Scott Kenny
ACCESS: Above Top Secret
- Joined
- 15 May 2023
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Honestly, these days I'd want to use a whole flight of drones. One super stealthy TACIT BLUE type for radar data (and optionally EO), a handful of drones that carry boom, and an as-stealthy-as-possible airborne quarterback with guns.Today, I'd have to think about an unmanned drone capable of flying nap-of-the-earth, reaching speeds over 500 km/h and able to pull 12 gees, and enough endurance to fly a grid... have it lob a missile or bomb. There is still the issue of targeting, navigation and jamming. I'm not sure if a radar mounted on such a low flying fast moving platform would be sufficient to detect vehicles and navigation could be a challenge if it is flying so low.
Given that a close support aircraft is talking about Army troops with the enemy within a couple hundred meters, some of the CAS aircraft need guns. My mental model has been that the Quarterback gets the guns, nothing else [edit] gets guns.
Edited for conceptual clarity.
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