RE: Israel's WoT Version 2.0
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 2:36 am
Hi!
Well, I grant you it could have been a sea story... but.. there were literally tens of thousands of LGB's dropped during Vietnam.
The A-6 had the capacity to mount 28 weapons on five Multiple Ejection Racks (MERS). Each MER had 6 weapon stations but the two inboard wing MERS had one station that was not used due to a high probability of bomb/aircraft collision. The normal configuration of the A-6 (while I was flying) was 4 MERS and a centerline fuel tank. That gave it the ability to carry 22 500 lb Mk 82's; one per weapon station. Each MER could carry 3 1000 lb Mk 83 bombs (alternating stations). So, with Mk 83 LGB's the aircraft could carry 12 such weapons.
Because of its payload capacity the A-6 was fitted out eventually to carry just about every weapon in the US inventory. It was also the mainstay for weapons testing at China Lake.
Flying at low level with the A-6 TRAM weapons system and the FLIR weapons designation/guidance system, a skilled crew could easily have an average bullseye CEP (circular error probability).
Don't know for sure what weapons were carried by the A-6's in El Dorado Canyon, but they were almost certainly LGB's.
The Air Force, BTW, has a tendency of writing the history of US air warfare, so it's difficult to track down exactly what the Navy did unless you were there.
Ray (alias Lava)
Well, I grant you it could have been a sea story... but.. there were literally tens of thousands of LGB's dropped during Vietnam.
The A-6 had the capacity to mount 28 weapons on five Multiple Ejection Racks (MERS). Each MER had 6 weapon stations but the two inboard wing MERS had one station that was not used due to a high probability of bomb/aircraft collision. The normal configuration of the A-6 (while I was flying) was 4 MERS and a centerline fuel tank. That gave it the ability to carry 22 500 lb Mk 82's; one per weapon station. Each MER could carry 3 1000 lb Mk 83 bombs (alternating stations). So, with Mk 83 LGB's the aircraft could carry 12 such weapons.
Because of its payload capacity the A-6 was fitted out eventually to carry just about every weapon in the US inventory. It was also the mainstay for weapons testing at China Lake.
Flying at low level with the A-6 TRAM weapons system and the FLIR weapons designation/guidance system, a skilled crew could easily have an average bullseye CEP (circular error probability).
Don't know for sure what weapons were carried by the A-6's in El Dorado Canyon, but they were almost certainly LGB's.
The Air Force, BTW, has a tendency of writing the history of US air warfare, so it's difficult to track down exactly what the Navy did unless you were there.
Ray (alias Lava)