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NFO as a FAC
- Thread starter CofCrugby
- Start date
F/A 18D= All weather, ALL THREAT Day/ Night FAC (A) with as much load out as a section of a Harriers. WSO app, lets put some threats in the tgt area and see how that single seat FAC(A) works out, especially as a single. WSO appreciation is watching 4 sections of FW, plus skids, and arty being directed by a single aircraft, with a very high tempo on the attacks. Single Seat FAC(A) is a nice force multiplier for low threat and not very fluid situations. If you want FAC (A) in any other environment, it's gonna take a WSO. My .02c on bashing WSOs, they can make one jet do more than 2 single seat jets can for FAC(A) in any platform. I prefer flying by myself, but once you've seen true FAC(A), you know it can't be done single seat.
Three guided 1000lb or 500lb bombs is more than any other Marine or Navy aircraft can bring to the fight?! It appears that the Litening II would be the only unique thing that a Harrier would bring to the fight, and it seems to me that you could hang that thing off any fighter/attack aircraft.
I have read articles praising the Harrier-Litening II combo and I have to scratch my head in a little bit of wonder. Why would Marines praise it so much when all it is is a really nice targeting pod? Then the lightbulb went off, at least I think it was a lightbulb......The reason I believe that the Litening is so praised is that the Marines are sorely lacking in high fidelity full motion video (FMV) assets that can provide to them what the Shadow, Warrior and Predators provide for the Army and USAF.
When the Marines retired the OV-10 after the Gulf War, what became the main real-time Recce/observation aircraft for the USMC? Enter the very used, very old and Navy discarded RQ-2 Pioneer UAV's. While they have done amazing things with them in Iraq, they still come with all of the limitations of a 25 year old UAV.
So in reality, you could throw a Litening II on a AT-6 (it has hardpoints) and a few bombs as well, a couple of GBU-39's and a GBU-38 or 2, and you got yourself an excellent FAC(A) platform to use in Iraq. Or if you don't want to make the investment in a new aircraft, just throw a Litening II on a Super Hornet or even a D model. Couple that with some new UAV's that provide capabilities comparable or better than the Litening II, and you got yourself a party!!!
Send the LANTIRN equipped S-3B in!
Plus you don't have the gas problem that Hornets have. Disclaimer, just bring the plane back after I select out of Advanced!
Send the LANTIRN equipped S-3B in!
Better hurry, supplies are running out!
So it is a software upgrade that the Harrier has over the D's? Maybe the VMFA(AW) squadrons need to call Geek Squad.......
There's a proposal to strap LANTIRN to Prowlers now and Marine Prowlers have already flown with LITENING.
Brett
Might be a nomenclature (or is it terminology...?) thing here, but the term "mensurated coordinate" means a very specific thing to the targeting community. I'm assuming you (and HarrierDude) mean "targeting quality" coordinates - given what you have to do hardware- and software-wise on the ground to produce actual mensurated coordinates, I'd be very surprised if mensurated coordinates were getting produced in the air by a single seater with 11 other tasks ongoing....
I don't know if Harriers can do it or not, but I too was surprised to hear that they could produce mensurated coordinates.
Mensurated Coordinates = Real Time Relative GPS Coordinates IIRC, but I'm not 100% on that...
"mensurated" officially means really, really accurate (down to certain number of decimal points), but what it's coming to mean is not only really, really accurate, but it's been double-checked by the CAOC or targeting cel and signed off by targeteers. IOW, don't need to refine it or check it further, punch that sucker into the JDAM.