Air-to-Ground weapons

Estimated Reading Time: 3 min read

Overview #

Air-to-ground combat operations are very demanding on the crew due to the nature of the modern battlefield. Terrain proximity, surface-to-air missiles, RADAR guided anti-aircraft artillery and small arms fire add up to the load of even the most experienced crews. Thorough knowledge of the aircraft aircraft’s offensive and defensive capabilities are required to ensure survival and successful mission outcome.

The crew must carefully study the area of operations to be well acquainted with the terrain and have an understanding of available approach, engagement and disengagement routes. Position of nearby enemy air-defense sites and their capabilities should be well known.

Finally, the mission schedule should be upheld as closely as the conditions allow. The crew should be aware of the time, place and names of other packages related to their mission. The crew should also be proficient in the precise and safe delivery of their weapons. The pilot must constantly study the supplied charts and practice air-to-ground weapons delivery to minimize the risk for ownship damage and unwanted ground casualties among civilians or friendly troops.

The procedures and checklists that follow describe how to deploy the various air-to-ground weapons, but only repeated practice will allow the crews to successfully complete their mission when they enter combat.

Release modes #

RKT DISP: used for deployment of rockets
SINGLE: each press of the pickle switch releases a single weapon
PAIRS: each press of the pickle switch releases a pair of weapons from symmetrically opposite stations
RIPPLE: bombs are released continuously as long as pickle is held down
CLSTR: bombs are released continuously in pairs as long as pickle is held down

Bomb release and station jettison #

Optical sight unit
- Gunsight: ON
- Mil setting: AS REQUIRED
AWW-1 panel
- Set to stby and wait for 30 seconds
- Set to ready and verify the red light on the panel illuminates
Weapons control panel
- CENTER STA switch: READY if bombs are to be deployed from the centerline station
- LABS: DIRECT – right click on the switch
Bomb control panel
- Station stepping
  - STA SEL knob: RKT DISP
  - STEP RESET
  - STA SEL knob: rotate to desired release mode
- ARM switch
  - NOSE & TAIL or NOSE to release armed weapons
  - SAFE to jettison
- STA SEL knob: rotate to desired stations
Pickle to fire

CAUTION: when rapidly pickling weapons there is a possibility that a weapon may not release and become “hung”. In this case reset station stepping and try releasing or jettisoning the weapon again.

NOTE: station stepping needs to be reset every time release mode is changed or when switching from an inboard to an outboard station.

WING TANK JETTISON: to jettison the external wing tanks, move the guarded switch labeled EXT TANKS on the Fuel Control Panel from NORM to JETT.

CENTERLINETANK JETTISON: to jettison the centerline tank, CENTER STA switch must be in the READY position, CONV/NUCLEAR must be set to NUCLEAR and the AWW-1 panel must be ON. Pushing the pickle switch on the stick will release the tank.

Rockets #

Optical sight unit
- Gunsight: ON
- Mil setting: AS REQUIRED
Weapons control panel
- CENTER STA switch: READY if rockets are to be deployed from the centerline station
- LABS: DIRECT – right click on the switch
Bomb control panel
- Station stepping
  - STA SEL knob: SINGLE
  - STEP RESET
  - STA SEL knob: RKT DISP
To fire, pickle and hold.