USAF Arsenal plane?...

[gunnut]

What we really should do is bring back a fleet of P-47s and F4Us. Those things were heavily armed and armored. They were the finest ground attacker in WW2, maybe after the Tempest.

[SteveDaPirate]

I'd actually love to see an OV-10 refresh. Supposedly Boeing is considering doing it whether the USAF buys or not since there is such strong export potential.

Not many COIN aircraft mix the ability to haul guys and gear with an effective light attack platform.

[jlvfr]

This is what I'm thinking. A few OV-10s loaded with paratroopers and the cannons and rockets to support them provides for some very flexible quick reaction problem solving. Unlike in Vietnam the opposition doesn't have missiles to shoot them down.

Well... you sure they have no SA-7s around? I wouldn't bet on it...

But today the OV-10 can carry light guided weapons and fly at night, so it would be saffer.

What we really should do is bring back a fleet of P-47s and F4Us. Those things were heavily armed and armored. They were the finest ground attacker in WW2, maybe after the Tempest.

No need to go back that far. Just bring back that other hero of Vietnam, the Skyraider! Now there's a plane we can call "the A-10's dad". :D

[Stitch]

Good article over on Foxtrot Alpha about the OV-10 deployment in the ME:

OV-10 Broncos Were Sent To Fight ISIS And They Kicked Ass

I guess these are heavily-upgraded OV-10G+'s; looks like they have FLIR turrets installed:

[jlvfr]

Good article over on Foxtrot Alpha about the OV-10 deployment in the ME:

OV-10 Broncos Were Sent To Fight ISIS And They Kicked Ass

I guess these are heavily-upgraded OV-10G+'s; looks like they have FLIR turrets installed:

And it refers the light COIN air I mentioned. Tbh, I'd had completely forgotten about the OV-10. I guess I just assumed they were no longer flyable. But if they are, then the US doesn't even need to order new light aircraft; get more of these out of storage, beef them up and presto.

[JRT]

What we really should do is bring back a fleet of P-47s and F4Us. Those things were heavily armed and armored. They were the finest ground attacker in WW2, maybe after the Tempest.

I expect you are joking, but those old high-tension recips required a lot of engine maintenance, and also required a high workload from the pilot.

[citanon]

If you look at what they had on that ov-10, you could get all that Abd more on a Reaper by putting in better IT and a DAS.

If there's a need for it on a large scale that's probably the better option. This is a SOCOM approach suited for SOCOM.

[JRT]

If you look at what they had on that ov-10...
This is a SOCOM approach suited for SOCOM.

Yes, in this case the so-called Expeditionary Targeting Force (ETF).

In a February 29, 2016 press briefing, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F. Dunford had a little to say about it, excerpted below.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Tra...dunford-in-the

{{{ snip }}}

SEC. CARTER: Barbara?

Q: For both of you gentlemen, I know there is some constraints in talking about special operations forces, but you have both talked about it publicly before.

At this point -- I'm sorry, Mr. Secretary, you have -- going back to your public comments, Mr. Secretary, that the expeditionary targeting force would collect intelligence and conduct raids, in your words.

Where -- what -- as you view it right now, you have talked about this accelerating. What -- how much reliance -- what are they bringing, broadly speaking, to the table for you? Do you envision the possibility of seeking more?

And to also -- so I'm interested in your thoughts on where you stand now on looking at special operations forces. –Who’s also publicly acknowledged last week that they helped in taking Shaddadi back. So there's a lot of public information out there. Very quickly, on cyber as well, in your mind, what is the trade-off on being able to track their intelligence networks? If you disrupt them, is there a risk in your mind that they simply go underground, that they go low-tech and that cyberattacks could simply drive them into an alternative strategy that might be more difficult to track?

SEC. CARTER: Okay. Let me go to -- I'm going to second the chairman's shaking of his head on specifics with respect to the expeditionary targeting force and just say --

Q: Just broadly --

SEC. CARTER: Yes, broadly speaking, it's a tool that we introduced as part of our -- the accelerated operations to conduct raids of various kinds, seizing places and people, freeing hostages and prisoners of ISIL, and making it such that ISIL has to fear that anywhere, anytime, it may be struck. The only thing I'll say is the ETF is in position, it is having an effect and operating, and I expect it to be a very effective part of our acceleration campaign. I don't have any more on that.

I'll say something about your second part of the question, that ask the chairman to pitch in. The -- as we disrupt the ISIL communications via cyber or other methods, sometimes we do drive them to other means. But it cuts both ways. Sometimes, those other means are easier for us to listen to. So by taking away some of the ways that they are used to operating, they're protected and that they regard as an information sanctuary, drives them to other, including older technologies. And so one way or another, it is a very effective tool.

We have to -- we can't allow them to freely command and control forces that are enemy forces, so it's just like any other war. We have to attack their command-and-control. This is one of the ways that -- of doing it. But it may have, actually, a beneficial effect of driving them to the kinds of communications that it's in fact easier for us to disrupt, and to get your question, listen to also.

GEN. DUNFORD: (inaudible), I would say your question about the intel trade-offs is a fair and a good question. I mean, it is something we take a hard look at, and -- and each and every time we conduct an operation, that's one of the variables we consider in whether or not you conduct an operation and how to conduct an operation. So it is -- it is a piece of it.

But at the end of the day, what we're trying to do and I think what the secretary was getting at is we're trying to make life difficult for ISIL and we're trying to stay step ahead of them. So we're trying to force them to make changes. We're trying to make them -- disrupt their communications, and then we can anticipate some of the adaptations they're going to make and be a step ahead of them, and that's -- that's what we're trying to do.

{{{ snip }}}

Marine Raiders to lead joint spec ops fight against ISIS

By Hope Hodge Seck, Staff writer
4:03 p.m. EDT August 26, 2015
Marine Corps Times

The Marine Corps' decade-old special operations command will lead the next rotation of operators into Iraq, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Marine Raiders will head the staff element for the next iteration of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Iraq, said Capt. Barry Morris, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. The unit is set to deploy early next year and will be led by a MARSOC colonel, he said.

While a previous rotation of the task force was led by a joint Navy SEAL-MARSOC team, Morris said the Marines' exclusive leadership of the task force represents a milestone for the command.

"This deployment is the first time MARSOC has formed and deployed a full CJSOTF staff," he said in a statement provided to Marine Corps Times. "In that regard it does represent the next step in the command’s operational maturation."

The task force includes special operations troops from all the military branches. Little has been made public about the task force's activities in Iraq, where it supports coalition efforts to counter and defeat Islamic State militants. The task force has a liaison officer stationed in Baghdad to help the unit coordinate with other military elements supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, according to officials with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Central Command.

Morris said MARSOC was notified it would lead the upcoming U.S. special operators' rotation to Iraq late last year. The staff element will conduct five months of training ahead of its deployment, he said. That training will wrap up with a culminating exercise later this fall.

The fledgling command, which marks 10 years of existence in February, has already seen a significant share of high-profile assignments.

MARSOC deployed five special operations task forces led by lieutenant colonels to Afghanistan in support of combat efforts, Morris said, and has deployed four colonels at various times to lead special operations force elements in northwest and central Africa.

But this new landmark for leadership in the joint special operations community is earning the command praise from top U.S. Special Operations Command officials.

In an address to top enlisted Marine leaders earlier this month, Army Sgt. Maj. William Thetford, SOCOM's senior enlisted adviser, said the assignment highlighted the faith the command placed in Marine special operations.

"MARSOC has paid their dues, I’m here to say," he said. "There is no 'JV' status. They are absolutely value added to us."

Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of SOCOM, said the Marine Raiders' early development exceeded that of even more established special operations units.

"MARSOC Raiders are a more mature force in 10 years than the Rangers were at their 10-year mark," Votel said, in a statement presented by Thetford during his address.

This Iraq assignment proved that point, Thetford added. "Going into Iraq carrying the flag — that wouldn’t happen to a Ranger Regiment in 1985."

As proof that MARSOC was ready to lead its peers, Thetford cited MARSOC's impressive tally of decorations for valor: 233 Bronze Stars with combat valor device, 20 Silver Stars and seven Navy Crosses. He said the ability of Raiders to provide strike force and unconventional warfare capabilities in a single unit made MARSOC especially valuable to special operations commanders. In the Army, he said, those capabilities are divided between the Rangers and the Green Berets.

"MARSOC continues to be an agile force, grounded in both the Marine Corps and [special operations forces] ethos," Morris said. "MARSOC units are in high demand among the theater special operations commanders due to [the command's] reputation for professionalism and combat-proven small unit tactics, cultural awareness and operations-intelligence integration at all levels."

[gunnut]

I expect you are joking, but those old high-tension recips required a lot of engine maintenance, and also required a high workload from the pilot.

There's an easy solution to that. We'll refurbish the air frame, replace the engine with a modern turboprop, add computerized controls, a second crew member to share the workload, radar, night vision, ejection system....and should look like this:

[Gun Grape]

This is what I'm thinking. A few OV-10s loaded with paratroopers

I've watched them dump paratroopers out of the back. Doesn't look like a fun ride at all.

They go into a climb until all the paratroopers slide out the back

[Gun Grape]

No need to go back that far. Just bring back that other hero of Vietnam, the Skyraider! Now there's a plane we can call "the A-10's dad". :D

Like

Armed for bear. And can kill MIGs

[Stitch]

Big brother & little brother:

[jlvfr]

Big brother & little brother:

[ATTACH]41157[/ATTACH]

"Back in my day, we didn't need any fancy jets!"

[Albany Rifles]

Like

Armed for bear. And can kill MIGs

[ATTACH]41156[/ATTACH]

Proud to say WAY back in the day my uncle (who I have written about here) was a test pilot for the AD-1 Skyraider. The Able Dog, as the Navy guys called it (zoomies called it the Spad) was a stone killer. It was his favorite aircraft. He deployed as a one of the last enlisted pilots of the USN to Korea aboard the Valley Forge as Naval Aviation Pilot Chief. Upon returning from a combat mission he learned he had been promoted back to commissioned status and promoted to Lieutenant. He did 2 months do follow up weapons tests.

Here is how versatile this aircraft was.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/h...t-hwachon-dam/

Now as to what should be used today?

Well it appears the professionals have already decided what they want.

[jlvfr]

Here is how versatile this aircraft was.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/h...t-hwachon-dam/

/shock

I'd never read this one! Thanks for posting.