I hope somebody wakes up and sees to it that some type of gun is fitted.
Not only is it a liability in the close support role, but the Royal Navy which must rely on the GR.9/9A for air defense now only has an aircraft armed with AIM-9’s and nothing else. No AIM-120, no gun, etc.
At least put a gun on there for Christ’s sake……it doesn’t make sense to leave it out of a dedicated CAS aircraft.
And furthermore, the targeting pod issue with the AV-8B and Harrier GR.7/9 bothers me.
Why not use the CENTERLINE HARDPOINT instead of the inboard wing pylon on the AV-8B and one of the gun pod positions on the GR.7/9.
You have all these crazy assymetric loads because of that.
It’s very simple.
AV-8B – Two external tanks, two GBU-16 Paveways, two AIM-9’s, one Litening pod…..or hell with no air threat replace the AIM-9’s with AGM-65’s or rocket pods.
Harrier GR.7/9 – Two external tanks, two GBU-24 or GBU-16 Paveways, two AIM-9’s and a pair of rocket pods, plus two 30-mm cannons and a TIALD pod….
Now am I the only one who thinks these loadouts are better than the ridiculous loads I see in AFM when talking about Harrier ops in the ‘ghan?
Oh dear, where do we start with this…
The GR7/7A/9/9A is not an air defence jet, so all the talk about fitting it with gunsfor fleet defence is rubbish. It’s not designed for that, it’s not being used like that. Endex. Take the Sea Harrier retirement story elsewhere.
Gunpods – AV-8B can’t use the centreline for targeting because the gunpods are fitted. The AV-8B gunpod has a round crossfeed betwen the two pods which means you can’t fit centreline stores with the pod fitted. The seeker head would also be obscured by the pods if fitted to the centrline. You can’t carry AGM-65 on the outboard station..
GR7/9 – TIALD pod already on port gunpod station. Can’t be fitted to the centreline due to visibility and environmental issues. Aircraft can still carry two tanks, two Paveway II 1000lb LGBs and two BL755 or equivalent. Or a mix and match of a number of various other stores. Typically, the in theatre jets are configured two ways – I/B tanks with rockets, and I/M tanks with LGBs. They’re also mixing Mav in there as well. Strakes are better for VSTOL performance than gunpods as well…
All that said, the lack of a gun does hampe the jet (IMHO) as a CAS platform. If you need a cheap, quick and easy way of keeping heads down, some 30mm is great. I can imagine a podded gun making an appearance at some stage.
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