>6-hour loiter time >6,000 lbs payload >dirt cheap to operate and maintain
Air Tractor turned Killdozer. After drones, this thing might cannibalize the last roles left for the A-10.
it's for hunting terrorist enclaves in undeveloped mudholes
Honestly they'll probably still be flying even after that.
https://i.imgur.com/axt2T4z.png
an armored cropduster will be america's newest combat aircraft
I for one am interested to see how this plays out. That frickstick Erik Prince was trying to push similarly armored and armed light craft as part of his mercenary army overseas.
He's a fricking Muppet but he does have experience, so maybe there's something to it.
Its always funny when people online call guys whonwere SEALs and owned a mercenary army a muppet. Like what exactly makes him more of a muppet than you? And if you accept you are more of a muppet, perhaps put some respek on dat mans name
He's a muppet because he moved to China to found a company specifically to train prison guards in Xinjiang in detention tactics for their muslim genocide prisons.
He sold out his country to go work for the commies because they pay better and let him people.
So no, I won't be putting any "respek on dat mans name" because he's a massive fricking butthole.
Go frick yourself seal sucker.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>train prison guards in Xinjiang in detention tactics for their muslim genocide prisons.
Erik Prince's company was IOMAX, which was actually also buying and up-arming cropdusters from Air Tractor with off-the-shelf components - including targeting pods from L3Harris. The resulting aircraft was named the "Archangel". Air Tractor was alarmed by the potential legal ramifications of arming and exporting cropdusters and IOMAX wasn't really able to prove to their satisfaction that it was all above-board, so they cut ties.
L3Harris essentially picked up Air Tractor after this - unlike IOMAX they're a pretty well-established defence player with connections and presumably they were able to assuage Air Tractor's fears about potential legal issues. IOMAX was already mounting L3Harris avionics, so the new "Sky Warden" is essentially very similar to the IOMAX Archangel - just that L3Harris and Air Tractor cut out the middleman entirely.
>That frickstick Erik Prince was trying to push similarly armored and armed light craft as part of his mercenary army overseas.
There is a lot to this concept. If SOF primarily operates in third-world shitholes with no Air Force, you can perform the mission at a fraction of the cost with these aircraft. It's fricking brilliant.
You need to realize that a lot has to happen in order for a country to turn its active military on its own citizens, especially for a military like the US that doesn't isolate its members from civilian society like 3rd world dictatorships.
How much longer do you think murdering people of color in the global south is going to be politically feasable, over say, expending MIC material on the fly-over red hats that everyone wants dead? Raytheon's stock price vs. whatever moral principals you image restrain America's elite. My money is on dead deplorables 🙂
>murdering people of color in the global south
excepts for some brainwashed lefties most civilized people and countries are perfectly OK with killing Black folk and mudslimes.
What you miss is the logistics behind it... >it doesn't need a good runway >it doesn't need a satellite connection >the payload is TWICE as big as common drones, only MQ-20 has a similar payload >it does what the drone does, then also does what combat aircraft do, it combines the work of several aircraft into one, the "stack" gets smaller and way cheaper too
also the fact that its a civilian aircraft with off-the-shelf modifications makes it much cheaper than a contract with lockheed that only allows ridiculously expensive official replacement parts.
>Switchblades don't have any anti-material capacity
An 8kg tandem-charge warhead (as seen in the Switchblade 600) is usually plenty of anti-materiel capacity.
It's like this board has been taken over by tourists.
2 years ago
Anonymous
It's like you are a moron that doesn't understand air support to ground operations. So the 10 man team on objective is going to each ruck in with a 50lb suicide drone, have time to program the GPS targets into the things and launch it while taking fire even though they can't see what they are launching at? You need a dude in an airplane that has more than a 10k range that can see the dudes firing at you so he can straff the frick out of them.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Keep digging, dude.
I'm sure you'll hit gold eventually.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Keep playing Call of Duty. Maybe you will figure out how combat air support is conducted by portable drones.
>After drones, this thing might cannibalize the last roles left for the A-10.
Why do you think SOCOM is buying this? Because the AF is trying to kill the A10 and the F35 can't perform this function.
RPGs, maybe. Laser guided, possibly. IR signature is low because of people aircraft. These things are pretty fast though. Other Small Arms fire, probably not.
its for oppressing and invalidating all your freedoms domestically.
They don't need a fixed wing for that. An American citizen has pretty much zero counter to an Apache firing from altitude.
Why not just put more into drones? I'm tired of this dronlet cope, its 2022 and we see hobbyist drones in ukraine getting kills. Stop wasting money fighting wars from 2002.
Guys apparently don't like drones for CAS. You lose a lot of situational awareness being at a station looking through sensors only versus looking out the windows, and communication is harder.
Just do what the Taliban did when they couldn't get to someone in combat, go to their house in the middle of the night and execute them. Given the air force's track record with civilian casualties, you'll have a bunch of people ready and willing to do it
>An American citizen has pretty much zero counter to an Apache firing from altitude.
Have they found a counter to following pilots home off base yet? Or at their favorite bar. Or when they go grocery shopping?
>in my fantastical boogaloo scenario where the US government hunts down citizens with Apaches, the pilots also casually drive around outside their bases and allow themselves to be followed
They hope to kill off as many white Gentile males as possible whether by sending them to war or making it hard for them to reproduce. Straight fights against them don't work when your elite is so white it has to remind you it is israeli or Obedient Goyim. Thus, send the white Goys to war and get them killed off or mixing race.
If you think race isn't a big deal in combat, get a list of the last times a non white army with non white commanders and non white intel gatherers defeated a white or Asian army. (Now you know why the Elite are in such a bind.)
>get a list of the last times a non white army with non white commanders and non white intel gatherers defeated a white or Asian army.
America lost both Vietnam and Afghanistan. Although I wouldn't consider the US military to be a white organization.
its for oppressing and invalidating all your freedoms domestically.
How much longer do you think murdering people of color in the global south is going to be politically feasable, over say, expending MIC material on the fly-over red hats that everyone wants dead? Raytheon's stock price vs. whatever moral principals you image restrain America's elite. My money is on dead deplorables 🙂
Why not just put more into drones? I'm tired of this dronlet cope, its 2022 and we see hobbyist drones in ukraine getting kills. Stop wasting money fighting wars from 2002.
For high-threat environments, this is a guaranteed eventuality. Manned CAS is obsolete insofar as the actual strike element is concerned. Hell the only reason the A-10 has it's reputation and is still around is literally memes, and the fact that Afghanistan and '03+ Iraq had only *slightly* more dangerous airspace than any other country. It's been relegated to second fiddle to other more capable aircraft like the F-35 now. CAS of the future will be drones with F-35s or something similar being airborne CCTs in hunter-killer flights.
Yes, which means we've bought at least 26.
It's also been tested once or twice by some US commands, and supposedly SOCOM has a half dozen or so for whatever spooky reason.
I'm suprised they didn't pick the Bronco II; it was so ugly, I thought it was a guaranteed winner. I'm also disappointed they didn't pick the MC-145B Wiley Coyote. I thought it's cargo capabilities plus it's strike capabilities would be really effective.
Strap a Jericho Trumpet on it and we're in business!
Honestly, its not a shit idea (the plane as a whole) of a cheap, tough little nugget for CAS close into areas near an airfield that just need something in there. I often wondered why it wasn't fast-tracked during Afghanistan as it was usually quite hard to get CAS in the invasion early on, but later there was plenty of drones with some sort of ordinance on them, but those kind of missiles aren't cheap either, so sometimes just a cannon from up high or some smaller bombs would have been useful.
Making them a drone wouldn't be a terrible idea anyway
>those kind of missiles aren't cheap either
They have kits for hydras to turn them into laser guided precision munitions, they should hopefully utilize those as a relatively cheap solution for African conflicts.
That's not the point, it won't be flying into active SAM engagement rings. It will most likely have chaff/flare dispensers and an MWS, but it's meant to fly in environments where the enemy has nothing more than a couple dshk's to shoot back, if they even have that much firepower.
It's a cool plane and a simple concept: combine persistent ISR and precision strike into a single platform that can be packed onto a C-17 and transported anywhere in the world (read: Africa), assembled and ready to blast terrorists (read: Africans) within a few hours.
IF the cost remains reasonable, I would call this the rare smart procurement option by the USAF... but with a 3 BILLION cap you can bet L3 is going to find a way to milk it for every penny possible.
>the FBI will use discretion when determining if someone waving a flag they consider flown by "MVEs" is truly an "MVE" or not
lol
lmao
dumb Black person
Whoever posted that must have been really pissed off, didn't even wait for the "Fullscreen Notification" to go away before screen capping.
https://i.imgur.com/axt2T4z.png
an armored cropduster will be america's newest combat aircraft
I mean, if it works, great?
>An American citizen has pretty much zero counter to an Apache firing from altitude.
Have they found a counter to following pilots home off base yet? Or at their favorite bar. Or when they go grocery shopping?
Amazing how nobody thinks about this one when they try and say
What part of "Cheap and easy to maintain" is so hard to understand? A reaper costs something like $30 million, and all the us attack helicopters are twice that. For every proper groundstriking drone you deploy you could easily have or more 20 Sky Wardens flying around instead delivering twice the payload each. With a large market of cheaply available parts and pilots already familiar with the craft, this really is a smart fricking move.
Hell, I would bet pilots will be over the moon to fly these, pretend they're flying an A-36, buzzing krauts in North Africa
This point exactly. Not only is it cheap and easy to maintain... but to lose. It's literally a crop duster! If one gets shot down, buy a new one off the rack and stick the military bits on!
Russian's have been using the same copium to defend the mothballed T-62's being sent to the Ukraine. "B-but it's so much cheaper to use t-62's in rear line roles rather than T-90's"
Russians don't have a leg to stand on with that cope, they're up against an adversary armed with peer equivalent or better anti air/anti tank weapons. You would think their best tanks would have a better chance of survival in that environment and that they should use them. The crop duster is fine and cheaper for CAS when it doesn't have to worry about being shot out of the sky by sand people with AKs. Not so with russian tanks and Ukrainians with half of Germany arsenal.
Hardly the same situation. A Sky Warden is specifically meant for conflicts that pose no risk to aircraft, ie blowing up barely armed goat farmers, and would never be deployed anywhere where the US hasn't claimed total air superiority over.
Russia, meanwhile, is using their rusted out Cold War era junk because they're hemorrhaging all their "modern" vehicles at an unsustainable rate and want to have something resembling armor on the front line, even if it's just Javelin bait. Them coping about how "WE DON'T NEED MODERN TANKS TO DEAL WITH OINKRAINIANS" is just the usual vatnik spewing of denial of how pathetic they are.
>Sky Tractor thread completely devolves into /misc/ garbage because morons think that SOF does domestic operations against US citizens
Oh well, maybe some other time
>DoJ and DoD: "You're an enemy combatant and we want to kill you." >nu-/k/ reddit tourists: "Wtf, that's just vatnik propaganda."
Why do you honestly think they're gearing up for COIN when we're on the eve of a great power conflict?
What are you even talking about? I'm referring to SOF and the fricking sky tractor. Just ignore the shift of military assets to AFRICOM in recent years, no, all of these new SOF assets are CLEARLY meant to initiate hostilities against people who post on anime image boards.
>Sky Tractor thread completely devolves into /misc/ garbage because morons think that SOF does domestic operations against US citizens
Oh well, maybe some other time
No, it's not
I'm asking who is he quoting, because no one said anything like that nor are weapons getting banned
You homosexuals should atleast learn how to greentext before posting
>Sky Tractor thread completely devolves into /misc/ garbage because morons think that SOF does domestic operations against US citizens
Oh well, maybe some other time
yeah it's over OP, schizos can't discuss military equipment on the board devoted to weapons and military equipment because le cuckaloo in two more weeks
spitfire would probably win, bf 109 not so much. see the thing about the spitfire is that it introduced more circular wings which improved the handling and manueverability without dampening speed. The spitfire was probably the best fighter of the war barring some of the later american fighters like the thunderbolt.
The crop duster model is 1.6m
How much to militarize it? The program has 3b allocated, which would probably buy 2000 of the original model, assuming a 100k discount per unit.
So how much for the militarized one? 5m per? 600units. 10m? 300units
Either way, that's gonna be a load of these things buzzing around..
The initial order has options for 75 aircraft, 4 deployable squadrons of 60 aircraft total and a training squadron of 15 airframes. That's just what I've read anyways.
Initial contract was for $170 million. If they exercise other options in the future, the price would grow. So it's $170 million for 75 planes, which is dirt cheap.
I hate how morons conflate quadrocopters and large MALE drones, the latter costing many millions
There are millions of different drones. MQ-9 is an ancient vehicle. You can buy a Penguin B UAV with 20+ hours of loitering capabilities that only cost $20K
And you're not going to be able to drop a hellfire or 500lb JDAM with that, which is the point of the program. The Penguin B has a 4kg payload.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Drop some switchblade 300 drones.
Fly 2-3 of Pengiun B at the same time for extra coverage in swarm mode, and destroy the targets.
2 years ago
Anonymous
I hate how morons conflate quadrocopters and large MALE drones, the latter costing many millions
[...]
And you're not going to be able to drop a hellfire or 500lb JDAM with that, which is the point of the program. The Penguin B has a 4kg payload.
Just get a slightly larger drone with heavier payload capabilities. Something like 100 kg capability UAV can store ~20-30 of Switchblade 300
2 years ago
Anonymous
You only know this shit from video games, don't you?
2 years ago
Anonymous
Black person. The MQ-9 can be flown in "drone" mode and is the only thing with a comparable payload. Actually join the military and try doing this shit IRL before you opine further.
Yeah they do. The FBI has been going after black power movements since MLK was still alive. They are also very active in fighting the extremist environmentalist groups which are actually still one of the most dangerous (active) terrorists out there that people outside the PNW dont ever really think about.
You just don't hear about the antifa associates being designated as terrorist orgs because it doesn't fit the Boomer cuckservative who thinks he's part of "the resistance" by sitting around watching Faux New's narrative.
The majority of threeper morons are racist insurrectionists anyway. Truth hurts some here.
[...] >The use or sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of MVE presence or affiliation
>The use or sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of MVE presence or affiliation or serve as an indicator of illegal activity, as many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning, or other non-violent purposes.
Where is the emphasis meant to be in the second half of that sentence? >many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning or OTHER non-violent purposes. >many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning or other NON-VIOLENT purposes.
^ both of these statements imply different things, and only the latter makes any sense from a historical perspective. The overwhelming majority of Revolutionary War imagery is inherently violent by virtue of much of it being a deliberate promise/threat of armed resistance against a government perceived to be unjust.
Close air support in a highly maneuverable platform with a higher payload with a fraction of the back-end infrastructure. Also, you don't have coordination between SOCOM and the Air Force. The local commander owns the asset. They are cheaper than drones. This perfect for COIN.
How can it be cheaper than drones? When drones have no expensive pilots to pay for.
Pilots pay is ~100K a year. With 10 years, that costs is $1M. Plus the millions in cost for the plane itself.
Drone costs would be under $100K, using 4G LTE for communications or small internet dish for $100 per month. The "pilot" cost is some dude anywhere in the world/on mars/on moon/on another country/on another state/on another city/etc with an xbox controller that can be paid $50K a year.
The training for pilot consists of year long training with equpment that costs millions of dollars vs someone who does virtual training with $1000 drones
If you are comparing it to the MQ-9, these were about $30 million a piece in 2010. Air Tractors are about $2.5 million. You also have to consider that the MQ-9 has a ton of back-end infrastructure and are mostly not operated in unmanned mode and still need a remote pilot. Also payload and maneuverability. This a drone isn't going to be able to do CAS and the MQ-9 has half the payload.
There are millions of different drones. MQ-9 is an ancient vehicle. You can buy a Penguin B UAV with 20+ hours of loitering capabilities that only cost $20K
>muh salary argument
The military still has the pay the drone operators, who get the same exact salary and flight pay. If you're talking about a ground pounder hucking a commercial drone with a grenade strapped to it, surprisingly he also has a military salary on top of combat/hazardous duty pay, along with the millions spent for SOF training. If you're talking about a DoD contractor, guess what, he is also paid a military salary based on his contract, which is probably more than the average military person filling the same position. Where else would the DoD find "some dude" to pay pennies on the dollar to operate drones with classified weapon systems?
That salary chart is useless for comparison since it makes no mention of rank/years of service nor location-based housing allowance. Every rank gets the same base pay.
For a UPT grad fresh out of training going to Air Wardens, it will probably amount to around the U-28 cost to train, which isn't listed but is around the C-130J cost. Fuel costs will be really low, but time to train will be extended based on weapons and ISR employment, though a lot of that can be done in sims.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Cost to train someone with a game controller will be cheaper than someone who requires 200+.
Someone who can play with a $100 drone anytime he wants will be cheaper to train than someone who needs to train with a $2 million dollar flying vehicle that can only be flown in certain times, in certain conditions, in certain physical health, in certain periods, with resource sharing, downtimes, etc
You're not gonna get the cost to train a pilot to the level of drone pilot. EVER
2 years ago
Anonymous
On top of that, if the pilot dies in some anti-air missile attack or crashes his vehicles and dies, you're fricked.
2 years ago
Anonymous
You're still stuck in the idea that all drones are small quadcopters and not multimillion+ dollar aircraft.
How simple do you think MALE drone controllers and flight is?
2 years ago
Anonymous
You're stuck with the idea that all drones are multimillion+ drones.
If you acknowledge that drones that costs $20K exists, then the whole argument about a manned crop dusters being "cheaper" makes absolute no sense.
2 years ago
Anonymous
If you acknowledge that $20k drones don't have the range and support capability that SOCOM actually needs to do CAS, you would understand why the crop duster is the best option. You can't straff a target that a guy on the ground can't see with a drone that has limited range and payload.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>human eyes have better vision than cameras with cm level clarify from 10,000 ft above the air
Stop it. Its embarassing.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Air Warden will have all the same types of sensors as the U-28, meaning it can peer right up your neo-vegana from 15,000' if it wanted to.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Then why do we need an expensive human? Cameras data can be watched from 10,000 miles away in real time. Targeting/firing sequence of weapons from the drones can be done with pinpoint accuracy. Pilot training/safety can be preserved. Cost can be reduced. Missions can be handled 10x faster. 24/7 surveilance can be had on target without pilots depriving themselves of sleep
2 years ago
Anonymous
Big factors that still keep small manned ISR aircraft in work are ease of deployment, comms, and C2. There's simply less red tape and hand-overs using something like a U-28/Air Warden that's stationed nearby than deploying a Reaper from a larger base further away into the area. For communication, there's no need for sat radios when you can hit up the aircraft through LOS. For larger operations, ease of comms is necessary for a stack of aircraft over a target area; U-28s typically direct stacks due to their array of sensors and radios, a role that the Air Warden is meant to take over. Drones haven't been pushed into the same role as of yet I believe.
2 years ago
Anonymous
There are million different drones between Reaper and tiny Chinese toy drones. Carrying payloads between 50 ounce to 5000kg for $10 to $1M.
They need to start utilizing drones. Literally just buy those long range drones that costs ~$10-$20K and let them loiter over a targeted region for days at a time, carrying array of sensors, coms, and weapons array ranging from small grenade bombs to guns to small missiles to suicide drones.
Each drone can cover ~20-100 km of area depending on patrol route and alert the units at base. Each drone can be set to patrol an area automatically without human interventions.
Its a set of technology thats just waiting to be utilized but due to low tech grounds people, they don't seem to know the capability exists, acquisitions aren't up to date, etc.
2 years ago
Anonymous
It would require a significant doctrinal shift in the way the military employs these types of assets. Sky Warden is the easy button, sure, but being able to employ this new asset now in a relevant role has priority over testing out the experimental option of ground forces humping combat drones that they use themselves.
2 years ago
Anonymous
All the local polices are moving towards drone monitoring for their 911 calls, automated systems too. So if local police departments can do it, surely, US Army can do it.
2 years ago
Anonymous
Nobody fresh out of training is going to the 160th
2 years ago
Anonymous
160th is Army
Air Wardens are going to be in AFSOC to replace the U-28, and there are usually 1 or 2 AFSOC drops per class. They take either the top performer from T-1s or mid-performers from T-38s.
>lower ranked officer
Most operational pilots are O-2s and O-3s, same can be said about drone operators. For MQ-9s they need 2 officer pilots and an enlisted sensor operator to fly them, and they rotate with other crew in shifts based on sortie duration and duty day.
>The crop duster is fine and cheaper for CAS when it doesn't have to worry about being shot out of the sky by sand people with AKs.
Stupid Black person green berets won't even carry machine guns and rockets out on mounted patrols, opting instead for single shot noob tubes and short barreled center fire 22's. They wouldn't even need CAS if they would just read a Ranger Handbook and FM 7-8. The US MIC is fricking moronic. Spending however much on this dumb ass plane because SF Joe can't even into basic infantry tactics and maneuvers.
IOMAX was never Prince's. He did his own thing. But, IOMAX did take the concept and run with it when he failed because of compliance. We should have won. Archangel is is bombing terrorists all over the ME.
How demanding were the ME buyers? How much will you guys cover the maintenance and repair work? Ie, if an engine takes a bullet and needs a rebuild how fast could that happen?
And calling Reaper a "drone" isn’t exactly correct. I mean, TECHNICALLY it’s a drone but that belittles it too much. It’s a full-on military aircraft which requires military-grade maintenance and airbase facilities. The command facilities are basically wienerpits themselves that use special controls and displays. They don’t need to be in those hardened bunker box things but still.
For domestic use. You already made this thread filthy vpn bugman. More useful than your pathetic barking about Pelosi limp ass homosexual
>socom
>operating domestically
mental moron
>he thinks they don’t
i shiggy
>6-hour loiter time
>6,000 lbs payload
>dirt cheap to operate and maintain
Air Tractor turned Killdozer. After drones, this thing might cannibalize the last roles left for the A-10.
it's for hunting terrorist enclaves in undeveloped mudholes
Cope, A-10s will keep flying until their airframes are not flight worthy.
Honestly they'll probably still be flying even after that.
I for one am interested to see how this plays out. That frickstick Erik Prince was trying to push similarly armored and armed light craft as part of his mercenary army overseas.
He's a fricking Muppet but he does have experience, so maybe there's something to it.
Its always funny when people online call guys whonwere SEALs and owned a mercenary army a muppet. Like what exactly makes him more of a muppet than you? And if you accept you are more of a muppet, perhaps put some respek on dat mans name
He's a muppet because he moved to China to found a company specifically to train prison guards in Xinjiang in detention tactics for their muslim genocide prisons.
He sold out his country to go work for the commies because they pay better and let him people.
So no, I won't be putting any "respek on dat mans name" because he's a massive fricking butthole.
Go frick yourself seal sucker.
>train prison guards in Xinjiang in detention tactics for their muslim genocide prisons.
Hello, Based department?
Erik Prince's company was IOMAX, which was actually also buying and up-arming cropdusters from Air Tractor with off-the-shelf components - including targeting pods from L3Harris. The resulting aircraft was named the "Archangel". Air Tractor was alarmed by the potential legal ramifications of arming and exporting cropdusters and IOMAX wasn't really able to prove to their satisfaction that it was all above-board, so they cut ties.
L3Harris essentially picked up Air Tractor after this - unlike IOMAX they're a pretty well-established defence player with connections and presumably they were able to assuage Air Tractor's fears about potential legal issues. IOMAX was already mounting L3Harris avionics, so the new "Sky Warden" is essentially very similar to the IOMAX Archangel - just that L3Harris and Air Tractor cut out the middleman entirely.
>could have had a sick fricking name like Archangel
>instead get some gay shit called Sky Warden
this sucks
>That frickstick Erik Prince was trying to push similarly armored and armed light craft as part of his mercenary army overseas.
There is a lot to this concept. If SOF primarily operates in third-world shitholes with no Air Force, you can perform the mission at a fraction of the cost with these aircraft. It's fricking brilliant.
its for oppressing and invalidating all your freedoms domestically.
Its for buck breaking african warlords
Guaranteed more advanced avionics here than anything Russia fields
>filename
It's for protecting my freedoms against the likes of you and that's what makes you foam at the mouth.
You need to realize that a lot has to happen in order for a country to turn its active military on its own citizens, especially for a military like the US that doesn't isolate its members from civilian society like 3rd world dictatorships.
How much longer do you think murdering people of color in the global south is going to be politically feasable, over say, expending MIC material on the fly-over red hats that everyone wants dead? Raytheon's stock price vs. whatever moral principals you image restrain America's elite. My money is on dead deplorables 🙂
>murdering people of color in the global south
excepts for some brainwashed lefties most civilized people and countries are perfectly OK with killing Black folk and mudslimes.
>My money is on dead deplorables
Deplorables fight back much harder than any Black person in Africa. Bring it motherfricker.
>especially for a military like the US that doesn't isolate its members from civilian society
but it DOES isolate them from their home state.
That's what the illegal Moscow regime would like the american people to believe.
>6-hour loiter time
Drones have 30h+ loiter times
>6000lbs payload
OP just shows it with 2 missile pods
>Cheap
Drones are cheaper.
I can hold plenty of dakka though.
What you miss is the logistics behind it...
>it doesn't need a good runway
>it doesn't need a satellite connection
>the payload is TWICE as big as common drones, only MQ-20 has a similar payload
>it does what the drone does, then also does what combat aircraft do, it combines the work of several aircraft into one, the "stack" gets smaller and way cheaper too
>I can hold plenty of dakka though
uWu
also the fact that its a civilian aircraft with off-the-shelf modifications makes it much cheaper than a contract with lockheed that only allows ridiculously expensive official replacement parts.
>just shows it with 2 missile pods
Replace those funny soviet pods with Hydras and APKWS and you have a shitton of guided weapons onboard
Switchblades don't have any anti-material capacity. What are you going to do when the enemy is in a building?
Switch out with anti-material capacitys.
Whats the big deal? These are $20K-$50K drones where you have 100% real time capabilities so you can target the area/people anytime you want.
This isn't rocket science. Ukkies have been managing it with $1000 drones from alibaba. With $20K-100K excess, the options expand infinitely.
>Switchblades don't have any anti-material capacity
An 8kg tandem-charge warhead (as seen in the Switchblade 600) is usually plenty of anti-materiel capacity.
It's like this board has been taken over by tourists.
It's like you are a moron that doesn't understand air support to ground operations. So the 10 man team on objective is going to each ruck in with a 50lb suicide drone, have time to program the GPS targets into the things and launch it while taking fire even though they can't see what they are launching at? You need a dude in an airplane that has more than a 10k range that can see the dudes firing at you so he can straff the frick out of them.
Keep digging, dude.
I'm sure you'll hit gold eventually.
Keep playing Call of Duty. Maybe you will figure out how combat air support is conducted by portable drones.
>After drones, this thing might cannibalize the last roles left for the A-10.
Why do you think SOCOM is buying this? Because the AF is trying to kill the A10 and the F35 can't perform this function.
What altitude does this operate from? I feel like it could get shredded by small arms fire
RPGs, maybe. Laser guided, possibly. IR signature is low because of people aircraft. These things are pretty fast though. Other Small Arms fire, probably not.
They don't need a fixed wing for that. An American citizen has pretty much zero counter to an Apache firing from altitude.
Guys apparently don't like drones for CAS. You lose a lot of situational awareness being at a station looking through sensors only versus looking out the windows, and communication is harder.
Just do what the Taliban did when they couldn't get to someone in combat, go to their house in the middle of the night and execute them. Given the air force's track record with civilian casualties, you'll have a bunch of people ready and willing to do it
Why don't we use Apaches for this? Also how does a pilot get cucked into flying this instead of a C-5 or F-35 or some other cool shit?
Apaches would be good for this role. Again though, cost. $2.5 million a plane for the initial contract for these planes.
Insane cost per flight hour, poor loiter, breathtaking support tail etc.
>An American citizen has pretty much zero counter to an Apache firing from altitude.
Have they found a counter to following pilots home off base yet? Or at their favorite bar. Or when they go grocery shopping?
>in my fantastical boogaloo scenario where the US government hunts down citizens with Apaches, the pilots also casually drive around outside their bases and allow themselves to be followed
They hope to kill off as many white Gentile males as possible whether by sending them to war or making it hard for them to reproduce. Straight fights against them don't work when your elite is so white it has to remind you it is israeli or Obedient Goyim. Thus, send the white Goys to war and get them killed off or mixing race.
If you think race isn't a big deal in combat, get a list of the last times a non white army with non white commanders and non white intel gatherers defeated a white or Asian army. (Now you know why the Elite are in such a bind.)
ok juan, but you have to go back
>get a list of the last times a non white army with non white commanders and non white intel gatherers defeated a white or Asian army.
America lost both Vietnam and Afghanistan. Although I wouldn't consider the US military to be a white organization.
your cuckaloo fantasy will never be real
Why not a fricking drone thats automated with sat com/4G data/radio waves/lasers communications?
The operational cost would be 1/100th cost while actual hardware cost would be 1/10th
you should go leave and take your meds
Go suck the private part of your father
You would be mocking the chinks or frogs is they did that.
god americans are fricking insecure.
kinda based honestly
that'd be kinda cool too
Fighting the last war...
It's for SOCOM meant to be used in permissive environments outside of near-peer conflicts. Think Africa.
its got that flavor
Forgot to paint it red man.
It's a really hot aircraft.
Why not just put more into drones? I'm tired of this dronlet cope, its 2022 and we see hobbyist drones in ukraine getting kills. Stop wasting money fighting wars from 2002.
Current Drones need infrastructure and no point in building that in an African shithole.
Put a Starlink on a drone. Have it fly anywhere in the world.
Whats the big fricking deal?
For high-threat environments, this is a guaranteed eventuality. Manned CAS is obsolete insofar as the actual strike element is concerned. Hell the only reason the A-10 has it's reputation and is still around is literally memes, and the fact that Afghanistan and '03+ Iraq had only *slightly* more dangerous airspace than any other country. It's been relegated to second fiddle to other more capable aircraft like the F-35 now. CAS of the future will be drones with F-35s or something similar being airborne CCTs in hunter-killer flights.
Try flying a drone off an unimproved runway in Africa and putting a 6000lb payload on it.
Easy as a manned bugsmasher and doesn't require CSAR. Humans are not better pilots than automation at this point.
We've bought Super Tucanos before, although I think we gave them all to the Afghan air force, so presumably the Taliban has most of those now.
.. no?
We gave a whole 26 to the ANA.
Yes, which means we've bought at least 26.
It's also been tested once or twice by some US commands, and supposedly SOCOM has a half dozen or so for whatever spooky reason.
>You're going to eat your glyphosate whether you like it or not
I'm suprised they didn't pick the Bronco II; it was so ugly, I thought it was a guaranteed winner. I'm also disappointed they didn't pick the MC-145B Wiley Coyote. I thought it's cargo capabilities plus it's strike capabilities would be really effective.
>no turreted gun
pfffft
reminds me of Stuka
Strap a Jericho Trumpet on it and we're in business!
Honestly, its not a shit idea (the plane as a whole) of a cheap, tough little nugget for CAS close into areas near an airfield that just need something in there. I often wondered why it wasn't fast-tracked during Afghanistan as it was usually quite hard to get CAS in the invasion early on, but later there was plenty of drones with some sort of ordinance on them, but those kind of missiles aren't cheap either, so sometimes just a cannon from up high or some smaller bombs would have been useful.
Making them a drone wouldn't be a terrible idea anyway
>those kind of missiles aren't cheap either
They have kits for hydras to turn them into laser guided precision munitions, they should hopefully utilize those as a relatively cheap solution for African conflicts.
Top Gun: Cornhusker
more like Crop Gun
so this thing will be invisible to many detection systems because of the propeller and small size?
That's not the point, it won't be flying into active SAM engagement rings. It will most likely have chaff/flare dispensers and an MWS, but it's meant to fly in environments where the enemy has nothing more than a couple dshk's to shoot back, if they even have that much firepower.
It's a cool plane and a simple concept: combine persistent ISR and precision strike into a single platform that can be packed onto a C-17 and transported anywhere in the world (read: Africa), assembled and ready to blast terrorists (read: Africans) within a few hours.
IF the cost remains reasonable, I would call this the rare smart procurement option by the USAF... but with a 3 BILLION cap you can bet L3 is going to find a way to milk it for every penny possible.
>an armored cropduster will be america's newest combat aircraft
and still more advanced than anything the eastoids can throw at the west lol
>The use or sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of MVE presence or affiliation
They're a self-identified Libertarian, it's a wonder they can read at all.
>the FBI will use discretion when determining if someone waving a flag they consider flown by "MVEs" is truly an "MVE" or not
lol
lmao
dumb Black person
> Betsy Ross flag
So the FBI considers Biden an MVE?
Looks like early IL-2.
This is either a vatnik D&C shill or the opposite end version of a demoralized shill. Either way, b8.
>quoting the us government means you're a demoralized shill
kek
>Thinking the FBI doesn't want to demoralize Americans
yeah the entire US government does it not just the FBI kek
Have sex you virgin.
Don't shoot the messenger.
>~~*weinberger*~~
every time
have a nice day, fed
we need domestic stingers
they're violating our second amendment right
I think socom knows what they need dude
Some care about what SOCOM needs to get the job done, for other's it's about what sixteen year old kids need to get their jingoboner on.
SOCOM wanted the A-29
>some dumb opinion article
you're moronic
>major general
>just ignore it bro lmao
kek
> nooo don't heckin encourage Americans in America to actually be free to live their lives
>C'MON SOLDIER GIVE ME 10 wienerS SUCKED
>1...
>2...
>3...
Sounds like your deep dark fantasies are slipping out anon
It isn't a fantasy, it's reality.
You know that's teaching them how to use condoms, so they won't get DSTs or impregnate hookers right? Anon, who do you think you're fooling?
>4 people
>same pic posted since like 2017
it's over for the US military
>a literal who twitter screencap
seriously Black person go back to your containment board
who needs a dildo to learn how to put on a condom?
You would be surprised, the majority of people have no clue on how to use a condom and since we're talking about grunts that number can be doubled
the state of sex ed in red states is "just dont have sex lmao"
sure beats banan
Spot the guy that doesn't know how to wear his condoms and is going to have it burst
sex education exists since the 40s you moronic Black person
In the USA, maybe. You have to understand that these are usually seething vatniks that are unfamiliar their own country, let alone the USA.
>DoD and DoJ openly release communications about gearing up for the "domestic war on terror"
>wtf, I bet the vatniks are behind this!
Black person you posted a pic of a sex education class claiming it was about trannies
I'm not the same anon.
>AIRMEN LISTEN UP one of the wooden dildos is missing NO ONE CAN LEAVE THIS CLASSROOM until we get it back.
what do?
don't bother giving it (You)s
he'll just dump his troony folder he keeps only to own the americans
>want A-29
>get cropduster
alright this is pretty bad. African tier you could say
>African tier you could say
Nigeria got A-29s
Anyone who associates with a lolbert is as moronic as a commie larper. Get fricked
Tell me more about how good of a job the state has been doing at protecting your interests, anon. Btw, you won't be needing those guns anymore. :^)
??????? the state has done an amazing job, where do you live, somalia?
>we did it, reddit!
>we banned the chuds' guns!!
Who are you quoting?
Post guns with timestamp
You first, earnest voice homosexual. I have NEVER seen one of you glowBlack folk be able to post your guns too after I do.
That's because you never posted guns in the first place, here
>there's only one other person on /k/ who I disagree with
the absolute state
Whoever posted that must have been really pissed off, didn't even wait for the "Fullscreen Notification" to go away before screen capping.
I mean, if it works, great?
Amazing how nobody thinks about this one when they try and say
>hurr-durr, AssaultRifle-15 << Apache/F-15/Abrams
>but muh drones
>but muh apache
What part of "Cheap and easy to maintain" is so hard to understand? A reaper costs something like $30 million, and all the us attack helicopters are twice that. For every proper groundstriking drone you deploy you could easily have or more 20 Sky Wardens flying around instead delivering twice the payload each. With a large market of cheaply available parts and pilots already familiar with the craft, this really is a smart fricking move.
Hell, I would bet pilots will be over the moon to fly these, pretend they're flying an A-36, buzzing krauts in North Africa
This point exactly. Not only is it cheap and easy to maintain... but to lose. It's literally a crop duster! If one gets shot down, buy a new one off the rack and stick the military bits on!
It's shaping up to be the airborne equivalent to those Toyota pickups.
Hey, if it works, it works.
COPE
Russian's have been using the same copium to defend the mothballed T-62's being sent to the Ukraine. "B-but it's so much cheaper to use t-62's in rear line roles rather than T-90's"
Russians don't have a leg to stand on with that cope, they're up against an adversary armed with peer equivalent or better anti air/anti tank weapons. You would think their best tanks would have a better chance of survival in that environment and that they should use them. The crop duster is fine and cheaper for CAS when it doesn't have to worry about being shot out of the sky by sand people with AKs. Not so with russian tanks and Ukrainians with half of Germany arsenal.
Hardly the same situation. A Sky Warden is specifically meant for conflicts that pose no risk to aircraft, ie blowing up barely armed goat farmers, and would never be deployed anywhere where the US hasn't claimed total air superiority over.
Russia, meanwhile, is using their rusted out Cold War era junk because they're hemorrhaging all their "modern" vehicles at an unsustainable rate and want to have something resembling armor on the front line, even if it's just Javelin bait. Them coping about how "WE DON'T NEED MODERN TANKS TO DEAL WITH OINKRAINIANS" is just the usual vatnik spewing of denial of how pathetic they are.
REJOICE! PROP PLANES ARE BACK ON THE MENU! YOU CAN THANK ME WHENEVER YOU GET AROUND TO IT
go fearmonger elsewhere you Black person
>DoJ and DoD: "You're an enemy combatant and we want to kill you."
>nu-/k/ reddit tourists: "Wtf, that's just vatnik propaganda."
Why do you honestly think they're gearing up for COIN when we're on the eve of a great power conflict?
Because Africa is the next big theater for COIN operations, moron.
Tell me more about all those Africans with level IV body armor. In fact, so many Africans that we need to replace the M4 with the XM5.
The XM5 doesn't penetrate level IV armor nor it will be adopted
You're yet to post guns btw
You first fed. I've done this song and dance with you too many times to know better. No matter how mant times I post my guns, you never will.
What are you even talking about? I'm referring to SOF and the fricking sky tractor. Just ignore the shift of military assets to AFRICOM in recent years, no, all of these new SOF assets are CLEARLY meant to initiate hostilities against people who post on anime image boards.
Nah it’s Mexico actually.
>wojak Black person
>another post quoting no one
When will you Black folk leave?
Black person
post quoting no one
>When will you Black folk leave?
>Sky Tractor thread completely devolves into /misc/ garbage because morons think that SOF does domestic operations against US citizens
Oh well, maybe some other time
I can fix him!
Many such cases
>>if you don't support the Assault Weapons Ban you are noguns
Literally who said that
Holy shit
He's right, that's what you're implying.
No, it's not
I'm asking who is he quoting, because no one said anything like that nor are weapons getting banned
You homosexuals should atleast learn how to greentext before posting
>if you want to stay on-topic instead of derailing the thread into schizophrenic delusions you're a glowBlack person
yeah
WHO ARE YOU QUOTING Black personRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
have a nice day newbie
You started coming to this board in march
I'm not the guy you were replying to, plus you're projecting.
sure you aren't
yeah it's over OP, schizos can't discuss military equipment on the board devoted to weapons and military equipment because le cuckaloo in two more weeks
You're projecting your access to your "NTREPID" sockpuppet shilling terminal onto other people.
yeah
>yeah
lol he was samegayging
No I wasn't, glowBlack person. You got that other anon banned for seeing through the ruse.
She cute
And perfect for low intensity COIN; see Biafra Babies and Lynn Garrison
THEY SHOULD'VE GOT THE SUPER TUCANOS, FRICK
Cute plane
What are the bulges on the sides near the wienerpit?
composite armor iirc
I agree this should have been the direction and not some upkitted crop duster.
How would a A-29 face up vs a WW2 late war spitfire/bf109 in a Dogfight?
spitfire would probably win, bf 109 not so much. see the thing about the spitfire is that it introduced more circular wings which improved the handling and manueverability without dampening speed. The spitfire was probably the best fighter of the war barring some of the later american fighters like the thunderbolt.
It especially impressive how much earlier the spitfire was designed and constantly upgraded to keep it competitive with later war designs.
The Spitfire is legendary for a reason but lots of people don’t know WHY that’s so 🙂
Badly both the bf109 and spitfire would flog it.
IIRC they can't climb
Why do they always go for the ugliest goddamn plane? The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano EXISTS.
based
Federal Agent Moishe Coinblatt
The crop duster model is 1.6m
How much to militarize it? The program has 3b allocated, which would probably buy 2000 of the original model, assuming a 100k discount per unit.
So how much for the militarized one? 5m per? 600units. 10m? 300units
Either way, that's gonna be a load of these things buzzing around..
The initial order has options for 75 aircraft, 4 deployable squadrons of 60 aircraft total and a training squadron of 15 airframes. That's just what I've read anyways.
>3b for 75 prop planes
Jesus Christ
turboprop, and the price is for more than just the planes but all of the support that goes with it.
Initial contract was for $170 million. If they exercise other options in the future, the price would grow. So it's $170 million for 75 planes, which is dirt cheap.
Dirt cheap compared to F35s but compared to drones, thats 100x more expensive.
What kind of drones are you talking about? The MQ-9 is like 15x the cost depending on the variant and it can't perform CAS.
I hate how morons conflate quadrocopters and large MALE drones, the latter costing many millions
And you're not going to be able to drop a hellfire or 500lb JDAM with that, which is the point of the program. The Penguin B has a 4kg payload.
Drop some switchblade 300 drones.
Fly 2-3 of Pengiun B at the same time for extra coverage in swarm mode, and destroy the targets.
Just get a slightly larger drone with heavier payload capabilities. Something like 100 kg capability UAV can store ~20-30 of Switchblade 300
You only know this shit from video games, don't you?
Black person. The MQ-9 can be flown in "drone" mode and is the only thing with a comparable payload. Actually join the military and try doing this shit IRL before you opine further.
The only bad thing here is they don't have the same sheet for commie/antifa symbolism(do they?)
Yeah they do. The FBI has been going after black power movements since MLK was still alive. They are also very active in fighting the extremist environmentalist groups which are actually still one of the most dangerous (active) terrorists out there that people outside the PNW dont ever really think about.
You just don't hear about the antifa associates being designated as terrorist orgs because it doesn't fit the Boomer cuckservative who thinks he's part of "the resistance" by sitting around watching Faux New's narrative.
The majority of threeper morons are racist insurrectionists anyway. Truth hurts some here.
I'm sure you have examples and aren't just spouting lefty bullshit.
>The use or sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of MVE presence or affiliation or serve as an indicator of illegal activity, as many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning, or other non-violent purposes.
Where is the emphasis meant to be in the second half of that sentence?
>many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning or OTHER non-violent purposes.
>many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning or other NON-VIOLENT purposes.
^ both of these statements imply different things, and only the latter makes any sense from a historical perspective. The overwhelming majority of Revolutionary War imagery is inherently violent by virtue of much of it being a deliberate promise/threat of armed resistance against a government perceived to be unjust.
https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/uav-intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance.php
We have ton of drones for that that cost a fraction of what manned versions costs.
What functions do these airplanes do besides collect recon/intel via various sensors and maybe some light bombs/machine guns/etc?
Close air support in a highly maneuverable platform with a higher payload with a fraction of the back-end infrastructure. Also, you don't have coordination between SOCOM and the Air Force. The local commander owns the asset. They are cheaper than drones. This perfect for COIN.
How can it be cheaper than drones? When drones have no expensive pilots to pay for.
Pilots pay is ~100K a year. With 10 years, that costs is $1M. Plus the millions in cost for the plane itself.
Drone costs would be under $100K, using 4G LTE for communications or small internet dish for $100 per month. The "pilot" cost is some dude anywhere in the world/on mars/on moon/on another country/on another state/on another city/etc with an xbox controller that can be paid $50K a year.
The training for pilot consists of year long training with equpment that costs millions of dollars vs someone who does virtual training with $1000 drones
If you are comparing it to the MQ-9, these were about $30 million a piece in 2010. Air Tractors are about $2.5 million. You also have to consider that the MQ-9 has a ton of back-end infrastructure and are mostly not operated in unmanned mode and still need a remote pilot. Also payload and maneuverability. This a drone isn't going to be able to do CAS and the MQ-9 has half the payload.
There are millions of different drones. MQ-9 is an ancient vehicle. You can buy a Penguin B UAV with 20+ hours of loitering capabilities that only cost $20K
>muh salary argument
The military still has the pay the drone operators, who get the same exact salary and flight pay. If you're talking about a ground pounder hucking a commercial drone with a grenade strapped to it, surprisingly he also has a military salary on top of combat/hazardous duty pay, along with the millions spent for SOF training. If you're talking about a DoD contractor, guess what, he is also paid a military salary based on his contract, which is probably more than the average military person filling the same position. Where else would the DoD find "some dude" to pay pennies on the dollar to operate drones with classified weapon systems?
You can delegate the drone pilot to a lower ranked officer vs more expensive pilot.
Training a pilot is also EXPENSIVE
That salary chart is useless for comparison since it makes no mention of rank/years of service nor location-based housing allowance. Every rank gets the same base pay.
For a UPT grad fresh out of training going to Air Wardens, it will probably amount to around the U-28 cost to train, which isn't listed but is around the C-130J cost. Fuel costs will be really low, but time to train will be extended based on weapons and ISR employment, though a lot of that can be done in sims.
Cost to train someone with a game controller will be cheaper than someone who requires 200+.
Someone who can play with a $100 drone anytime he wants will be cheaper to train than someone who needs to train with a $2 million dollar flying vehicle that can only be flown in certain times, in certain conditions, in certain physical health, in certain periods, with resource sharing, downtimes, etc
You're not gonna get the cost to train a pilot to the level of drone pilot. EVER
On top of that, if the pilot dies in some anti-air missile attack or crashes his vehicles and dies, you're fricked.
You're still stuck in the idea that all drones are small quadcopters and not multimillion+ dollar aircraft.
How simple do you think MALE drone controllers and flight is?
You're stuck with the idea that all drones are multimillion+ drones.
If you acknowledge that drones that costs $20K exists, then the whole argument about a manned crop dusters being "cheaper" makes absolute no sense.
If you acknowledge that $20k drones don't have the range and support capability that SOCOM actually needs to do CAS, you would understand why the crop duster is the best option. You can't straff a target that a guy on the ground can't see with a drone that has limited range and payload.
>human eyes have better vision than cameras with cm level clarify from 10,000 ft above the air
Stop it. Its embarassing.
Air Warden will have all the same types of sensors as the U-28, meaning it can peer right up your neo-vegana from 15,000' if it wanted to.
Then why do we need an expensive human? Cameras data can be watched from 10,000 miles away in real time. Targeting/firing sequence of weapons from the drones can be done with pinpoint accuracy. Pilot training/safety can be preserved. Cost can be reduced. Missions can be handled 10x faster. 24/7 surveilance can be had on target without pilots depriving themselves of sleep
Big factors that still keep small manned ISR aircraft in work are ease of deployment, comms, and C2. There's simply less red tape and hand-overs using something like a U-28/Air Warden that's stationed nearby than deploying a Reaper from a larger base further away into the area. For communication, there's no need for sat radios when you can hit up the aircraft through LOS. For larger operations, ease of comms is necessary for a stack of aircraft over a target area; U-28s typically direct stacks due to their array of sensors and radios, a role that the Air Warden is meant to take over. Drones haven't been pushed into the same role as of yet I believe.
There are million different drones between Reaper and tiny Chinese toy drones. Carrying payloads between 50 ounce to 5000kg for $10 to $1M.
They need to start utilizing drones. Literally just buy those long range drones that costs ~$10-$20K and let them loiter over a targeted region for days at a time, carrying array of sensors, coms, and weapons array ranging from small grenade bombs to guns to small missiles to suicide drones.
Each drone can cover ~20-100 km of area depending on patrol route and alert the units at base. Each drone can be set to patrol an area automatically without human interventions.
Its a set of technology thats just waiting to be utilized but due to low tech grounds people, they don't seem to know the capability exists, acquisitions aren't up to date, etc.
It would require a significant doctrinal shift in the way the military employs these types of assets. Sky Warden is the easy button, sure, but being able to employ this new asset now in a relevant role has priority over testing out the experimental option of ground forces humping combat drones that they use themselves.
All the local polices are moving towards drone monitoring for their 911 calls, automated systems too. So if local police departments can do it, surely, US Army can do it.
Nobody fresh out of training is going to the 160th
160th is Army
Air Wardens are going to be in AFSOC to replace the U-28, and there are usually 1 or 2 AFSOC drops per class. They take either the top performer from T-1s or mid-performers from T-38s.
Enlisted can request Green Platoon in AIT
>lower ranked officer
Most operational pilots are O-2s and O-3s, same can be said about drone operators. For MQ-9s they need 2 officer pilots and an enlisted sensor operator to fly them, and they rotate with other crew in shifts based on sortie duration and duty day.
>The crop duster is fine and cheaper for CAS when it doesn't have to worry about being shot out of the sky by sand people with AKs.
Stupid Black person green berets won't even carry machine guns and rockets out on mounted patrols, opting instead for single shot noob tubes and short barreled center fire 22's. They wouldn't even need CAS if they would just read a Ranger Handbook and FM 7-8. The US MIC is fricking moronic. Spending however much on this dumb ass plane because SF Joe can't even into basic infantry tactics and maneuvers.
funny pic, both are brown subhumans
Bring back cheap piston aircraft
Stupid idea. You don't know why you want them. I hate military illiterates.
someone tell SOCOM dudes to stop putting MOLON LABE on all of their merch lol
>uncontested environments
they will be flying this loaded gunship and aiming it at civilians.
>propeller
>taildragger
It'd be perfect if it had machine guns that shot through the prop disk. At least give the people some gunpods.
IOMAX was never Prince's. He did his own thing. But, IOMAX did take the concept and run with it when he failed because of compliance. We should have won. Archangel is is bombing terrorists all over the ME.
t. IOMAX Employee
How demanding were the ME buyers? How much will you guys cover the maintenance and repair work? Ie, if an engine takes a bullet and needs a rebuild how fast could that happen?
And calling Reaper a "drone" isn’t exactly correct. I mean, TECHNICALLY it’s a drone but that belittles it too much. It’s a full-on military aircraft which requires military-grade maintenance and airbase facilities. The command facilities are basically wienerpits themselves that use special controls and displays. They don’t need to be in those hardened bunker box things but still.
Stop putting serious UAVs in with toy drones.