Oerlikon 35mm: Stalwart of Pakistan Air Defence

[Xeric]

That would also apply to the Sturmuvik and Henschell 129 tank busting aircraft of WW2 vintage ... (except there weren't attack helicopters available in those days).

A-10 development was influences by the Vietnam experience, which highlighted the inadequacies of fast jets in CAS in those days, while combat helicopters didn't exist except for in the US service. Keep in mind what A-10 was primarily (re)designed for: busting up hordes of approaching Soviet tanks in the process of overrunning (West) Germany and the rest of Western Europe. It is the flying variation of a Goalkeeper CIWS, which in addition can carry twice the load (7.5 tons of ordnance, which I don't see any combat heli do) at higher speed over twice the range of an Apache. It is designed to fly and fight in dangerous environments, under fighter cover. The A-10 is exceptionally tough. Its strong airframe can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23 mm (comparable to AH-64).

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While it may be so that others use combat helicopters for this role, it may not automatically be concluded that they prefer a combat heli to A10. In fact, many nations coould not, and cannot afford (or not without aid) to have sophisticated attack helicopters and when they do get them, they aren't all of the caliber of the AH-64 or subsequently developed modern attack helicopters. So it is hardly surprising then that these countries (also) forego a dedicated tank killing jet like A-10. Don't underestimate the power of the budget ....

i should agree with you.

But Attack helis have their advantages which an A-10 may not be able to deliver. A-10, no doubt encompass a power punch, it has more speed, more fire power, but raising a squadron of A-10s in our case is quite impossible. We would like to invest more in the primary role of an airforce - air superiority/supremacy, only then, provided we are left with some more $$$ we may start looking towards 'luxuries'. Also the kind of dedicated anti-tank cover a squadron of attack helis can provide to advancing ground forces may not be possible for A-10s keeping inview our limited resources both in terms of finance and aircrafts.

A-10s, if employed would come, do the job and must go away, helis on the other hand can stay put around the advancing forces. Imagine a Cobra hovering just a feet above the ground hiding behind a small wall suddenly comes out busts a few tanks and vanishes, not from the current theater of conflict but only from the eyes of the enemy.

But as you had pointed out correctly regarding the power of budget, one cannot underestimate the power if being underbudgeted!

 

[Irfan Baloch]

@Xeric and Penguin
The discussion skewed toward the aircrafts once again.



The capabilities of A-10 are well established.. The aircraft is titanium plated, pretty much making the conventional AAK AAK fire ineffective. The aircraft is actually constructed “around” its massive 30MM Gatling cannon. That fires armour piercing depleted uranium rounds for increased kinetic energy. The destructive power of the gun is undisputed that has busted the Iraqi armour like tin cans and was equally unforgiving to Allied units during the usual American “blue on blue” moments. But A-10 has a bigger daddy.. I.e AC-130... With far more guns and fire power.

Like I said earlier, both of these planes belong to a super power which enjoys absolute air superiority and has next to none threat from ground fire. Can anyone tell me when was the last time an American soldier lost his life to an enemy air attack (both plane or helicopter?) Yes they will withstand most of the ground fire but their survival becomes a big question in case they have to face a fighter jet.

Its not just the money but the aspect of air superiority too that enables Americans to fly these nightmares in the air. They carry the power of a relatively slower but full blooded finishing punch on an already dazed enemy that floors it on the ground for good.

Helicopters cant match in fire power and payload with the aircrafts but we need to compare like with like here. Helicopters can hover, sneak out of the trees and can ambush unsuspecting enemy and like Xeric mentioned can stay/ land/ reload in the battlefield. Yes not all helicopters are apaches but Russian Hinds have made their mark [1.0] Hind Variants / Soviet Service

nightcrawler made a comment and I made the fatal mistake of responding to it and now we are locked in off topic discussion lol.

 

[nightcrawler]

nightcrawler made a comment and I made the fatal mistake of responding to it and now we are locked in off topic discussion lol.

Sir this is unfair

 

[fatman17]

if its of any value, upgraded Oerlikon 35mm guns are being delivered by the swiss.