Will the skies get any more crowded with the Marines Module?

[ChrisND]

I never realized it was THAT FREAKING BIG

[YankeeDog]

Interesting.

I'd be curious to compare the lethality of a 30mm strafing vs. a squad in a trench vs. a squad in other defensive terrain, such as a squad in an upper floor of a building.

I would expect strafing runs in general, and esp. the A-10, to be very effective against infantry in upper floors of buildings, because the vertical wall of the buildings is going to serve to "catch" a lot of the rounds, and those 30mm rounds are probably going to go straight through all but the very heaviest buildings, creating lots of secondary fragments along the way. . .

In contrast, against infantry in a shallow trench, I would expect a lot of the rounds to bury themselves in the dirt, or richochet back upwards and "skip" out of the lethal zone. Not to say strafing against infantry in trenches should be totally ineffective, but I think it should be substantially less lethal than against infantry in buildings.

If I have time this weekend, I'll set up some test situations and check it out. I'll run the same tests w/ other a/c too, to see what, if any, advantage the heavier caliber and higher mV gives the A-10.

Cheers,

YD

[Combatintman]

Its still just a very expensive and inflexible way of delivering rounds on a target though - ATO planning cycle = 72 hours - mortars and conventional artillery deliver the same effect with far more flexibility and less planning lead in time.

[Fat Dave]

I decided to pay closer attention to the effects of the A-10 cannon run on trenches in the open, especially after Yankee Dog's comments regarding the absorbtion of the cannon rounds into the dirt and the skipping effects.

Well, depending on the angle of the attack the trenches held out well. However, on one pass it left a trail of 7 slowly fading red-crosses out of about 15 odd men who were unfortunate enough to be there. This was more what I had expected.

Damage aside, the dust cloud after such a cannon run is minimal and is gone far too quickly. I believe the amount of dust and the time it lingers should be increased. The conditions were dry and wind was set to none.

Anyway, here's hoping for a more structured test to clarify a few minor issues

[c3k]

ATO planning cycle should be down to 24 hours. Has it stretched out back to 72? Regardless, CAS is planned on an allotment basis; where the assets orbit and the ordnance carried needs coordination. Once they're airborne, it's flexible.

Ken

[Combatintman]

c3k - depends who you're working for - I've seen figures between 24 and 72 hours - yes of course once the asset is up there it can be retasked using ECAS procedures - still less flexible than being able to call in mortars or guns though

[tiny_tanker]

The ATO day = 24 hours but the total cycle for planning and execution of one day is 72 hours (I think anyway, its been a few years).