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Hi all 

 

I'm wanting to get some 1/32 Eduard brassin MERs for my A10.  I see they make two types of MERs.  Product numbers 632102 & 632103

 

Could anyone tell me the difference between the two different MERs and which ones I should put on the A10?  I was probably going to use them for Mk 82 slicks and for some mavericks

 

Any help most appreciated

 

Cheers

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I'm not an expert on 1/32 but from the product numbers you quoted I think you're confusing the Multiple Ejector Rack (MER) 632102 and the Triple Ejector Rack (TER) 632103. 

 

Both of these were developed around the early Vietnam war to allow several bombs to be carried on a single pylon, the main difference being the MER has a total of six mounting points vs. the TER only three (hence the name).  In overly simplified terms, a MER is similar to two TERs connected front to back in tandem.

 

As far as your model A-10 goes, are you looking to show off a realistic warload, or do you want to show an "airshow load" - an unrealistically heavy/diverse range of weapons that the plane may technically have been able to carry, but which wouldn't be seen in "real world" conditions due to weight restrictions, mission requirements, and other technical considerations. 

 

The MERs were cleared for use on the A-10 but rarely if ever seen operationally since the A-10 isn't really meant as a "bomb truck." A normal MER load would be six Mk 82 (nominal 500 lb) "slick" bombs, aka Low Drag General Purpose (LDGP).  The TER is slightly more plausible, and might carry Mk 82, cluster bombs (Mk 20 Rockeye, CBU-87, etc) or theoretically 500 lb class guided munitions like GBU-12 Paveway or JDAM (GBU-38 IIRC). But in practice the A-10 usually only carries one weapon per pylon - leaving some empty to maintain reasonable range without external fuel.

 

As for Maverick missiles (AGM-65), these need a launch  rail and cannot be mounted on a TER or MER.  When the A-10 first entered service the Mavericks had dedicated triple-rail launchers (two missiles with a third below, similar to a TER). It was found that using the inboard launch rails the AGM-65's exhaust potentially damaged the adjacent landing gear sponson and wing.  This led in some cases to the inboard missiles being left off and the remaining pair carried in "slant two" configuration (top outboard + bottom rails). But as with the other ordnance, single launch rail + missile per pylon became the most common configuration.

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Hi guys

 

Thanks for the info.  Yes I'm stupid as I realised that one was a TER And the other MER.  I thought they carried mk 82s and mavericks on the TERs in the 91 gulf war as slant 2s like you said just two bombs on the MER.  I'm just waiting for my book "the modern guide to the hog" to arrive in the mail any day so I'll wait and see my book.  I want to either a gulf war loadout from desert storm or as I was lucky enough to pick up the speed hunter decals the other day on eBay, I may make A10C.  In that case the loadout will be completely different of course if I do a current A10C depicting a version currently deployed in theatre.  So I want to a realistic load, not a show load.

 

So thanks for your reply

 

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15 minutes ago, Modelkeenfan said:

Hi guys

 

Thanks for the info.  Yes I'm stupid as I realised that one was a TER And the other MER.  I thought they carried mk 82s and mavericks on the TERs in the 91 gulf war as slant 2s like you said just two bombs on the MER.  I'm just waiting for my book "the modern guide to the hog" to arrive in the mail any day so I'll wait and see my book.  I want to either a gulf war loadout from desert storm or as I was lucky enough to pick up the speed hunter decals the other day on eBay, I may make A10C.  In that case the loadout will be completely different of course if I do a current A10C depicting a version currently deployed in theatre.  So I want to a realistic load, not a show load.

 

So thanks for your reply

 

 

No worriesx it's far too easy to confuse things when dealing with "acronym soup" of modern military designations.

 

I'm reasonably sure that during Desert Storm "dumb" ordnance (slicks or CBUs) was only loaded in singles direct to the pylons, TERs were not used on the A-10.  I can't say for sure about the Mavericks, but single-rail mounts were at least the most common configuration.  The link below gives a rundown of the typical loads used:

 

DSTORM.EU - A-10 load tables

 

The Modern Hog Guide can probably help you with more modern combat loads such as the A-10C may carry.

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50 minutes ago, Modelkeenfan said:

I thought they carried mk 82s and mavericks on the TERs in the 91 gulf war as slant 2s like you said just two bombs on the MER.

 

From the responses above, it should be clear that the six-store MERs are a non-player, the Mk 82s were carried 'slant-two' on  three-store TERs. Some Mavericks were carried on the LAU-88 triple rail launchers during the 1991 Gulf War. Currently, they are carried on LAU-117 single rail launchers.

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Afternoon,

 

Lots of good info passed here.  If you go with a Desert Storm Hog, three weapons loaded on a TER is feasible and realistic; you'll just want to check the references closely to match it up with the right squadron and correctly complement those TERs with what's hanging on the other pylons.  What I'm getting at there is that if TERs are loaded on 4 & 8, you're not going to see weapons on 5/7 (not approved technicality-wise  and it avoids those unrealistic gorilla loadouts Quixote74 mentioned).

 

I've seen pics of Desert Storm Piggies carrying TERs loaded with 3 each of Mk 20, CBU-58, and Mk 82.  Not sure what the photo posting guidelines are here since they're not my photos, but I can shoot you some pics direct via PM or email (just let me know).

 

Of note, GBU-38's can't be employed off TERs because they're not wired with the 1760 cables that allow them to receive target coordinates from the jet.  The Marines have them (called ITERs, I think)... maybe someday!

 

- GH

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If you're building a Desert Storm A-10 with TER, the squadrons that used them were the 511th TFS, 353rd TFS, and 355th TFS.

 

The other squadrons mounted their bombs directly to the pylon.

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On 4/1/2020 at 3:41 PM, boom175 said:

MERS were never carried on operational A-10's just during the initial testing with the prototypes. 

Thats as maybe but they definatly had them at Bentwaters and Woodbridge and loaded them empty or with blue Mk82s for airshows. They also flew with them empty a numbers of times as I saw them do it.

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On 4/4/2020 at 2:41 AM, ElectroSoldier said:

Thats as maybe but they definatly had them at Bentwaters and Woodbridge and loaded them empty or with blue Mk82s for airshows. They also flew with them empty a numbers of times as I saw them do it.

Are we talking the MER with 6 bombs on it? Or the TER with 3 bombs ? One of the things I learned is never say never when it comes to what is and what should be, I will have to go over my T.O.s  when I get home from work.  Only think I could think of is the Bentwaters had a crapton of MERS from its F-4 days and maybe had an exemption for BDU-33's.

Fun Fact, TERS on A-10's were just to be used for training and you were to leave them home when you went to war. Well as we know MB and EL used TERS during Desert Storm with Mk-82's and some CBU's. So out goes that "rule"

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A MER, the ones capable of taking 6 bombs.

I never saw live bombs loaded onto them, but then I dont think I ever saw anything live loaded onto them. But they did carry them on the inner pylons... not 100% sure if it was the outer fuselage stations or the inner wing stations but they were there.

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Here is a test a/c with TERs with GBU-12s:

 

130814-F-OC707-052.JPG

 

they wanted to check out adding a tank to increase loiter time. This happened a few years ago so it looks like they just had tanks on for ferry flights only and not combat missions.

 

Jari

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