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

[Griz882]

I like the idea. How else do we shoot the monkey that they told us to watch and then eat during API ground survival? I mean, those fuckers are wiley.

What? They didn’t teach you to make the blow-dart gun...with the bit of string attached to the dart so the dumb-ass monkey won’t run away? You know...blow-dart guns could be the solution to all of this.

 

[picklesuit]

What? They didn’t teach you to make the blow-dart gun...with the bit of string attached to the dart so the dumb-ass monkey won’t run away? You know...blow-dart guns could be the solution to all of this.

Leave it to the rotor-head to suggest a solution involving blowing...

 

[Griz882]

OK, I walked right into that spinning tail rotor. You win again wiley monkey, you win again.

 

[OscarMyers]

The seat pan, or rather the box of goodies under the seat pan, is usually on a lanyard that is several feet long and attached to your parachute harness. So if they figure out how to stuff an M-4 into the pan (!?), or more likely give it its own lanyard, then it would be easy to retrieve.

Maybe there is some assembly required, like Nordberg's carry piece...

Here is the kit that was referenced in an article about the USAF modding their rifles to fit under the seat. Quick release barrel kit

 

[Brett327]

Putting a modified M-4 in the seatpan would cost almost nothing in the grand scheme of things. And the things I argue for are those things that are combat related, like SERE. The things I argue against are those things that aren’t needed in combat and only make it easier to go on cross countries, like civilian ILS.

If you had to choose between the M4 and the new higher capacity emergency O2 system, which one would you go with. Let’s assume for the sake of discussion that there’s only room in the seat pan for one, but not both.

 

[Gatordev]

If you had to choose between the M4 and the new higher capacity emergency O2 system, which one would you go with. Let’s assume for the sake of discussion that there’s only room in the seat pan for one, but not both.

Exactly. Again, my point isn't that people are arguing against what you're arguing for, pilot_man. The point is that it all costs money. I don't know what a M4 CQBR costs (someone here with access could look up the NSN in FedLog), but for the sake of argument, let's say $400 (that might be a tad high), plus the program costs (which are always dubiously more than one would expect).

I'll concede that it's not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, since presumably not every jet will get one of these across the fleet and only the deployers, but it's still some amount of cash.

 

[Hair Warrior]

With a $400,000 helmet, we can afford a $500 or so PDW. The best way to keep costs down and spread them out over ~5 years is an IDIQ with multiple qualified primes, low initial production volumes, and only buy it for aircraft about to deploy forward.

 

[Brett327]

With a $400,000 helmet, we can afford a $500 or so PDW. The best way to keep costs down and spread them out over ~5 years is an IDIQ with multiple qualified primes, low initial production volumes, and only buy it for aircraft about to deploy forward.

In this case, the limiting factor is likely space in the seat pan, not cost.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Rgr. OBOGS first, then lower priorities, space permitting.

 

[Brett327]

Rgr. OBOGS first, then lower priorities, space permitting.

I didn't make that statement, it's a question I posed. Different people might prioritize differently. I just want to highlight that there's compromise and tradeoffs in everything.

 

[whitesoxnation]

Putting a modified M-4 in the seatpan would cost almost nothing in the grand scheme of things. And the things I argue for are those things that are combat related, like SERE. The things I argue against are those things that aren’t needed in combat and only make it easier to go on cross countries, like civilian ILS.

Being able to fly more on XCs means more training and more flight hours. I’ve cancelled a lot of flights for weather on cross countries and operating out of home base that I could have flown if I had ILS.

That means a lot when you are flying USMC Legacies and barely getting OPNAV mins.

That is in addition to the fact that if a war kicked off in a place where weather was bad (i.e. Korea almost every day) and we couldn’t fly because of bad WX then targets might go un-struck.

 

[Brett327]

I guess it's time for the quarterly F-18 ILS rehash-ex. Remind me again where your various communities ranked it on your NARG this year?

 

[nittany03]

Uppn further review, it’s interesting they picked a design that splits at the barrel. Given that you’d be assembling your weapon in the field, wonder what the risk is of getting various kinds of gunk in the action. It’s an AR, not an AK, after all.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Uppn further review, it’s interesting they picked a design that splits at the barrel. Given that you’d be assembling your weapon in the field, wonder what the risk is of getting various kinds of gunk in the action. It’s an AR, not an AK, after all.

I don't know. Ask any US ground pounder, or literally any Marine. It's not like an AR in the field is a new idea.

 

[hlg6016]

Uppn further review, it’s interesting they picked a design that splits at the barrel. Given that you’d be assembling your weapon in the field, wonder what the risk is of getting various kinds of gunk in the action. It’s an AR, not an AK, after all.

It will probably end up packed with an empty magazine and boxed ammo.