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http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/ ... spx?ID=104

4/14/2010
A-10 Warthogs Use Predator Video Feeds for New Strafing Technique

COLORADO SPRINGS — Pilots in A-10 Warthogs aircraft have developed new strafing techniques that allow them to fire their 30 mm weapons on dismounted Taliban soldiers even when coalition forces are in close proximity, said a senior Air Force official.

The pilots receive live streaming video feeds from Predators or other aircraft that are watching enemy positions. Using precise Global Positioning System coordinates, they can fire their guns within 500 feet of friendly forces, said Brig. Gen. Tod D. Wolters, director of air, space and cyberspace operations at Air Force Space Command, at the Space Symposium.

The techniques have been perfected during the last 24 months, he said. Predator unmanned aerial vehicles are among the assets that can provide the video feeds, he said.

\"They can actually link to a video on a sister aircraft or a sister unmanned aerospace vehicle, and that individual can close their eyes, fly over the target, squeeze the trigger and let the 30 mm bullets fly,\" he said in a speech.

The Warthog, a Cold War era aircraft that flies at subsupersonic speeds, was a darling of the first Gulf War when the pilots destroyed columns of Saddam Hussein's armored fighting vehicles. Their use during the Iraq insurgency in recent years was limited because much of the fighting took place in urban areas where their armor piercing bullets could cause collateral damage.

The new technique is another example of manned-unmanned teaming where UAVs provide additional video feeds that are sent to pilots in cockpits. They can use this information to see targets or enemies outside of their line of sight. The Army has also used its own UAVs to transmit imagery to Apache helicopter cockpits.
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I know Gen Wolters...he had to have been misquoted. Perhaps the stupidest statement ever attributed to a professional military officer.

Coach

_________________
\"Those who hammer their guns into plows
will plow for those who do not.\"
- Thomas Jefferson

Ok, how does the pilot watch the UAV's steam so he can close his eyes and fire those 30mm rounds as he flies by ?
Or I'm I just really an \"Old Crew Dawg here\"?

I never heard of an A-10 Driver having a Hard time \"Strafing\" the \"Bad guys\" when called in for CAS. And if 20 Grunts we're pinned downed and the Bad guys were coming in within \"500ft\" and they Kept calling for CAS,
Those Hog Drivers will be on the deck if they had too to take out \"The Bad Guys\" and Get the Job done and Those 20 Grunts would be Safe and Sound.

Enough said

Goose

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\"Live Free Or Die\"