Anti-ship Loadout Help

[Scooterman]

For one of my VIFFWHIF builds I'm doing a Norwegian AV-8B-ish machine.  I picture this guy diving in and out of the fjords looking for the bad guys so the weapons load is somewhat light.  I have two Snakes for self defence and two Penguins for killing ships but what else?  I don't want tanks (range not needed and would cut into performance) but I HATE empty pylons.  What else would be an effective maritime weapon?  Rockets?  Retarded bombs?  I would go 4 Pens but I only have 2 to spare......

TIA

[PanzerWulff]

How about a couple of Glide bombs you sight in the ship and let them go while the pilot scoots away
"Panzer"

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Two Maverick could do good multi-purpose anti-ship weapons. They are less efficient in anti-ship than the Penguin, but they are still quite good enough, with additional abilities against amphibious ships, landing troops etc...

An other possibility could be a twin or triple launcher fitted with Hellfire (at least one variant of the missile is used for anti-shiping) or Brimstone (an anti-ship variant is not impossible).

Personally, I really like torpedoes under jet planes, and I'm planing to build a littoral combat Rafale armed with anti-hip missiles and Mk-46 torpedoes, but I doubt about the sub danger in the fjords!


Rockets or propulsed bombs (like the AGM-123 Skipper, wich you could easily scratchbuild from a GBU-16, or create a variante from the GBU-12), or even classical GBUs could be use for anti-ship, but they are less efficient than Maverick and, for the bombs, they require a laser designator.

If I were you, I'll probably fit one of the pylons with a navigation/laser designator pod, and the other with a scratch build triple launcher for Hellfire, but a couple of IR Maverick could do the same (use the IR detector of the Mav as a mini-FLIR).

Just my 2 cents!

[Shasper]

A TV guided munition like the AGM-62 Walleye or GBU-8 HOBO would work, if you really wanted to go out on a limb there's the Harpoon, Kormoran or Exocet. . .




SHas B)

[Thorvic]

Well you could go with ALARM for taking out the radar prior to the Penguin attack. To follow up you could go for the laser guided bomb intended to provide the Coup De Grase by being dropped on the centre of the ship to break its back (However that would more likely be carried by a sister aircraft given the weight of the weapon and the external guidance pod. A more likely load would be either single maversicks or triple Brimstone to take out Air Defence weapons or smaller vessels.

G

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

I agree with the Brimstones or Mavericks.
The ALARM (or Harm) is a good weapon, but only if you want to deal with quite big ships. Against little boats, a multipurpose missile is more usefull.

It all depends on the threats Scooterman's AV-8 will have to deal with!!

[gengriz]

"I doubt about the sub danger in the fjords!"  Not true, there definitely is a submarine threat within the Fjords - most of them are very deep, with strange water temperature layers;  the ideal place to hide.  

However, I wouldn't go for Mk46s - they are somewhat outdated - go for Sting Rays instead.  Remember to add a decent nose cone for protection at AV-8 speeds and a big parachute (maybe even some glide wings?) - speed and angle of entry into the water are critical.  In addition, torpedoes are not ideal for Fjord attacks - even though the water would be deep enough, there are too many confusing echoes from the Fjord sides.  Depth Charges are the way to go - or smart swimmer mines.
 

[Shasper]

Whatabout CAPTOR air launched, encased torpedos?

Shas B)

[Archangel]

If nothing already mentioned appeals to you the just add a pair of AIM-120 AMRAAMS or another pair of AIM-9s. I agree that the AGM-65 mavericks would be the better choice. I have wanted to do something simular for a long time with an A-10 loaded with Harpoons and Mavericks for the main weapons andpaint it in a three tone grey scheme like the old WWII tri color used on fighters.

[LemonJello]

Harpoons would be my first choice, a sure ship-killer.  But another thought would be to hang some Rockeyes for wreaking havoc on the antennaes, sensors, crew caught in the open and the non-armored areas of the superstructure.

Plus, you can hope for some secondary effects with a hit on a magazine...

[elmayerle]

For ship killing, two Penquins and two Harpoons.  For self-defense, two late-model Sidewinders (carried RAF-style in front of the outriggers), and two ARMs, either ALARM or an updated Sidearm based on improved electronics and a late-model Sidewinder.

[philp]

Hmmm...
How about some protection?
Maybe an ECM pod hanging on the rack so you can nullify some of the enemies anti air assets letting get those Penguins on target.

[Amphion]

Norway already uses the Rb-17, which is the swedish built dedicated anti-ship variant of Hellfire, so it would be logical to carry that. Maybe in somekind of MER-arrangement.

[Scooterman]

Thanks for all the input guys.  I think I'm going the Maverick/Penguin route.  Stay tuned!

[GTX]

I'm a little late, but I would stick with only the Penguins and AIM-9s as far as weapons go (this would be quite a potent loadout for a Harrier.  If anything else was required, I would agree with philp and maybe add an ECM pod or a Chaff/flare pod (like a BOZ 10) or maybe a targetting pod

Regards,

Greg