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| Note the field of fire for the gunner in the above photos |
Thanks for the pics Jesse!
I did a post a couple of days ago lavishing much praise on this hidden jewel...Navy Combat Support Helo Squadrons.
The concept is sound, the firepower they can potentially bring to a fight unmistakable but there is one nagging problem.
The gunners station and his arc of fire. The Navy took a huge leap forward with the installation of the Army's ESSS kit. Again, the only issue I have with the system is the restrictions it paces on the gunner and his arc of fire.
A couple of off the shelf systems might be a workaround for a select set of helicopters were the primary mission will be set at Combat Support and Rescue.
The first off the shelf solution might be the Army's universal weapons mount for the Kiowa. You'll still have limited fields of fire but it should open it up a bit...especially if they're able to mount it at the rear of the cabin.
RAMCIS is the next solution. The good. It'll block the field of fire for only one of the gunners. The even better good is that you'll have a low cost multi-mission cannon that could imobilize enemy fast boats with one shot. The manufacturer states that it can penetrate several feet of concrete so this should be darn effective on rubber/fiberglass boats. The bad. I have no idea how the targeting works or if it could even hit a moving target. It was designed to kill mines. The worse still. It looks heavy as all outdoors.
Whether they fix or not, the Navy is doing good things...they should brag about their warfighting capability a bit more.
Sidenote: If there isn't room on carriers to get these Squadrons to the fight then the USMC/USN and NAVAIR needs to workout a way to get these helos out to the amphibs. I'd also like to see them working hand in hand with the Riverines...and the possibility of them being assigned to the Coast Guard to augment their HITRON teams is mouth watering.
