OOC Thread

[Matt Wiser]

Good work.

[clancyphile]

I just checked one of our usual sources, and he hasn’t done an RNZAF Super Bug. Oh, and Matt, the recon Super Bug is the RF-18J.

Does it still have Shrike/HARM/AMRAAM/etc. capability to fight its way in/out?

Yes, though without the gun, but it usually only carries a pair of Sidewinders on the wingtip stations… VMFP-3, OTOH, uses the full range of the weapons capabilities…

VMFP-3's got it right, IMHO.

Dead men tell no tales.

[Poohbah]

Does it still have Shrike/HARM/AMRAAM/etc. capability to fight its way in/out?

Yes, though without the gun, but it usually only carries a pair of Sidewinders on the wingtip stations… VMFP-3, OTOH, uses the full range of the weapons capabilities…

VMFP-3's got it right, IMHO.

Dead men tell no tales.

Unfortunately, the odds are that the recon platform driver will be one of them.

[Wolfman]

They don’t go out of their way to do that. If it’s in their path, they’ll do something about it, but otherwise, the priority is to get the information and get out.

[clancyphile]

Incidentally, in OTL, the Army is replacing the M113 with the AMPV.

Is this also happening in RD+20?

[Poohbah]

Incidentally, in OTL, the Army is replacing the M113 with the AMPV.

Is this also happening in RD+20?

No one tell Sparky

[Wolfman]

Does the assembled brain trust think that the BTR-80 would be used in the Third World War?

Wikipedia article about the BTR-80:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTR-80

[Matt Wiser]

Yes, and the fact file has been duly posted.

[Wolfman]

Okay.

[Bernard Woolley]

Unfortunately, the odds are that the recon platform driver will be one of them.

I was reflecting on the issue of armed vs unarmed for recce platforms and was reminded of these jet aircraft that the RAF used for recce post-1945.

Canberra PR.3, PR.7, PR.9 - unarmed,

Meteor FR.5 - one off prototype that was unarmed
Meteor FR.9 - armed with 20mm cannon

Swift FR.Mk 5 - two 30mm ADEN

Hunter FR.10 - four 30mm ADEN

Phantom FGR.2 - when used in the recce role carried AIM-7 and AIM-9

Jaguar GR.1, GR.3 - two 30mm ADEN, capability to carry AIM-9L added later

Harrier GR.1, GR.3 - two 30mm ADEN, capability to carry AIM-9

Harrier GR.5, GR.7 - GR.9, two AIM-9 as standard

Tornado GR.1A, GR.4A - two AIM-9 as standard

Typhoon FGR.4 - internal 27mm cannon, at least 4 MRAAM and 2-4 ASRAAM

F-35 - at least two ASRAAM externally.

It, therefore, strikes me that the RAF felt that only strategic recce aircraft (i.e. the Canberra family) should be unarmed, probably because they flew at high altitude. All the RAF's tac recce jets, bar the one off Meteor FR.10 have carried either cannon, missiles, or both. Our air force evidently believed that its recce crews were disciplined enough not to go out looking to play fighter pilot. I am also reminded of the fact that with modern targeting pods and RPAS, dedicated tac recce aircraft do seem to be obsolete.

[Poohbah]

Unfortunately, the odds are that the recon platform driver will be one of them.

I was reflecting on the issue of armed vs unarmed for recce platforms and was reminded of these jet aircraft that the RAF used for recce post-1945.

Canberra PR.3, PR.7, PR.9 - unarmed,

Meteor FR.5 - one off prototype that was unarmed
Meteor FR.9 - armed with 20mm cannon

Swift FR.Mk 5 - two 30mm ADEN

Hunter FR.10 - four 30mm ADEN

Phantom FGR.2 - when used in the recce role carried AIM-7 and AIM-9

Jaguar GR.1, GR.3 - two 30mm ADEN, capability to carry AIM-9L added later

Harrier GR.1, GR.3 - two 30mm ADEN, capability to carry AIM-9

Harrier GR.5, GR.7 - GR.9, two AIM-9 as standard

Tornado GR.1A, GR.4A - two AIM-9 as standard

Typhoon FGR.4 - internal 27mm cannon, at least 4 MRAAM and 2-4 ASRAAM

F-35 - at least two ASRAAM externally.

It, therefore, strikes me that the RAF felt that only strategic recce aircraft (i.e. the Canberra family) should be unarmed, probably because they flew at high altitude. All the RAF's tac recce jets, bar the one off Meteor FR.10 have carried either cannon, missiles, or both. Our air force evidently believed that its recce crews were disciplined enough not to go out looking to play fighter pilot. I am also reminded of the fact that with modern targeting pods and RPAS, dedicated tac recce aircraft do seem to be obsolete.

The ideal recon platform is one that you never knew was there, the airborne equivalent of a ninja master. But that's just me.

[jemhouston]

Incidentally, in OTL, the Army is replacing the M113 with the AMPV.

Is this also happening in RD+20?

No one tell Sparky

Is he still around?

[Wolfman]

Did the 82nd Airborne Division do any drops in Texas in ‘87?

[Matt Wiser]

No. They only jumped in Texas during the endgame at Brownsville, dropping pathfinders and a battalion or so to secure the airport after the surrender.

[Wolfman]

Thanks for the info.

[Lordroel]

I hope it is okay, i have created my own Red Dawn + 20 thread on my forum, called Red Dawn + 40 as it is almost 40 years sins the start of World War III and 20 years it seems that the Red Dawn + 20 started, i have linked every place of interest including this site.

[Lordroel]

Working on a People's Liberation Army Air Force (Manchuria), is it cannon that Korean People's Army Air Force (North Korea) aircraft that where in service in 2010 did the same thing what Iraq did in 1991 during the Gulf War, flying to safety, but for the North Koreans it would be to Manchuria.

[Wolfman]

AFAIK, they never got the chance…

[Lordroel]

AFAIK, they never got the chance…

North Korea was nuked if i remember right.

[Wolfman]

That’s right, during the craziness surrounding the Fall of the Rump Soviet Union, they tried nuking Guam, missed, and ate several buckets of Instant Sunshine in return…