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NEWS USAF Fighter And Bomber Crews Get Modified M4 Rifles That Fit Under Ejection Seats

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
At least it’ll be harder for people to kill ceiling lights at the range (or ready room chairs) with a carbine . . . I think.

That said, if I was doing the Syria thing, I’d rather have 120 5.56x45mm than 24 9x19mm between me and potentially getting roasted.
 

wlawr005

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
It nearly took an act of Congress to get the damn SureFire flashlight approved.

Plus, the Navy would never spend the money to train someone well enough to actually use it. I've put exactly 48 rounds through a Sig as a pilot...just enough to get qual'd.

You start pointing that thing at potential captors you better damn well be sure you are able to kill all of them.
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
You start pointing that thing at potential captors you better damn well be sure you are able to kill all of them.

I mean this sincerely and respectfully, is there any alternative American military aircrew have to trying to kill your captors by any means necessary nowadays?
 

RobLyman

- hawk Pilot
pilot
None
Hell, we've had mounts in our Blackhawks for those things for years. But it is kind of cool it fits under an ejection seat.
 

wlawr005

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Yeah, hopefully your wingman is raining down 20MM and calling in the fucking cavalry.

In any case, you've got a much better chance of surviving and eventually coming home if you can figure out a way NOT to start shooting.
 
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Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Plus, the Navy would never spend the money to train someone well enough to actually use it.
Yep- after doing the IA course in 2007 (the original two-week version, right before it grew into three, then later four or five weeks long) and learning small arms the "Army way," it really struck me how my own experience of the Navy's approach was to small arms training for aircrews was so... childish. Considering how Navy SERE school was outstanding but M11 for aircrew was the opposite: mostly a cheap paperwork drill with a few minutes of training attached as an afterthought.

I didn't have any delusions of becoming a gunfighter but geez- shoot fifty bullets, enough put holes in a piece of paper, box checked for this deployment cycle. Dunno if my own experience was unique to a place/community/coast/year or not.
 

PNW Flyer

Active Member
None
100% concur with Walugilawr, all a sidearm does for a stranded navy tacair crew is provide another way to off yourself if things get too bad. I don’t care if they pack an RPG in the ejection seat, your best bet is to evade or stay hidden long enough for the experts to come get you. This will only weigh you down.
 

PNW Flyer

Active Member
None
At least it’ll be harder for people to kill ceiling lights at the range (or ready room chairs) with a carbine . . . I think.

That said, if I was doing the Syria thing, I’d rather have 120 5.56x45mm than 24 9x19mm between me and potentially getting roasted.
Well you’re not, so it’s academic, and if you were, and all that was between you and getting roasted was a man-portable weapon, you’d die screaming in a cage either way.
 
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