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Scratch

Captain
I think the Scorpion would make a great low-intensity CAS / ISTAR aircraft. Inexpensive, long loiter, etc. And I'm not sure the lack of a gun is a major flaw here. In reality even the 20mm gun of most fighters is a little bit too small in CAS unless you're engaging a specific point target. On something as light as a Scorpion, anything bigger than a 20mm would be to heavy, though. In that context, I also do not really get the .50 cal pod.
I think stuff like APKWS, SDB, a cheap laser only Brimstone, Griffin, and some kind of a Viper Strike variant would do great on such a jet. Plus of course some Mk81 / Mk82 based Paveway II variants.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
There is a small advantage to the FNH Pods one of the Variants of the family is dual function acting both to carry the gun and with a small number of Rockets the RMP packs a .50cal and 3 70mm rockets. Still I feel a 25-30mm chain gun would do a lot for this platform. Scorpion has a internal bay for 3000 pounds of arms and other stores along side it's external 6200 pounds. a GPU 5/A originally intended for the F15 and F16 tipped the scales at 1,900 lbs and packed a Gau 13, a 4 barrel version of the Gau 8 Avenger weighing 333 pounds. If a new pod was built around say the M230LF gun, only 160 pounds ( I say only comparatively ) it would still need a feed system and ammo but max what half that 3000 pound internal payload?
 

Miragedriver

Brigadier
US Deploys in Mediterranean as NATO Brings in 25,000 Troops

Hundreds of US Marines are set to become part of a 25,000 troop NATO military campaign in the Mediterranean in an unusual move that will see them deployed on British and other European ships as tensions in Eastern Europe rise.

NATO is testing its ability to quickly deploy a Response Force, its highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces, in the face of what it perceives as Russian aggression. It has already deployed extra forces in and around the Baltic area, but is now moving to upgrade its presence in the Mediterranean.

US Marines would normally serve on US ships, however, with its forces currently heavily committed in the Middle East, it has been forced to rely on its NATO allies. The marines will initially test the use of their vertical take-off and landing aircraft, the MV22 Ospreys, on the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, as it requires strong flight decks.

The Osprey is used by the US Marines as it can take off, land and hover like a helicopter. Once airborne, it can convert to a turboprop airplane capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight.

US Marines will also operate from British, Spanish, French and Dutch ships. "They all have ships that could potentially carry an alert force with Osprey," Brigadier-General Norman Cooling, deputy commander of Marine Forces Europe and Africa, told The Times.

The UK will be offering its biggest warship, the helicopter carrier and assault ship HMS Ocean, the Flagship of the Royal Navy. As Britain's older aircraft carriers have been taken out of service, HMS Ocean is the only platform the 150 US Marines can use.

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Back to bottling my Grenache
 

strehl

Junior Member
Registered Member
The Sniper Pod is the current system favored by the Air Force (the Navy uses ATFLIR from Raytheon). A 3rd pod is from Northrop based on the Litening. All 3 are comparable in performance. The F-35 has a built in system (EOTS) which generates a bit sharper imagery.


 

Brumby

Major
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the system really being tested wasn’t the missile but the invisible electronic network moving the data from sensor to shooter. That’s the awkwardly named Naval Integrated Fire Control Counter-Air, mercifully abbreviated
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, intended to link
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and
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into a single anti-aircraft and missile defense system. This was the first time NIFC-CA has engaged a supersonic target.
 
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