UAVs SUCK: Return of the Bird Dogs (Real Killer Bees)

Cessna Caravans are great observation/attack platforms.

That's why the video is in an anti-UAV context.

DoD is sending MANNED C-12s to Iraq/Afghanistan because UAV don't work.

http://www.combatreform.org/C4ISRJournalMANNEDC12snotUAVs.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/airbornemuseum/nlmb.htm

Though the Cessna 208B single-engined turboprop land and seaplane is not a STOL aircraft per say (it needs to be upgraded with lift devices so it can land in under 500 feet, Cessna!) it is a ROUGH FIELD aircraft--as YOUTUBE user airbornebaby demonstrates here landing in the Papua mountains! THIS is what the U.S. military needs---an attack/utility (AU) plane not UAVs that can't carry/drop any recon Paratroopers or cargo and that constantly crash because they lack pilots who fight for platform survival. We need a Rhodesian-style FireForce using Cessna-type observation/attack Bird Dogs like the Sadler Piranha/MILVAMP to locate & attack and AUs to act as gunships and quick reaction force delivery means so we can prevail in sub-national conflicts (SNCs) as well as locate hiding enemies in nation-state wars (NSWs).

http://www.combatreform.org/johnpaulvann.htm

Iraqi Air Force Better Equipped than Racketeer U.S. Military Bureaucracy of Incompetents!

Having BILLIONS $$$ of dollars to waste like the U.S. military has resulted in beaucoup purchases of BS like Predator UAVs that cannot see squat, constantly crash and cannot transport any troops or supplies. SAIC is now offering an armed Caravan that can be flown either by pilots or unmanned. Of course we will not likely buy Caravan fixed-wing AU aircraft lest the helicopter racketeers get threatened.

www.defenseindustrydaily.com/bird-dogs-for-the-iraqi-air-force-03578/

Bird Dogs for the Iraqi Air Force
04-Dec-2007 17:33 EST

Iraq's air force has been very slow in getting to its feet. A handful of Seeker light observation aircraft with their distinctive bubble-shaped fronts, a few Comp Air light propeller aircraft, a couple of old, refurbished C-130E transports, and a handful of helicopters. A few Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350s have been ordered for transport and surveillance duties, and an RFP for armed counterinsurgency aircraft in is progress, but decisions to date have ensured that the Iraqi air force is still a long way from being able to secure Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. While it continues to grow, its primary duties remain troop/medical transport, light supply duties, and surveillance of roads and infrastructure.

That kind of surveillance doesn't require high tech, high-end aircraft. The USAF has been using F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft at $15,000 per flight hour, plus recapitalization amortization. In contrast, light propeller aircraft like Cessna's L-19 "Bird Dog" and O-2 successor worked very well in Vietnam. Their modern descendants can be outfitted with modern surveillance turrets plus "Mk1 eyeballs and ears" for a fraction of a fighter jet's acquisition and amortization cost, in order to do more or less the same ISR job. They'll also crash less often than expensive UAVs, and are more suitable for fledgling air forces. Specialty models like the Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor even add acoustic silencing, plus more mission space for dedicated surveillance equipment.

The "Bird Dog" concept certainly fits the IqAF's profile and support capabilities, and was initially slated to serve as a trainer aircraft. Sure enough, statements from people on the front lines suggest that Cessna aircraft are in fact acquiring other IqAF roles as well.

Oct 31/07: U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Wobbema, Chief of Staff for the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, says in an interview that: "And then we've got this Cessna [208B] Caravan. The Cessna Caravan will also become—there will be an armed variant of that that will come online."

 StrategyPage (Feb 19/08) -- Iraq Seeks Cessna Solution. "The 208Bs are being equipped with the same sensors and targeting pods used on the Predator UAV. The 208B can be rigged to carry Hellfire missiles as well, giving the Iraqis an aircraft that can act as an Predator clone, a personnel transport or a cargo hauler.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• cessna
• bird
• dog
• caravan
• STOL
• turboprop
• attack
• utility
• paratroopers
• rhodesia
• fireforce
• iraq
• afghanistan

[dynmicpara]

This is exactly WHAT the reaction we want from the enemy. Surprise. What a concept for war, huh?

[pasley21]

What?!?

[rogerdodgeraviation]

Caravans are awesome......hey, I'm wearing my Cessna t-shirt right now!

[cardboardreindeer]

i don't see any bees

[ihateforigners]

Try the Cessna 210

[dynmicpara]

We need large O/A aircraft that can cover HUNDREDS OF MILES; we have plenty of small UAVs like you describe that cannot cover an Iraq or an afghanistan 24/7/365.

[superafterburner]

You could try the RQ-11 Raven or RQ-14 Dragon Eye. These are both small enough for platoon/company use.

[BlacktailFA]

All those fanatical UAV-pushers constantly whine about how their "superior" sensors are what today's battlefield needs, but they commit an Either-Or Falacy in stating that it's either eyes, cameras, or neither --- the reality is, manned aircraft can be fitted with all the same stuff as UAVs and be used for all the same purposes, while UAVs ALWAYS lack a pair of eyes with 108-degree visibility.

Manned craft give you both eyes AND sensors, but UAVs give you NOTHING but sensors...