From:	Paul J. Adam Paul@********.demon.co.uk
Subject:	Starting equiptment [was: Value and so on]
Date:	Tue, 20 Jul 1999 21:07:20 +0100

In article <9e30ba5.24c6242e@***.com>, Starrngr@***.com writes
>There is also another key factor that's overlooked in that statement. In the
>gulf war, mosst of the air assets were tasked to strategic targets, not
>tanks. Airfields, Command and Communication centers, Bridges, and the like.

True to a point, but the F-16s in particular spent a _lot_ of time
tankhunting. They started out with two TERs of Mark 82s each, but
switched to a pair of Mark 84s each: the F-16 could deliver bombs to "near
as damn it hit" with CCIP dive attacks, the 2000lb bombs provided clearer
damage assessment, and good targets were sparse enough that the Vipers
had problems finding _one_ target per sortie, let alone three. (Let's
discreetly forget about the GPU-2A)

For _real_ entertainment, though, how about the F-111F 'tank plinking'
sorties? Strolling along at night using the Pave Tack to find tanks on IR,
then picking them off. One GBU-12 500lb laser-guided bomb per tank.
Sixteen bombs per Aardvark. Ouch :)



--
Paul J. Adam