This video requires you click a button saying you don’t mind seeing adult content. It’s just because of a little language like “holy $hiit!!” and nothing more.
There’s an A-10 overhead and it makes a few passes out in the distance. All you hear is the roar of the cannon and the explosions of the rounds.
I knew 30mm GAU cannons weren’t like the miniguns in movies but I didn’t realize the ROAR was this deep! The rounds are bigger than coke bottles but they look like 500lb bombs going off in the distance!
When I was in high school, we used to grouse hunt about 10-20 miles from an air to ground firing range that the local A-10 guard unit used.
At distance, you’d just hear something like a high pitched tearing of canvas, followed shortly by a large ROAR. First time I heard it, it took a while to figure out what it was.
Those pilots loved to fly nap of the earth home. Once in a while they’d fly low over tow, once in a roll. Was a long time ago and they’d probably get in trouble doing that now.
Planes like those make filing taxes a little easier.
When I went deer hunting in the Adirondack Mountains in the mid 80s the A-10s out of Plattsburg AFB used to run training missions just above tree top level. I saw multiple A-10s daily. I could see the pilots faces as they flew by.
Very UNcool. That almost killed friendly troops. I don’t see this as the venue to talk about how cool the GAU-8 is when the video shows how close allied troops came to being killed by said gun.
When did I say they were killed? I didn’t. I said that that video showed friendly troops coming under not-so-friendly fire. I don’t see that as an opportunity to oooh and aaah over how cool the GAU-8 is.
It wasn’t outrage. It was a reminder that what we were seeing was very nearly a “blue on blue.” And to put it into perspective.
You are chastising people in this thread over something that “almost” happened. Was that team being targeted by the A-10 or was it a “danger close” mission that the team didn’t take seriously enough? Lots of hooting and hollering from the team until the first shells landed - then a big smack of reality suggested that they move and seek cover instead of play spectator.
I’m not chastising anyone first of all. And I am certainly not chastising them over the incident portrayed in the video. I am disappointed in the reaction to the video. Instead of asking the questions you ask next, people are oohing and aaahing the destructive power of the GAU-8.
The point is, for whatever reason, lives were nearly lost. You categorize that as an “almost.” I categorize that as something that did happen and was very lucky that that incident didn’t cost the lives of allied soldiers. Hopefully, lessons were learned on both sides of the CAS team to prevent that from happening again.
I also believe that video demonstrates why our allies prefer CAS from USMC jets first, USN jets second, and USAF jets third.
Edited to stress this is an opinion of individuals, specifically about the fast jets.
ETA:
All I’m saying is keep what you’re seeing in the video in perspective.
