An armed helicopter could easily fill that roll. With a little work I could probably catch a Shaheed drone with my piston Enstrom (assuming no headwinds of course ?).
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Europe under extreme duress
- Thread starter Randy Daytona
- Start date
The German machinery is absolutely better, but rather the Vulcan falls into being both available and adequate with (I assume) plenty of spare parts and a robust supply of 20 mm ammunition.
So is “Captain, It Won’t Shoot” now a joint doctrinal term?
You're right. The problem is two-fold. How do you manage closure when you're hundreds of knots faster than the target, and if you get in close enough to hit the thing, how do you avoid the frag envelope?
That's the crux of my argument against F-16 (or MiG-29 or Su-27, or any fast jet) vs. Shaheed. A slower platform (helo, prop, etc.) with the maneuverability to turn behind the drone could make a bigger difference, especially if it doesn't need to reload every 4th time the trigger is squeezed.
Maybe just thump it? 9G turn, let the wingtip vortices shred it.
The power of vortices...heh
Nice idea, but the wake isn't as big or as destructive as you might think. You might get lucky, but most of the time you won't. It's also putting you close to an explosive drone (frag pattern, again), and close to the ground since the typical Shaheed profile as I understand it is less than 1,000' AGL. Keep in mind this is also most likely happening at night, and I have serious doubts
A fighter's best use here IMO is keeping the airspace open and permissive to UKR forces, and possibly as a "look down shoot down" cueing source to locate drones which can be destroyed by other means.
Maybe some barrage balloons around sensitive areas... I dunno.
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They may be bigger and more destructive than you might think. You could pull above it, and the vortex pair from the wings would descend onto its path. I still remember when a T34 got taken out by an F14 when they joined up to check out a gear light.
But I agree, sounds Iron Eagle-ish.
Maybe have a CH-53 fly over the top and leak hydraulic fluid all over it
If that was the case we likely would have shipped some to them by now, but it has been out of the US inventory for over almost 30 years and I am not sure us or any of our allies, those willing to give Ukraine arms, have any to give.
Too bad. I think a CIWS on a trailer is a goddamned good idea for Ukraine. Beats engaging Shithead drones with Patriot missiles at ~$4M each.
The RAF had the problem of Typhoons being frag damaged when shooting down German V-1s. The solution was to have the Typhoons fly beside the V-1, and use their wing tip to flip the V-1 over, thus disrupting the V-1 gyro and it departing and crashing. My be some single engine turboprops could be a solution.
V-22’s have the range and speed as well as ramp and belly guns. Fly in front and shoot off the ramp or fly above and fire from the belly.
Why waste turboprop fuel?