PAK-FA's Asian export hopes stymied by lack of 'fifth-generation' qualities

Thanks for the radar info.

Virtually any fighter can fly as slow as the A-10 though, shit Hornets and Rhinos can go far slower than an A-10 for example. Better gun is questionable. It's a bigger gun, but the GAU-8 has an accuracy of 5 milliradians, while the GAU-22A has an accuracy of only 1.4 milliradians, making it the far more accurate system, and 5MM difference doesn't make any real difference in actual combat. 30MM ain't killing anything the 25MM can't, which is why A-10s had to use AGM-65s in Desert Storm to kill Iraqi armor. More ammo isn't really an issue though, as the GAU-22A is selective fire, while the GAU-8 isn't. GAU-8 fires as many rounds as it can when you press the trigger, while the GAU-22A only fires as many as you tell it to. If I want to do a 10 round burst on that tree line with a far more accurate gun that has higher effective fire range, shooting rounds that have just as much power behind them, I can. But yes, the A-10 can take more small arms ground fire and keep going, but the threat of MANPADs has everyone looking away from ever being in that flight envelope again, as it's quickly going to equate to death, even against insurgent groups and the like.

First of all, going by the spec page, the GAU-22A has a milliradian of 5 with a sigma of 1.4, which would seem to indicate they are pretty equal in that regard. Second off, selective fire in no way makes up for having less ammo. Third, while AGM-65s may kill tanks, the 30MM is better when trying to limit civilian casualties in an anti-infantry role, (think ISIS or counter-insurgency ops). Which leads to the fourth point, MANPADs are a worse-case scenario while small arms are a better-case, and likely, scenario, where the A-10 has the advantage. When it comes to killing infantry, the 30MM is also better than the 25MM.

Regardless, the F-16 and F-35 can not do gun-runs as good or safely as the A-10. That's a ridiculous and dangerous, (to their own pilots), fantasy the Air Force likes to toy with so they can further justify defunding the A-10. I don't even like the A-10 fan, that's just how it is.

/r/geopolitics Thread Parent Link - janes.com