Its been done before and its being put on the MV-22 is a blast from the past. Whether or not its known as such is beyond me, but if it isn't tribal knowledge then the Marine Corps is losing touch with its institutional history. The above pic is of an OV-10D. If I'm not mistaken they slaved the gun with the pilots view through the FLIR mounted on the nose of the airplane.
A simple and elegant solution that seems to have eluded the otherwise fine folks at NAVAIR. Its time to get our house in order. First we need a detailed study of our history...both in battle and research...and then we need to proceed with programs that we actually need. If we don't then all we'll be doing is repeating blasts from our past.
I feel the belly gun is being missed used, and under sold
ReplyDeleteOV-10X...that should be nice...
ReplyDeleteTake the OV-10X, toss in an M230 in the belly, and top it off with Laser Guided 30mm rounds.....
ReplyDeleteNow imagine that orbiting the target zone. :)
Start with the OV-10X, upgrade the gun to the M230, and finish it off with Laser Guided 30mm shells, LOGIR, & ATKPW2 and you will have a very lethal COIN bird.
ReplyDeleteIIRC a turreted GAU-19 was on the MV-22 design from the early days and was deleted for weight and cost reasons, which seemed like a really good idea till people started shooting at them.
ReplyDeleteThis might be of interest...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.angelfire.com/art/enchanter/bronco.html
Everything Old is New again.
ReplyDelete