Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Recommended Posts

Posted

About 48s into the video there are "North Vietnam" soldiers in shell boats.  Really?  I didn't know the NVA, VC, and their ilk had BARs, and M-1 Garands.

 

I first saw Spooky (I never heard them called Puff until almost a year later) in action my fifth night in 'Nam.  Charley had fired a bunch of rockets at us and Spooky came down from Nha Trang.  I'm not easily impressed but that night had me being VERY impressed.  They had two planes, one behind the other by about five minutes, each emptying their guns onto that little rock.  They flew in a circle until they shot up all their ammo.....and they had a boxcar full of ammo.

 

Turned out the VC had set up a bunch of really primitive launchers in an overhang on an island a mile off shore a fired them with timers.

 

They were gone by the time the rockets went off and no one was hurt...on either side.  Damage was slight, a few vehicles parked outside a motor pool were destroyed and and the top brass at the depot HQ lost their latrine.  

 

Side note:  you don't want to be around a bunch of brass when they get off their feed and timing.  It makes them irritable.

 

We went out to look at the place the fire had come from.  Imagine a 3/4 acre island plated from every angle with lead and cupronickel

jacketing.  NOTHING could have survived that.  NOTHING!  Even the inside of the overhang had been hit by ricochets.

 

Yay, SPOOKY!

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • Confused 1
Posted
16 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

About 48s into the video there are "North Vietnam" soldiers in shell boats.  Really?  I didn't know the NVA, VC, and their ilk had BARs, and M-1 Garands.

 

I first saw Spooky (I never heard them called Puff until almost a year later) in action my fifth night in 'Nam.  Charley had fired a bunch of rockets at us and Spooky came down from Nha Trang.  I'm not easily impressed but that night had me being VERY impressed.  They had two planes, one behind the other by about five minutes, each emptying their guns onto that little rock.  They flew in a circle until they shot up all their ammo.....and they had a boxcar full of ammo.

 

Turned out the VC had set up a bunch of really primitive launchers in an overhang on an island a mile off shore a fired them with timers.

 

They were gone by the time the rockets went off and no one was hurt...on either side.  Damage was slight, a few vehicles parked outside a motor pool were destroyed and and the top brass at the depot HQ lost their latrine.  

 

Side note:  you don't want to be around a bunch of brass when they get off their feed and timing.  It makes them irritable.

 

We went out to look at the place the fire had come from.  Imagine a 3/4 acre island plated from every angle with lead and cupronickel

jacketing.  NOTHING could have survived that.  NOTHING!  Even the inside of the overhang had been hit by ricochets.

 

Yay, SPOOKY!

 

 

Are we watching the same video?  I posted a short by The History Guy about the B-52.  Not a word about Spooky Dakota.  

  • Haha 2
Posted
14 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Oooops!

 

Can someone move that to the Dragon ship site?

 

Thanks!  I thought maybe the link I had posted had automatically gone to a different video. It happens sometimes.

But..

 

 

 

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Posted

Okay, what if they could "Spookify" a B52?

  • Haha 3
Posted

Later/now we have AC-130's with even more firepower, including a 105mm howitzer (which was supposed to be removed, but that was vetoed!).  And there is also the A-10, which packs a pretty nasty 30mm gatling gun...which the "fighter mafia" still wants to get rid of! :angry:

  • Like 2
Posted
7 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Later/now we have AC-130's with even more firepower, including a 105mm howitzer (which was supposed to be removed, but that was vetoed!).  And there is also the A-10, which packs a pretty nasty 30mm gatling gun...which the "fighter mafia" still wants to get rid of! :angry:

One of my favorite videos is of the late Senator John McCain grilling AF brass on canceling the A-10 and how they proposed to replace a very effective and cost-effective CAS platform. One of the generals said the B-1 could fill in. McCain ripped him a new one…

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 2
Posted
8 hours ago, DeaconKC said:

Okay, what if they could "Spookify" a B52?

Too fast, too big, too complicated.

 

Need something slower and more maneuverable, small enough to be agile, but big enough to haul a lot of ammo, and as simple as possible.  Something that can get right in the middle of a fray and start delivering scatter hell at relatively close range.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)
On 12/22/2024 at 2:04 PM, Trailrider #896 said:

Later/now we have AC-130's with even more firepower, including a 105mm howitzer (which was supposed to be removed, but that was vetoed!).  And there is also the A-10, which packs a pretty nasty 30mm gatling gun...which the "fighter mafia" still wants to get rid of! :angry:

A-10 is a magnificent machine and does some things that sooper dooper fast fighters just can't

Edited by Forty Rod SASS 3935
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Posted

The limit of CAS specific aircraft is they are very vulnerable in contested airspace.  That is why in Iraq the 1st part of combat was to take out air defenses by blinding the target detection radar networks including command and control systems.

  • Like 3
Posted
1 hour ago, J.D. Daily said:

The limit of CAS specific aircraft is they are very vulnerable in contested airspace.  That is why in Iraq the 1st part of combat was to take out air defenses by blinding the target detection radar networks including command and control systems.

May be. But when the grunts on the ground need CAS, they need it NOW! And the A-10 can take a lot of punishment from ground fire and still get home. For example, the one who lost most of one wing, and the pilot still managed to bring her crippled bird back to base! If you need to suppress ahead of them with "fastmovers", fine.  Problem is, most of the AF brass think of the A-10 as an airplane. In reality, it's a flying tank! They just recently used them in Syria. Ought to turn the birds over to the Army, along with crew and maintenance troops. 

  • Like 4
Posted
28 minutes ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Ought to turn the birds over to the Army, along with crew and maintenance troops. 

This is exactly what the A-10 needs. The Air Force brass keep trying to replace them with fast movers.

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)

When the A-10 was first conceived, the Army wanted it to add to its helicopter fleet for CAS. The Air Force saw that as an encroachment on their territory, (because it was an airplane) and demanded it be under their control. Since then, they’ve treated it as a bastard stepchild and have tried for decades to eliminate the platform in order to use the funds for other bling and toys. 

 

They came within a gnat’s whisker of doing so, but Desert Storm came along just before that happened. Having nothing in the inventory that came close to its capabilities, it was used to great success, much to the chagrin of AF brass. 
 

And here we are almost 35 years later with nothing in the works to replace it, despite much success. Like the B-52, it’s a workhorse, but its mission lacks the dazzle of high-tech projects like The F-35 and whatever comes after.  
 

Screw the grunts on the ground, says the AF. 

 

Other than that, I have no opinion. Rant mode off.

 

 

Edited by Abilene Slim SASS 81783
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Back in the 80's I was doing a lot  of projects at March AFB in Riverside, CA. At the time it was a SAC base. Watched many buffs take off and land. Quite a sight.

 

While I was working there someone decided that March was too close to the reach of a submarine NUC so they shut down SAC and moved them inland. At the time we were scratching our heads as to why after 15 years someone figured that out.

Edited by irish ike, SASS #43615
  • Like 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.