A – 10 Thunderbolt
Vs.
Messerschmitt Me – 262
Hahaha Haha! Well I guess its only a saber rattling cyber pest like me who starts dicey topics like this but, considering the aeronautical aspects involved let us consider this :
Suppose a refurbished Me 262B-2a armed with a 50mm MK 114 gun fully loaded with firepower, probably owned privately or by some establishment went up against an A-10 Thunderbolt at an airshow somewhere in the world in a mock dogfight with only their cannon armaments. Now we’re talking about a 60 year old fighter of WW II vintage going up against our modern day Warthog minus its AGM Maverick self-defence missiles and other weaponry, save its cannon.
Hence although the A-10 has very stable slow speed handling, it will not trim completely ‘hands off’ for any extended period of time which means that, with a pilot-selective firing rate of 2,100 / 4,200 rounds per minute, it would be capable of disabling the 262 from a range of 6,500m with its GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm cannon. But then again the A – 10 would need to have the same amount of ammo as the Me 262, so it would have relatively less rounds to fire.
And still the A – 10’s Achilles’ heel lies in its speed(Only 420 mph or Mach 0.56, a lot slower than a Boeing 747) and since it would be fatal for a 262 to attack an A – 10 head-on an Me 262B-2a closing its firing range very quickly at almost Mach 0.86 would totally damage the A -10 with its powerful 50mm MK 114 nose gun, if it were to straff the A – 10s twin tail section – rendering it rudderless. The only way the A – 10 would be able to defeat the Me-262 would be to go into a flat spin and get its nose gun directed at the 262 or perhaps climb to 45,000 ft before the 262 straffs its belly, but a tail damaged A – 10 would surely be….on its way down………
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