Harrier Weapons Effectiveness in Missions?

[Flyco]

I have expanded Op Deep valley, to include a Harrier flight, but I am not sure which of its weapons are currently useable and effective.

I have a 4-ship taking off from Tarawa at an AUW of just over 29,000 lb. Using short T/O, at this weight the leader has about 3-5 kts to spare as he runs out of deck - The rest will have an extra 50-60 ft of deck for every a/c ahead, so should be OK (I presume there is no way yet of starting them from the parking position on Tarawa, which would allow a higher TOW). The weapon load is 2 x Sidearm, 2 x Mav, and 4 x GBU-12. My question is, can they use these weapons effectively against enemy armour (Tunguska, Tanks, BMPs, Shilka), without an external lasing source?

I plan to use the Harriers 20 mins before the main A-10c force, to take out the main AD (Tunguskas at around 4-6000 ft amsl) from a safer height than the A-10s can comfortably reach. They can then tank, or drop in to Kutaisi to rearm and refuel, before helping mop up and recovering to Tarawa.

I have flown the Harrier on the route and it can comfortably be done (with about 20-30 mins in the tgt area), but I cannot work out how to deliver GBUs and Mavericks. At a pinch I could give the JTACs a laser marking capability, but I find that they are still a bit 'flaky' and go into a silent sulk if you don't speak to them properly!!

Can anyone confirm that GBU and Mav are useable, or suggest more useable weapons - clearly the Sidearms could take out the Tunguska and probably the Shilka(?), but I can't see rockets or guns being a safe option, given the terrain and presence of IGLAs, while the Pk of dumb bombs makes them hardly worth the fuel required to carry them.

Any suggestions or advice would be very welcome.

[Neil Willis]

The GBU-12s I believe, still require external lasing, so perhaps more mavericks and add dumb bombs instead of GBUs for now. Can you also supply a tanker fairly close to the action please? It'll extend their range considerably.

[Flyco]

I thought the Harriers still had a lasing problem. As I feared, I have not been able to persuade the JTACs to lase - I will have to trawl the Forum to find out how that is done. I will therefore remove the GBUs and give them a TPOD, 2 x Mav and 4 x Sidearm. That will also reduce their TOW and give them a slightly less heart-in-mouth departure form the carrier.

There is a KC-130 about 15nm from their AoA, but the problem is going to be running out of weapons, rather than fuel. Given the location among friendly towns etc, and the steep sided valleys the targets are in, dumb bombs are not going to be useful. However, there are 6 emitting AD units to take out, and, given the relative inaccuracy of the Sidearm, a 2-ship with 4 Sidearms apiece would probably be more useful.

The attack area is constricted, and an initial AD suppression by the Harriers, followed by the A-10s around 20 minutes later, seems the best way to squeeze in more than 8 aircraft.

I think that once the AD is taken out, the Harriers would best drop in at Kutaisi, 10 minutes away, to pick up some more Mavericks, and anything else they fancy. At a pinch, even guns and rockets could be used provided there is discipline in the target area - all runs must be made East to west or vice versa - but probably not both at once!! But by then the A-10s will probably be thinner on the ground - or should that be 'thicker on the ground and thinner in the air'?

This mission is already largely flyable, so give a couple of hours notice, to tidy up loose ends, I could upload it to the Server whenever you want. I suspect there will be a few bugs to iron out, but flying it is the best way to do that.

I am trying to squeeze some Harriers into Op Khashiri Gap, but there is the same problem of inappropriate weapons and limited space.

Incidentally, I flew an unarmed Harrier in the Falklands download that Ant pointed up. That is one complicated mission; any flight is going to require a damned good briefing before launching. I managed to get to Stanley and half-way back before a Su hit me. Although I did get back to the ship, I couldn't control it on the approach and eventually banged out, inverted, at about 100 ft and 150 kias - didn't survive!