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Odd question about A-10 Warthog's gun
bambihunter
Member Posts: 10,694 ✭✭✭
The A-10 Warhog's 30mm cannon shoots depleted uranium bullets. Does anyone have a clue how they manage that? Is the barrel made of even more dense meterials or is there a soft outer jacket to engage the rifling or what?
Just in case you're wondering, I watched a show about 'em again today and it made me curious... [?]
Just in case you're wondering, I watched a show about 'em again today and it made me curious... [?]
Fanatic collector of the 10mm auto.
Comments
Stand up and fight, or lie down and die; for it is better to burn than to ever fade away.
I swear, shooting a gun that literally had a plane designed around it has to be one heck of a thrill! The show I watched said they could actually make the plane stall just by firing the gun - now that's recoil! I sure hope they don't retire it. I think it still has a place in this techno world...
The USAF nearly gave teh Close Air Support (CAS) role, and airplane (A-10) over to the Army. It is considered a "lowely" job in the USAF to fly the airframe. We, in the Army, certainly feel differently about it. The a-10 and their highly trained crews are the most leathal weapon system a ground guy has at his disposal when the odds are no longer in our favor. Additionally, some of the crews recieve "sandy" training and qualification, and then they are a heck of an asset to have in the air over head when conducting a Personnel Recovery (PR) or a Combat Search and Rescure (CSAR) mission.
My hat is off to those guys/gals. They do a great job, and recieve little attention from their "peers".
NSDQ!
"Nobody dislikes war more than warriors, but we value the causes of peace so highly that we will not duck a war in an effort to get a lasting peace." -General Daniel "Chappie" James
Let's try this... It has odd characters that might not work:
http://www.a-10.org/photos/p.asp?FileName=05%2Ejpg
The DU core is surrounded by a softer jacket, much like a Tungsten-Carbide rifle bullet. The DU tip is left exposed, in order to allow faster penetration.
Stand up and fight, or lie down and die; for it is better to burn than to ever fade away.
I don't think I ever seen ammo for the Warthog, but I do believe that it is saboted much like the 25mm Bushmaster round is.
Reserving my Right to Arm Bears!!!!
People
Eating
Tasty
Animals
Handgun Control, Inc. says they want to "Keep guns out of the wrong hands."
Guess what?
You have the wrong hands.
Stand up and fight, or lie down and die; for it is better to burn than to ever fade away.
Reserving my Right to Arm Bears!!!!
People
Eating
Tasty
Animals
Handgun Control, Inc. says they want to "Keep guns out of the wrong hands."
Guess what?
You have the wrong hands.
So is lead!
NRA ENdowment, CRPA Life, NRA ILA EVC, Past President NRA Members Council
Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem. Semper Fidelis
As someone said before, it is truly the best close air support weapon ever launched.
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.
It's a dog-eat-dog world...and nine times out of ten I have on Milk-Bone underwear.
Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.<BR>
http://forums.military.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=78919038&f=65819558&m=9271923356
It's a dog-eat-dog world...and nine times out of ten I have on Milk-Bone underwear.
Dunedan - the loading you reference is a "Training - Practice" round. This marking is now standard on all large bore US military ammo, including the grenade launchers used by ground forces, artillery rounds, etc. Cheaper, safer and less destructive to targets. Further, while it does not have a sabot in the sense of the plastic inserts made to work in .30 caliber necks, like most large bore projectiles, these do have drive bands on the body of the projectile, which are softer metal (typically brass alloys) which are easy on the rifling but strong enough to impart the rotation to the projectile. The military has experimented with - and fielded plastic drive bands on projectiles in the 20mm - 50mm range in recent years.
If you remember the 2 IL NG Airmen who are still in trouble over dropping the bombs on the Canadian troops in Afghanistan, you'll quickly realize it is VERY tough to bring CAS in "danger close" (which is what a Soldier/Marine needs) from 10,000 feet. An A-10 driver usially has no problem getting in so close on a pass that you can al but surely see the ear to ear smile on his/her face.
One of the better courses I have attended is the Joint Firepower Course. Really good forum for weapons effects/munnitions, etc... Bottomline, you tell them what you want to do (suppress, destroy, disable, interupt, etc...), describe the target (BMP, BTR, T-62, etc...), and they'll match the appropriate weapon system and munnition for the desired effect.
This airframe has also proven its worth in "spades" with relation to Aircrew survivability. No matter how shot-up these things get, thay ALMOST ALWAYS make it home. For this reason, the USAF has decided to revisit and increase the life-span of this proven combat multiplier.
NSDQ!
"Nobody dislikes war more than warriors, but we value the causes of peace so highly that we will not duck a war in an effort to get a lasting peace." -General Daniel "Chappie" James
Mentioned before I had crew-chiefed for VNAF, here's the A1-E which was the slow flyer we gave the Viet's. Do notice the windscreen, that's what the low ceiling will do for ya.
The other is the F-5 A-model with 500 pounders, and a close friend that worked with me. Bernie was about 280 or so, but it's still a funny
pic with the plane looking even smaller than it was.
http://www.outdoortexasadventures.com/plane1.jpg
http://www.outdoortexasadventures.com/plane2.jpg
http://www.a-10.org/photos/photos2.asp
"He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."
- Jesus Christ in Luke 22:36
Clinton wasn't the first one who wanted to get rid of them. President Bush (the elder Bush, mind you) prior to the Gulf War wanted to sell all of our A-10s to Columbia, Argentina, and Brazil.
And while we're giving credit where credit is due, Carter (yes, a DEMOCRAT) was responsible for procuring the A-10 from Fairchild-Republic. The program that turned out this now-famous plane was under-budget (that's right... under) and on-time. How's that for a free-spending, big-government liberal?
Ryan, while it is true that there are many other metals much denser than steel (like lead) most of these make poor penetrators. During WWII the Germans fielded an outstanding anti tank gun which used the Gerlich/Hable "taper bore" principal (a fasinating series of firearms)which at its peak of developement took a 75mm shell and "squeezed" it down to 55mm using a 5.5 pound tungsten-carbide penetrator (tungsten is about 3 times heavier than steel). The velocity was around 4000fps and it could destroy any tank in existence. Unfortunitly for the Germans, tungsten is not a native German resource and all supplies had to be imported at great cost. Tungsten was also vital for use in machine tools and there was simply not enough to go around for use in ammunition and these guns feel silent. Bad news for German anti tank units, but OUTSTANDING news for Russian tankers!
The advantage depleted uranium has is that it is not a critical material like tungsten. Depleted uranium is a waste product of the entire uranuim refining process and the metal exists in government inventories in what is called "green salt" (UF-4). This "green salt" is not a critical war material, sits around doing nothing but taking up warehouse space, and is pretty much available for the asking by Uncle Sam, so depleted uranium was a win-win from the start. The Air Force has two suppliers for these depleted uranium shells: Honeywell and Autojet Ordnance Company and those 30mm jewels are very bad news for anyone in a tank.
Mark T. Christian
I always like reading your posts, you seem to have a very deep knowledge (or at least a very good reference ability and the references to go with it) of most gun related topics plus you seem to be well-travelled also.
Most educational types have no working knowledge, most hands-on types (that's what I am), have little knowledge of the background information on stuff.
Keep postin' and I'll keep readin'! [:)]
Love them Beavers
SUPPORT THE I.N.S. , THE COUNTRY THEY SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN
I sure love that gun!
NSDQ!
"Nobody dislikes war more than warriors, but we value the causes of peace so highly that we will not duck a war in an effort to get a lasting peace." -General Daniel "Chappie" James