilots who ever encountered the weapon, it shook the aircraft like crazy; maintenance people who worked the aircraft said they were causing all kinds of havoc with wiring and structure alike.

Guess it was a good idea on paper? Shrug

Keep 'em flyin' Thumb

TEG

What I heard is that the GPU-5/A made the SUU-16 and SUU-23 look like sniper rifles. It was supposedly comparable in accuracy...to a cluster bomb.

LinkF16SimDude wrote:

Block 40 was the highest block there. They were practically new in 1991, having just come out around '88 or so. Only the 388th FW from Hill sent B40's AFAIK and they were the first to use LANTIRN in combat. Somebody check me on that tho. The rest of the AD Vipers were of the Block 25/3X vintage. A buncha ANG A/B's also went over. McEntire and Syracuse flew Block 10s!

388th Block 40s in ODS

http://f-16.net/gallery_item260552.html

Hence the reason why they stopped using it and just used cluster bombs!! Wink

Was @ Shaw for DS. We were just beginning transition to Blk 42's. We sen two oversized Blk 25's squadrons to war (17th and 33rd) and people that did not deploy transferred to the 19th FS and continued to accept 42's @ home.

When we returned, we brought our 2 beefed up squadrons of 25's as well as Hahn's (10th AMU) 25's with us (Hahn was in BRAC). We had 3 full sq's of 42's waiting @ home. Was quite the crowded flightline for several months until we got all the 25's transferred out.

Forum: General F-16 forum

F-16 blocks in Desert Storm