Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
But the F-15 is vulnerable to AA fire that the A-10 laughs at. You can shoot an A-10 all day with a .50 machine gun and do only cosmetic damage...but I'd bet ONE ROUND in the right place will bring down an F-15.
Only if he is stupid enough to fly in the AAA envelope.
Iraq had lots of ZSU-23/4 in 1991. Truly lethal.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZSU-23-4
If you're dumb enough to be down there.
And it only takes one round "in the right place" to bring down any airplane. The A-10 has fewer of those places, but it's not immune to AAA. It's not magic.
The Iraqis used their ZSUs against Iranian armor.
Iran's Shah era M60 Pattons were picking off Saddam's T-62s well beyond the T-62's effective range. The Iraqis would run their ZSU's at the Iranians full throttle guns depressed to shoot out the Iranian stereo-optic rangefinding sights. This would force the M60's into degraded mode and closer in range to the T-62s.
It was a suicide mission for the SPAAG crews. 105mm HEAT vs ZSU.
I'm surprised they had any ZSU crews left.
AH-1 Cobra aviators have to monitor their radio vs the ZSU 23/4. You can allegedly hear the radar on your radio just before they engage you. They've been very effective at dodging them. I don't see why an F-15/F-16/F-18 would be any different.