If the military where to load the duster up with fentanyl and dust an area 25 or 30 miles below the U.S. border it sure would slow down the influx of people crossing the border?
"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson
If Sharpsman were at all sharp, he'd realize that these aircraft only start life as a crop sprayer. They won't be anything like that when the SpecOps guys get them. And they won't be flown at all like he did. I have 300 missions and close to 1,000 hours in actual Special Ops combat flying getting my ass shot at. Let me know when YOU can speak with authority.
Authority and experience, here? The problem is not that they’re ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn’t so.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
Oh...... I was thinking they was gonna tea bag all of us with them. Night Op schit and spray red state area,s with magic dust and turn us all into Liberal Socialist Democrats while sleeping..
Authority and experience, here? The problem is not that they’re ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn’t so.
Hahaha!
So you two agree again?
No really, but if you are referring to people that post opinions, clearly demonstrating their ignorance or lack of experience on the subject, then yes..
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
Neither of us. Jorge is opining based on his Navy life, and I on my USAF one. He doesn't see a need for this specialized plane, and I do. That doesn't make either of us wrong.
Low level slow moving planes decked the fugg out with wpn systems have a legit use. Ground support. Tgt desigination. Night time ops. Ect ect ect.
Small plane popping up over a tree line or terrian feature seemingly outta nowhere when needed and its ability to engage at extremely short or far range. Or a small terrian hugging plane equipped with modern avionics, wpns, and a skilled pilot could raise havoc on schit Staying below radar at 50 to 100 ft on its approach and departure. Can you imagine what one that just had a mini gun on it could do.
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~ As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............
All the talk is how this is a down in the weeds aircraft, popping up the see or to shoot. And I agree that's how I would likely plan to use it if I had one. But It's got a 25,000 ft service ceiling and a rock star optical and electronic sensor suite.
There aint' no shoulder fired SA missile gonna hit it at half that altitude. I'd be curious to see what it sounds and looks like over quiet desert at night at different altitudes.
Can anybody here rightfully tell what a turbo powered small aircraft like this sounds like at different altitudes? Rocky? Jorge? Load Clear?
And a perceived advantage over a UCAV...
You've got your Weapons/Sensors guy on the scopes keeping an eye on the actual mission location, along with everyone he's connected to across the globe. Then you've got the aircraft pilot, orbiting the mission, with his head up and alert for light flashes, reflections, motion, or anything that might signal a change in the tactical situation as it affects the mission ground element. I would posit that a wary pilots eyes and brain make up the "ultimate sensor" to keep a mission like this aircraft is intended for on track.
Theoretically, you can and might have the cameras on your UCAV to "see" any and all of this. But do you have a dedicated tech crew member to wear the 3D headgear and keep that kind of overwatch? If so, how effective is he without a pilots "right there" perspective? I'm sure that I don't know everything about drone warfare, but I'd bet money that the pilot with actual eyes over a mission would prevail
John, we have a turboprop sky-diving plane that operates from our nearby airport. It is clearly audible even when it's at drop altitude which I'd guess is some 15,000' AGL. But that aircraft is always at max power and climbing until immediately before the jump, so it's certainly louder than it would be with the power and the prop in cruise.
I can't honestly answer that, John. Tactics are so different now that I'd be guessing. Remember, my sensors were the Mk-1 eyeball.
When I was flying "radio watch" to support a covert ground team, I orbited a few miles from their location at 5,000' AGL. That put me out of all gun ranges up to .50 cal. Doing so eliminated all but the grossest visual targets, but those weren't visual recce missions. I was there only to receive scheduled reports or respond if the team went hot.
The rules said we should be at no less than 1,500' AGL to do visual recce, as that kept us mostly safe from .30-cal stuff. We kinda followed that rule - usually. We did team inserts flying at anywhere from five to 50 feet above the terrain or trees, and at only 90 knots so we wouldn't outrace the helos behind us. Over any kind of trees, that was the safest possible altitude because we were over and past them in a flash, giving them no time to shoot. Anywhere at all, 500' was the suicide zone - they had time to see, track and shoot, and little lead was required to connect with us.
Interesting perspectives from the pilots, and from the guy who has been boots on the ground needing the pilots.
How noisy is an Ag Tractor turbine? I had one making tree top level passes over my head last night for about twenty minutes. I just stood in the door of the garage and watched the show. Yes, at fifty feet, they are loud as hell, quite audible at a mile away as he turned to come back and make another pass.
My work location is about 3/4 mile from an ag landing strip. I hear the tires bark every time a crop duster hits the runway. And I hear the roar shortly thereafter which I assume is a feathered prop. But I am a bit ignorant of the mechanics involved and can only assume.
The "dusters" often pass overhead at work. Sometimes you can wave at the pilot, and he will wave back. Sometimes they are high enough that you can not discern the pilot (1500'?). But they are always audible inside the building.
I really have no idea how high they would have to orbit to remain undetectable from the ground. Of course, the planes I see (and hear) are tuned for power. Perhaps the manufacturer has some tricks to make them quiet for military missions?
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.