Posted on Nov 7, 2023
US Air Force may remove 105mm cannon from AC-130 gunship
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Posted 1 y ago
Responses: 5
Dumb idea. Since the days of Puff the Magic Dragon we've learned, or should have, the benefits of that kind of firepower.
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SMSgt Lawrence McCarter
I saw first hand while working the base perimeter at Da Nang, Vietnam how effective the AC47 "Spooky" or Puff the magic dragon as other units called. When within 10 minutes I had a front row seat of it taking out 350 Viet Cong attacking our perimeter I was so thankful for that, without it I may not have been here anymore. At that point I had only been at Da Nang 1.5 weeks when I experienced that attack. Also the A1E Sky Raiders on other occasions on our perimeter again showed the value of close air support. That aircraft , a prop driven WWII Fighter was taken out of mothballs to do what the fast movers couldn't even come close to doing. The A10 which later replaced the A1E could now perform those same functions and just as well. It seems some of the armchair Commandos still haven't learned anything but the guys on the ground sure know the value firsthand !
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SGT (Join to see)
The Air Force said the A-10 was too old and needed to be retired while at the same time the B-52 has been flying since 1954 and they plan to fly it till 2050. What is that? 69 years flying to date and by 2050 you are talking having an air asset that's been flying for 96 years..
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I would like to see the A-10 transferred to the army put it under the aviation battalions. Hell some people may not realize this but the Army does have fixed wing aircraft. I was the UA for the army reserve aviation command. Most of it was choppers but there were fixed wing, our chief of staff was a fixed wing pilot. They looked like lear jets but were cramped with all kinds of electronics for what ever, the mission was.
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LTC (Join to see)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West_Agreement
The key west agreement stands in the way.
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen 1SG Russell Scott
The key west agreement stands in the way.
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen 1SG Russell Scott
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SSG (Join to see)
LTC (Join to see) - Sounds to me like it is time to revisit said agreement, because the Air Force seems to be slowing trying to phase out their mission of ground attack support.
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The Air Force is being really stupid here. A10s are fighters and are ugly. I guess they'll gain and hold airfields with F35s and security forces
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