okay so ive been under the impression for the past few years that on ac-130s, the sensor operator(airborne battle management system operator) locates targets and after cleared, fires at the targets...
now i heard a story today from a crew chief of a c-130 who claims up and down that the sensor operator just "tags" the enemies and friendlies and the pilot actualy pulls the trigger...
In the U model (maybe the H model - I don't know for sure), the pilot has the capability to fire. Primarily though, there is a Fire Control Officer (FCO) for unleashing the guns.
Wrong again. The Sensor operator is the primary person who will fire the guns. The pilot can, but it is a lot longer process for him to shoot, so they usually only do it in training. It would be rare a pilot shoots in combat. The Navigator on teh U-model will fire guns off a radar picture he has as well, but again that would only be if the target is obscured by clouds. As a last resort, some of the guns can be manually fired by the gunners. They have no control or aiming of the round, so this is only done in emergencies to clear a rond out of the gun or something very unusual. I flew on U-models for four years and I never remember a Fire Control Officer ever shooting a gun. Their job is to control the fire mission and update gun tweaks etc.
Originally posted by caninedale: Wrong again. The Sensor operator is the primary person who will fire the guns. The pilot can, but it is a lot longer process for him to shoot, so they usually only do it in training. It would be rare a pilot shoots in combat. The Navigator on teh U-model will fire guns off a radar picture he has as well, but again that would only be if the target is obscured by clouds. As a last resort, some of the guns can be manually fired by the gunners. They have no control or aiming of the round, so this is only done in emergencies to clear a rond out of the gun or something very unusual. I flew on U-models for four years and I never remember a Fire Control Officer ever shooting a gun. Their job is to control the fire mission and update gun tweaks etc.
i have a question then.. i know its been asked a million times, but how often do aerial gunners deploy, and for now long? and how often do they fly and are they usually back the same night? or when they do fly, its usually a tdy and will be back several days later? im very near at the end of my road and i have to decided if i want to be a gunner or not. thanks.
Originally posted by soulrobber: i have a question then.. i know its been asked a million times, but how often do aerial gunners deploy, and for now long? and how often do they fly and are they usually back the same night? or when they do fly, its usually a tdy and will be back several days later? im very near at the end of my road and i have to decided if i want to be a gunner or not. thanks.
I can only speak to U-model gunners, but they are going on average about twice a year for deployments. They are 60 day deployments, so it will be about like doing your AEF split into two parts. Most flights will be night flights home station for training, so you will takeoff at sunset and land about five hours later. There is some home station TDY also, but those are actually a nice break.
