In a previous post we have seen a cameraman receiving a direct hit from a tank shell.
Even if this is less spectacular so to say, this video is interesting because it shows a Syrian fighter bomber releasing flares to deceive eventual MANPADS while overflying a Syrian rebel position followed by a free fall bomb almost hitting the guy who was filming the scene.
The aircraft is difficult to ID (it may be a Su-22 Fitter) so as the bomb.
A lesson learned? If you see a warplane make an evasive maneuver over your head, you might better take shelter as soon as you can.
H/T to Matt Fanning for sending the link to the video
Pilots routinely wear Night Vision Goggles that can virtually turn night into day (more or less…).
But even soldiers and Special Operations teams use them (U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 team wore NVGs during the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden).
Top image shows paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, conducting an airborne assault during Field Training Exercise (FTX), at Ft. Bragg, N.C., on Oct. 22, 2013.
The exercise simulates the execution of a large-scale forcible entry into a hostile area; securing sufficient freedom of movement while facing the anti-access and area-denial capabilities of our enemy.
The photograph shows the warfighters parachuting on a field to set up a camp and how it would look like if you were not wearing any Night Vision device.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
Even if the bomb used in the test did not contain any explosive, the F-35 test team made a new step towards operational status by conducting the program’s first guided weapon test on Edwards Air Force Base Precision Impact Range Area in California, on Oct. 29.
The Electro-Optical Targeting System, or EOTS, enabled the pilot to identify, track, designate and deliver the GBU-12 on target.
The F-35B, the STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing variant) of the Joint Strike Fighter, released the weapon from its internal weapons bay from 25,000ft. The bomb fell for 35s before hitting the designated target (a tank).
A-10 Warthogs’ specialty is killing enemy tanks.
For this reason they are U.S. soldiers favorite planes when it deals with calling for air support in Afghanistan. An A-10 with a 30mm GAU-8 Avenger gun and some AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles would probably be useful to the Free Syrian Army as well and have prevented the rebel cameraman shooting the footage below from taking a T-72 tank’s direct hit.
Reportedly filmed at Jobar Damacus Lewaa al-Baraa, full speed:
Slow motion:
Top image shows Eurofighter IPA (instrumented production aircraft) 7 flying over Cassidian´s Military Air Systems Center in Manching with an impressive payload: Laser Designator Pod, two Supersonic Fuel Tanks, two IRIS-T Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles, four AMRAAM Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles as well as four Paveway IV bombs loaded.
Along with IPA4, IPA7 has just finished the flight testing of the so-called Eurofighter Typhoon Phase 1 Enhancements (P1E) program, that will be ready for the customers by the end of 2013.
According to Cassidian, the defence division of EADS, “P1E implements full Air-to-Surface capability on Eurofighter Typhoon – including Laser Designator Pod -, full smart bomb integration, modern secure Identification Friend or Foe (Mode 5), improved Radios and Direct Voice Input, Air-to-Surface Helmet Mounted Sight System, improved Air-to-Air capabilities including digital integration of Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles and updated MIDS (Multifunctional Information Distribution System) Datalink functionalities for enhanced interoperability with Coalition Forces.”
P1E is considered a significant leap in Eurofighter’s operational capabilities, that make the aircraft capable to employ multiple weapons, simultaneously in all weather and it is the first major upgrade after the Main Development Contract.
Image credit: Cassidian
