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Newbie Joined: May 08, 2007 Posts: 2 Status: Offline

Why do our fighter bombers, not just the Vipers, fly CAS missions in Iraq and Afghanistan with AIM-120's and AIM-9's? Osama bin Laden & Co. certainly don't have an air force to oppose our jets, so why lug around what appears to be useless weight and drag?

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Because we can?

Strike Eagles, HOGs , and the big bombers have the good sh*t loaded when we find him

Copy?

Newbie Joined: May 07, 2007 Posts: 2 Status: Offline

VarkVet wrote:

Because we can?

Strike Eagles, HOGs , and the big bombers have the good sh*t loaded when we find him

Copy?

I was really hoping for a serious answer. Rolling Eyes

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I was really hoping for a serious answer.

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useless weight and drag?

That is what the ATO calls for … Fighters are not going to fly around a hostile area without missiles … in matter of fact 9’s on station 1 and 9 increase performance.

Why do you think modern airliners have winglets? Displaces laminar airflow around wingtips (vortex) and reduces drag.

Make sense?

rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

There's not much along the lines of heavy stores that can be carried on stations 2 and 8 anyway...

Enthusiast Joined: Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 60 Status: Offline

You should remember that area has some unfriendly neighbors. I'll also say that air-to-air engagements with those neighbors have been happening with the start of the Liberation. Of course, Locking on and turning away.

A line out of the movie "Tora Tora Tora" comes to mind. It from the scene where the B-17 is trying to land at Hickam in the middle of the attack. "What a way to fly into a war, unarmed and out of gas!" Nobody wants to be that guy, if you have the capability, use it. Cops don't walk around with 3 or 4 rounds in the clip of thier pistol just because they are in a friendly neighborhood.

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Why do our fighter bombers, not just the Vipers, fly CAS missions in Iraq and Afghanistan with AIM-120's and AIM-9's? Osama bin Laden & Co. certainly don't have an air force to oppose our jets, so why lug around what appears to be useless weight and drag?

In Iraq, at least, i presume that US fighters must have AAMs just in case-Iran is close...

I thought I remembered hearing some time ago that the airplane actually handles better with something on the wingtip rails? Can anyone with a clearer head at 1AM confirm that?

Elite 1K Joined: May 10, 2005 Posts: 1124 Status: Offline

Another thing....practice. I'd also think the aircraft handles differently w/o ordnance. The ammo troops have to stay on top of the game, and anyway, at what point does it make sense to enter combat less than fully capable just because you don't "think" there is a threat?

You don't really think this splendid little war we have going there is about Iraq do you?

VarkVet wrote:

Because we can?

That is a serious answer. Better to have them and not need them......

We had an intercept run on a ghostrider during an INCENTIVE RIDE out of the LIK. Afterwards the pilot was bragging in the bar until someone asked him what he was going to do if he'd caught them. "Wag the cap-9 at them? Flip them off? Ram them?"

This was in peacetime.

You never know where your next enemy might come from these days and it's nice to be prepared.

PS: After this intercept, we started flying one live on every flight.

Just in case we might had to have fought the Forces of Evil.

Enthusiast Joined: Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 60 Status: Offline

AfterburnerDecalsScott wrote:

Another thing....practice. I'd also think the aircraft handles differently w/o ordnance. The ammo troops have to stay on top of the game, and anyway, at what point does it make sense to enter combat less than fully capable just because you don't "think" there is a threat?

You don't really think this splendid little war we have going there is about Iraq do you?

I agree and Disagree with ya Scott. I was out there for a few months, and the -120's were a pain in the butt to get on and off just for inspections....So practice..we get enough here stateside. But going in a combat zone with some unfriendly neighbors is justification enough. SO I agree. You never know when you'll have to lock up on someone......

Think about it.

Elite 1K Joined: May 10, 2005 Posts: 1124 Status: Offline

I make my guys practice stuff we don't do very often all the time, so it just makes sense to me that even though y'all don't shoot missiles during deployments....or haven't yet....that you'd still want to carry 'em around just so nobody forgets what they are doing with 'em. I mean, since the end of the Gulf War, how many A2A shots in anger have US planes taken? Based on the lack of actually doing it, by using the flawed initial reasoning, there is really no reason to ever carry them.

Ammo troops are the pooh BTW! IYAAYAS!

Enthusiast Joined: Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 60 Status: Offline

OOHH AN AMMO GUY!! No I agree we need the -120's. I hope I didn't confuse that. I just meant for practice. We never did anything out there just for training, if they needed us to do something, we did it. I guess the whole load could be a nice refresher, but when we did it almost everyday....eh...

Without Weapons, it's just U.S. Air.

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Why Air-to-Air Stores in Iraq?