Gunship ideas

[dy031101]

Could've sworn someone had already suggested this, but I can't find it, so:

How about flying boat gunships?

It was the Heller CL-415 that got me thinking, but how about others?

Recently watching "The Expendables" with Barney Ross and Christmas going "Ride n' Die" in their HU-16 makes me think of it, too.  Preferably with weapons that can be stowed within the fuselage when not in use, in keeping with the PMC theme.

Maybe a CL-415 with one or more .50 cal. miniguns sighted from the flight deck and shooting out of a fuselage door?  Or with something like Rheinmetall RMK30?  

EDIT: Wacko going too far and struck off.

[Rheged]

UK , early '50s  There is the Airspeed Ambassador, the Avro Tudor (or even an Ashton if you really want off the wall) the Miles Marathon or possibly even using up some of the old Ansons.

I suppose that one could even do things with a Shackleton..........just think of the loiter time above target!

[Mossie]

I've just been re-reading the thread & I've been thinking about airships again, but in a modern sense.  LM have been developing the HALE-D & hybrid L-191, why not develop them further as high altitude gun platforms?  You'd need air superiority, but you could hang the airship high in the air well out of reach of manpads.  Arm them with traditional guns or a tactical laser, bombard to your hearts delight out of harms way.

[Weaver]

The only problem with an airship would response time if it wasn't in the right place when you needed it in a hurry.

You could use a variation of my "vertical gunship" idea: have an autocannon pointing straight downwards with a serious EO/IR scope next to it, a smaller FLIR turret for target acquisition and a ballistics computer to do the maths:

Much cheaper to shoot than smart bombs/missiles

More accurate than dumb bombs due to high velocity/reduced flight time

Scaleable terminal effects: 1 x 30mm cannon shell = 1 grenade, 100 x 30mm cannon shells = End of the World....

Near-vertical trajectory reduces ability of targets to exploit cover/terrain masking

[FAR148]

Here's an idea that has been in my head for some time now, a UAV helicopter as a gunship. Something like a MQ-8 Fire Scout armed with just a laser/optical guided gyro stabilized M61 Vulcan. To be used for CAS in the urban environment.  


Steven

[sequoiaranger]

You may recall that the very FIRST "gunship", defined as a large plane flying in banked circles spraying bullets sideways onto the ground below, was indeed a British innovation with the Avro Avatar:



*DESIGNED* as a "trench-strafer" in the early 1930's to re-fight WW I more efficiently, by WW II the intended use came to be a "fly-alongside" bomber-destroyer in the Defiant vein, using TWO four-gun turrets. The "gunship" idea was proposed whereby several Avatars would fly in a lazy, banked circle using BOTH top and bottom turrets to fire inward. First used as the Germans were tightening the Dunkirk approaches in late May of 1940, the "withering fire" (if you can call .303's "withering fire") was thought to have stopped the Germans in their tracks (hey--cause-and-effect! Avatars attack using "new" tactic; Germans stop advancing. What more "proof" do you need?   )

[tanktastic43]

Wow!  S'ranger.

Where have you been hiding that one?!?

Beauty. 

tt43.

[pyro-manic]

Indeed! What a beast.

[chrisonord]

In a few weeks hopefully I should have my Honduras air force AC-160 done.Initially I thought it would be an easy build....erm no.
The donor kit is the Heller C-160 Gabriel. Weapon wise I have installed 2 miniguns into the sealed forward left cargo door, a 40 mm bofors, a 105mm howitzer and a 6 barrel 25 mm cannon.As this kit comes with some lumps and bumps, I thought it suitable for the task. Other than under wink fuel tanks I won't be hanging any ordnance off it as I think it will have enough bite. I will however be puttinf a couple of FLIR turrets on it that can be used for future use of targetting ordnance.
Chris.

[sequoiaranger]

Pyro-m and Tank43---Thanks.

The Avro Avatar (2008) was the first actual model I had done after a 23-year hiatus. Conceived on paper in 1993, I *FINALLY* got around to making it about the time I signed on with this Board in 2007/8. A quick rundown:

My Avatar is 1/72 scale, roughly the size of a Lockheed Hudson. I took two FROG 1/96 Lancasters for the main body, cockpit, and wing outer sections. A Matchbox Vickers Wellesley provided the engine and propeller with added putty. A Matchbox Halifax bomber provided the upper turret. An unknown B-24 or B-17 gave the Avatar its definitive ball turret. A 1/144 Lockheed Constellation supplied the reworked tailplanes. A Caproni Ca 313 supplied the landing gear fairings, but the landing gear itself was just anonymous spare parts. A lot of internal engineering went into the rotating and elevating turrets, and a custom wing spar through the fuselage bolstered the butt-jointed wings. The fuselage was built in six sub-assemblies like a late-war U-boat.

Markings are "New Zealanders", part of the "Invasion Defence Command" (IDC) ready to repel the anticipated Fall of 1940 SeaLion invasion by strafing the beaches. The squadron badge is the "Mad Cow" (those words added to badge after the pic was taken) standing with udder (four-gun ball turret) prominent.

[GTX]

How about an An-2 Colt based gunship?

Regards,

Greg

[dy031101]

How about an An-2 Colt based gunship?

IIRC, there have been stories of US Army UH-1 gunners dueling NVA contraptions during the Vietnam War.

[rickshaw]

That would have been at the battle of Phou Pha Thi in Laos:

...on 12 January 1969 the North Vietnamese launched an attack against the important US base of Phou Pha Thi, in northern Laos. Positioned barely 300km away from Hanoi, this base was established in 1966 in the frame of the Project Pony Express, when ELINT/SIGINT-gathering equipment was placed by CH-3Cs of the 20th SOS. Also equipped with a strong beacon radio station, this post helped to support US long range bombing operations over North Vietnam. Phou Pha Thi was thus an extremely sensitive position and well-guarded by a group of Hmongs. The Communist attack began on 12 January 1968, by four VPAF An-2 biplanes gunships armed with two 57mm rocket-pods under each wing, and machine guns installed on the windows. In addition, a section of the floor had been cut open to hold a cluster of tubes. Each tube contained a 120mm mortar round to be dropped. Guided by radio from a North Vietnamese commando infiltrated at the base of the hill, two An-2s attacked first, firing rockets on the first pass, then salvoed their 120mm mortar rounds slightly damaging the TACAN antennas.

An Air America UH-1 was on the scene and one of the Antonovs was shot down by door-gunners of the US helicopter. The two others were scattered and then crashed in collisions with high mountains in the area.

[Source]

Also known as the "Battle of Lima Site 85"  it encompassed far more than just the air attack.



The painting captures some of the action well, apparently.  Must say, the Chopper crew had cojones.

[Maverick]

One would say equally so the the NVA in the Antonov.  Tooling about in that aircraft with a bunch of 120mm mortar rounds onboard would be an 'experience' one would think.

Regards,

Mav

[dy031101]

Must say, the Chopper crew had cojones.

I actually kinda wonder how good of a firing arc the machinegun could get firing through the Antonov's window......