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- #41
F-111F Aardvark
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I know what ATC means, I assume DS = Dip-Shit, and MOA probably does not mean Minute of Angle...
parsifal
Colonel
I recall that on exercise one year, F-111s (assumed) as armed with standoff weapons, were able to "sink" a US Carrier, which as I recall was the USS Constellation.
AGM-142E Raptor / The RAAF's New Standoff Weapon
Why Australia Should Retain Its F-111 Fleet
AGM-142E Raptor / The RAAF's New Standoff Weapon
Why Australia Should Retain Its F-111 Fleet
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Military Operations Area. Airspace set aside for military use that can be closed or restricted to non-participating aircraft when in use by the military. You can usually fly through one, especially if you're on a Federal airway, on an IFR clearance, and in radar and radio contact with ATC. Civilians flying around VFR and "squawking 12" are best advised to steer clear. MOAs are prominently marked on all aeronautical charts, so there's no excuse for blundering into one, usually a case of cranial-rectal insertion syndrome, or CRIS.
Cheers,
Wes
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Depending on the weapon involved, a standoff attack can be be launched from as far as several hundred miles away. Once launched, the weapon can be a damned elusive target to intercept, being extremely fast, usually extremely low, and sometimes flying a programmed track that makes determining its target uncertain, and predicting an intercept point iffy.
If the launching aircraft has a good fix on the target's location, it can launch from below the radar horizon, send the weapon on a roundabout track, and have it come over the task force's radar horizon close in, very fast, and from an unexpected direction. Real tough to defend against. A GWHIZZ scenario. Hey, you were a PWO, weren't you? You know all this stuff. Some of the others might find it interesting.
Cheers
Wes
parsifal
Colonel
We weren't even really equipped with the Harpoon system at the time. It was a "simulated attack" and I certainly wasn't the guy that gave the order to fire. We watched with interest. And lamented that the F-111s, after actually receiving their GBU-142s in 1998, were retired within a decade of that date.
At the time, there was no "over the horizon" capability. Effective range was about 30 miles and the launch vehicle had to get a fix on the target, which it did by briefly going high. Before that it had been determined that the best approach was Lo, so the tactical dispositions were Lo-Hi-Lo, and the delivery vehicles had to put the hammers down to escape the defending F-14s.
I think at the time the USN was experimenting in some way with their AWACs a/c.
At the time, there was no "over the horizon" capability. Effective range was about 30 miles and the launch vehicle had to get a fix on the target, which it did by briefly going high. Before that it had been determined that the best approach was Lo, so the tactical dispositions were Lo-Hi-Lo, and the delivery vehicles had to put the hammers down to escape the defending F-14s.
I think at the time the USN was experimenting in some way with their AWACs a/c.
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Okay
The squawk isn't the VFR frequency but it is a code you have to set at the transponder for a flight with the VFR rules. The code is 1200 in the US, 7000 in Europe. It is used for ID planes or informing ATC/FIS about emergency.
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Stateside, it's used mostly to give a "heads up" to ATC of the existence of a VFR aircraft not on frequency, and in most cases its altitude, as the raw radar "skin paint" is usually turned way down on most scopes for clutter reasons, rendering a "non squawker" nearly invisible.
When we would call ATC to open the "wave window" at Sugarbush, they would have to turn the raw radar gain up on their scopes to see our fiberglass birds.
Cheers,
Wes
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- #50
I've been told the Chinese are developing a capability to download visual/radar/IR/emissions target data in real time from a satellite directly into the guidance system of a long range high speed standoff missile. Thus the attacking aircraft can launch from far away and well below the horizon without any emissions in the target's direction. First clue the target has is the missile sea skimming over the radar horizon at supersonic speed. (Unless they happen to catch the satellite's downlink data burst.)
If this is true, carrier task forces will soon go the way of the battleship.
Cheers,
Wes
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- #52
davparlr
Senior Master Sergeant
I suspect it would be susceptible to a high flying broad band or precision jammer looking right down on the antenna. Maybe a Global Hawk orbiting at 50k with a good look down radar and a good jammer would work. They could orbit a carrier for 24+ hours.
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- #55
Donivanp
Major
Taking a nap I see! Get up Airman!. Nice I'm loving these photos.
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- #58
