With various adjustments (mainly to the gun and targeting systems), can the A-10 be used in an anti-drone role, hunting “kamikaze drones” like the Shahed-136/Geran-2? Would it be better at it than a fighter jet or helicopter gunship? Need answer fast.
I’d suggest a helo gunship is the best choice. The Shahad & similar are much slower than fast jets, a bunch slower than A-10s, and even slower than attack helos. But the helo doesn’t lose manueverability or range / endurance when flying about the same speed as the Shahad. Unlike the others.
To effectively engage drones yo’d either need a datalink system or an onboard radar to find them, then you still need an onboard radar to effectively drive the gunsight.
Prior to the advent of radar computing gunsights it was a lot of luck and guesswork to hit one maneuvering airplane with gunfire from another. Lots and lots of ineffectual “spray and pray” went on.
The A-10 doesn’t really have the nose space or configuration for a forward-facing radar. The good news is at least right now the assumed target of Shahads don’t really havve much in the way of defensive awareness or countermeasure maneuvering. Shooting and hitting a non-maneuvering straight and level target is a bunch simpler.
Still and all, the GAU-8 and its expensive ammo is waaay overkill for a small soft target like a Shahad. Better to use cheaper 20mm or better yet 0.50cal or 12.7mm fire.
I don’t think air-to-air is the best drone defense since it is very easy to swarm drones and overwhelm any manned aircraft defense.
It seems the future of protection from drones is microwaves. Of course, one can assume drones can be hardened against such defenses but that makes them not cheap and thus fewer can be made.
Directed energy weapons have been The Next Big Thing for 50 years now. They may in fact be about to come into their own.
I remain cautiously skeptical near-term but optimistic long-term. They could be gamechangers. or they could be boondoggles.
I wonder if something like a heavily armed V-280 Valor would be the best future replacement for the Warthog. It might not pack as much firepower, would have lesser range and would be more vulnerable to damage, but it would have the huge advantage of being able to airlift/medevac troops, take off and land VTOL, and also more accuracy since the pilot would not be limited to doing relatively fast passes over the ground but can instead loiter, hover, and do things slow.
If the video is to be believed the US has several of these operating in war-zones now for testing. So, at the least, 50 years is now. They exist. They’ve made it through enough testing to get to the final line of testing in actual combat. Whether they will pass muster there I cannot say but, at the least, they seem real enough. If not this model then maybe something else.
That does not mean the Warthog should or should not be retired since I doubt the Warthog would ever be considered a defense against little drones. Maybe big ones but probably not even those. Not sure an F35 would be either.
The next best thing to having the plane itself?