Feature: LGB Bombing Strategy for Jane's F/A-18

Questions:

Ice:

"Recommended airspeeds for bombing runs, high and low?"

Doesn't really matter, I suppose high altitude you could go slow if you wanted, since the threats aren't as great. During a low altitude attack however, speeding it up would be advisable.

"And if it is necessary to go low, doesn't this negate the use of LGBs simply because there just isn't enough time and there is too much in the way of ground-based threats to stabilize the approach?"

I think the only true penetrating weapons are the JDAMs and the LGBs. Therefore it can be necessary to use these weapons even if a CCIP drop might be managed. It's your call really, if you think it's too hairy out there to waste time with lasers and FLIR, then go for a manual CCIP approach. The only problem with this method is its inaccuracy over rough terrain which can make you miss by a lot, and defiantly loose the mission. Because of this bringing 4 or more bombs might be necessary, and multiple passes! For such an infestation, JDAMs would be advisable as you could pop up, loft deliver these weapons and they would home into the GPS without you sitting up top with a laser.

sgriffee:

"Only one question: Is it not possible to give wing-men commands instructing them to release two (or all) of their bombs simultaneously over the target?"

I have not experimented enough with this yet, but there are commands available which read "attack with half guided." Which basically means attack target with half your guided weapons. This would seem to be a way to get them to drop multiple bombs, although they may just prefer two runs at the target anyway. It's also unclear as to what target they are attacking, wether primary or your designated one.

Skybird:

"What about a series of articles, guiding readers through the most important aspects of handling this bird?"

This sounds like a cool idea Sky! I hope to write more articles like this one in the future.

VF+T:

"Thanks for not using an entire page to give us the history of ground attack. Nice, exciting screenshots too."

Hahaha! No problem, I wanted to get right into it without the history lesson. Those always put me to sleep in class anyway . I'm also glad you liked my screenshots, I was afraid they would be too dull though . Next time look forward to twice the excitement!

Conversely you must watch your ground speed when doing low altitude drops- if it's too high the laser will lose lock before the bombs impact the target forcing to to go around again. It would be cool if somebody could plot the max. ground spped vs. ingress altitude.

Cheers, DarkFire.