Quote:
Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer
Oh and as far as rugged goes? Yeah a 57mm round from a radar directed S-60 would break that thing into messy pieces of metal and pilot.
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Put it this way raketenjagdpanzer. A radar directed 57mm round from a S-60 would probably break an F-22 and an F-35 into messy pieces of metal and pilot if it got a direct hit on it, and would at the very least damage an A-10.
In a combat environment were there is no direct air threat from opposition fighter aircraft as in most of the anti-insurgency wars fought by the United States over the past 13 years and many other countries elsewhere around the world, why use an expensive 100 million dollar plus aircraft to do the job that an aircraft like the Scorpion could do equally well for a fraction of the cost? To use an F-16 which is no longer the cutting edge of American air technology to fly missions like counter-insurgency, irregular warfare support and reconnaissance costs US$ 18,000 an hour in fuel bills. A Scorpion can do the same job for US$ 3,000 an hour. Also besides an A-10, ISR drones and a few modified training jets and turbo-props what does the Western world produce to do jobs like a Scorpion could as cheaply?