Cheap CAS/COIN is an Illusion – Lets Get Off the Bandwagon

19Comments
Posted by Think Defence in Air Combat on September 13, 2009

Listen to anyone these days (even this blog!) and they all say we must have a turboprop close air support and COIN aircraft. The US has issued various requests for information and is pursuing the concept under the Imminent Fury programme. Will any of these programmes go ahead, who knows, but we thought we would have a look at the arguments and why the ground swell of opinion seems to favour going back to turboprops to deliver combat effects.

The drive to reduce costs leads to the conclusion that a low priced aircraft is the answer and Embraer have proposed the Super Tucano, Beechcraft the AT-6, Air Tractor with the AT802 and even Boeing have pitched in with an offer to restart production of OV-10 Bronco. There are many other proposals as well, such as the Piper PA-48 Enforcer (a modern P51 Mustang)

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COIN Aircraft – Cracking the Nut

2Comments
Posted by Richard Stockley in Air Combat on September 2, 2009

With any conflict, whether it is conventional or counter insurgency (COIN), airpower will play an important, if not pivotal role.  When fighting a large, sophisticated army the air assets need to be equally sophisticated to counter the vast array of weapons that will be deployed against them.  In a counter insurgency war, the anti-aircraft weapons deployed by the enemy tend to be somewhat less sophisticated, and of the sophisticated weapons deployed, these will tend to be few in number.

The exception to this was evident during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan where the Stinger Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) were supplied to the insurgents by a sovereign state, the USA.  Due to the insurgents’ lack of sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons, the aircraft deployed against them can themselves be somewhat unsophisticated, and therefore significantly cheaper.  Given the recent deployment of RAF’s Tornado’s to Afghanistan, replacing the versatile Harrier, the question needs to be asked, ‘is the RAF using a sledgehammer to crack the erstwhile nut?’

Utilising such a sophisticated aircraft, especially when dropping a 500kg laser guided bomb on a relatively small target, seems to be all too reminiscent of the Vietnam Conflict, along with the associated risk of collateral damage.

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Links and Updates

  • From Ping.fm: Tornado jets could be scrapped - Defence Management http://ping.fm/9Rwrf
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  • From Ping.fm: Helmand Blog - Afghanistan: Camp Bastion Hospital gains “Gold Standard” new facilities http://ping.fm/Uy0Y3
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  • From Ping.fm: Helmand Blog - Afghanistan: 1419 Flt - Wizards in Afghanistan's Green Zone http://ping.fm/BO6d1
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  • From Ping.fm: Are the WikiLeaks War Docs Overhyped Old News? | Danger Room | Wired.com http://ping.fm/Hruj2
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  • From Ping.fm: 'Battle Royal' as Forces chiefs clash over cuts - Telegraph http://ping.fm/fDLhP
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  • From Ping.fm: Defence Viewpoints from UK Defence Forum: Unthinkable! A dozen suggestions for a root and branch UK defence review http://ping.fm/ljNf6
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  • From Ping.fm: Counterinsurgency and Its Discontents | Kings of War http://ping.fm/6Uloo
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Think Defence is the collected ramblings of a few people that wish defence to go much higher up the UK national agenda, recognising that the answer is not always more money but better spending. Although focused on UK issues, anything we find interesting will find its way in. We operate a fairly open door policy and encourage guest contributors, if you want to say something just contact us or leave a comment. This will result in blog entries that disagree with each other but that it fine, debate is good. Where we are incorrect (and it will happen, probably a lot) just let us know, review and correction strengthen the quality of posts. Finally, it's just a blog, so don't take it too seriously!

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