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What MERs were used on the A-10A in the 1991 gulf and what weapons did they carry on them and also did they use GBUs?


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The A-10A didn't use the MER in Desert Storm, just the TER . No targeting pod was carried as LANTIRN was in the early stages of deployment and only the F-15E and F-16C Block 40 aircraft could carry them.  LITENING and Sniper hadn't been developed yet. Paveway I/II LGB's could be carried on the aircraft but were not used until later in the A-10's career and certainly not during Desert Storm . The only PGM used by the A-10 was the AGM-65 Maverick in TV and IR guided versions.

Edited by Stephen
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Thaks for the info Stephen.  So what would be a good loadout to put on it. Mavericks on TERs?  I assume they only carried two mavs or mk 20s on TERs leaving the inner rack empty on the wing side?  So apart from mavs and mk20s, what else would they have carried and on what stations?  Did they carry mk 82 dumb bombs and snakdyes?  Did they carry a deep pod AN/ALQ 184 deep pods and ALQ184 deep pods?  and AN/ALQ 131 pods on the outerwing station where they normally would have carried a second sidewinder?  I want a make a mean loaded out A-10.  Do you have any pics of A full loaded A-10? Most pics I find now are of the A-10C in combat loads in afganistan.

 

So what pods would you recommend

 

Edited by Modelkeenfan
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Here's a chart showing the weapons loads for the A-10s in DS: LINK

 

I finished reading a book a couple of weeks ago about the A-10s in DS, and it mentioned they didn't use the multiple AGM-65 launcher often because of reliability issues. I just skimmed through the book but couldn't find the passage to quote it for you.

 

Ben

 

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I think I remember reading that Mavericks on A-10s were kept mostly (if not exclusively?) for night missions and dumb bombs and clusters were used during daily strikes so that might also influence your loadout options.

 

Edited by ijozic
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My other option is to convert into an A-10C.  I've got the big boys decal sheet from Reid aviation.  But I really wanted to do the A-10 that located a downed aircrew and flew around them defending them from Iraqi ground troops until thry could be rescued.  The A-10 markings for this machine are on the experts choice cecal sheet which I also have.  That A-10 pilot was one brave individual.  To make a model of his mount would be a fitting tribute to that pilot

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3 hours ago, Modelkeenfan said:

Thaks for the info Stephen.  So what would be a good loadout to put on it. Mavericks on TERs?  I assume they only carried two mavs or mk 20s on TERs leaving the inner rack empty on the wing side?  So apart from mavs and mk20s, what else would they have carried and on what stations?  Did they carry mk 82 dumb bombs and snakdyes?  Did they carry a deep pod AN/ALQ 184 deep pods and ALQ184 deep pods?  and AN/ALQ 131 pods on the outerwing station where they normally would have carried a second sidewinder?  I want a make a mean loaded out A-10.  Do you have any pics of A full loaded A-10? Most pics I find now are of the A-10C in combat loads in afganistan.

 

So what pods would you recommend

 


Mavericks aren’t mounted on TERs.  They require a launch rail.  Although there is a triple rail launcher specifically for Mavericks (LAU-88), it isn’t used much because of the drag of three missiles.  Mostly Mavericks were carried as singles with one launch rail (LAU-117) attached directly to a pylon under each wing.

Edited by Dave Williams
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3 hours ago, Modelkeenfan said:

Thanks Ben.  I'll just have to do some reading.  Can you suggest any good books on the A10 In iraq?

 

This is the best book on the A-10 in Desert Storm.

 

Warthog: Flying the A-10 in the Gulf War (The Warriors): AmazonSmile: Smallwood, William L.: 9781574888867: Books 

 

Also

 

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Hogs-Sand-10-Pilots-Journal/dp/1646631609/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MIQDOIYVHC8O&dchild=1&keywords=hogs+in+the+sand&qid=1612534362&sprefix=Hogs+%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-1 

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My other option is to convert into an A-10C.  I've got the big boys decal sheet from Reid aviation.  But I really wanted to do the A-10 that located a downed aircrew and flew around them defending them from Iraqi ground troops until thry could be rescued.  The A-10 markings for this machine are on the experts choice cecal sheet which I also have.  That A-10 pilot was one brave individual.  To make a model of his mount would be a fitting tribute to that pilot

 

Thanks for the info 

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8 hours ago, Modelkeenfan said:

My other option is to convert into an A-10C.  I've got the big boys decal sheet from Reid aviation.  But I really wanted to do the A-10 that located a downed aircrew and flew around them defending them from Iraqi ground troops until thry could be rescued.  The A-10 markings for this machine are on the experts choice cecal sheet which I also have.  That A-10 pilot was one brave individual.  To make a model of his mount would be a fitting tribute to that pilot

 

Thanks for the info 

Even if you convert her to a C model, stations 3 & 9 are still the only Maverick stations.

You need to determine what model, A-10A or C, your gonna build and go from there.

Steve

Edited by A-10 LOADER
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3 hours ago, Modelkeenfan said:

My other option is to convert into an A-10C.  I've got the big boys decal sheet from Reid aviation.  But I really wanted to do the A-10 that located a downed aircrew and flew around them defending them from Iraqi ground troops until thry could be rescued.  The A-10 markings for this machine are on the experts choice cecal sheet which I also have.  That A-10 pilot was one brave individual.  To make a model of his mount would be a fitting tribute to that pilot

 

Thanks for the info 

Check out the A-10 book we discussed above. I’m pretty sure it had an account of that flight. It’s a great account from the pilots’ perspective and gives useable details about what weapons they carried on the described missions. The electronic version is pretty cheap on Amazon.

 

Ben

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On 2/5/2021 at 2:14 PM, Modelkeenfan said:

My other option is to convert into an A-10C.  I've got the big boys decal sheet from Reid aviation.  But I really wanted to do the A-10 that located a downed aircrew and flew around them defending them from Iraqi ground troops until thry could be rescued.  The A-10 markings for this machine are on the experts choice cecal sheet which I also have.  That A-10 pilot was one brave individual.  To make a model of his mount would be a fitting tribute to that pilot

 

Thanks for the info 

 

To answer your question about loadout, you need to decide what squadron you want to represent.

 

TERs were used by squadrons organized under the 354th TFW(P), the 355th, 353rd, and 511th TFS.  The 511th TFS used the ALQ-131 whereas the other two used the ALQ-131.  The LAU-88 triple Maverick launcher was used by jets of the 74th and 76th TFS, 23rd TFW.  So a jet with the 354th would have the single Maverick launcher.  What would be on the TER were usually Mk82s, CBU-58, or Mk20 bombs.

 

Depending on how detailed you want to be, the Experts Choice sheet representing 681 that on the combat rescue represents it's marking after the war.   Also, it lacks the crew names.  That plane became a museum piece Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II (af.mil)

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On 2/7/2021 at 8:47 AM, ElectroSoldier said:

Only time I ever saw a MER on an A-10A was when the 81st TFW would do an airshow loadout at places like Mildenhall or their open days at Bentwaters. 

I dont ever remember seeing them take off with them on any exercises. 

any pic? which bombs were hooked to the MERs?

Edited by Alpagueur
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I was watching a documentary on the A-10s in the 1991 Gulf War.  They actually had no night capabilities at all so could only fly day light sorties until one pilot worked out if he had a maverick with its optical guidance turned on while it was still on the pylon under the wing, he could actually use the images the maverick was displaying in the cockpit to fly at night.  The images from the maverick camera just looked the same as using an all weather targeting pod.  I thought that was pretty smart to think of that.

 

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