Textron Scorpion Light Attack/ISR jet
#11
A friend of mine was part of the initial design project. The airplane was much different, and was designed to have an internal cannon.
Textron came in and bought them out. Two of the immediate changes were “no gun!!”, Despite protestations from those who knew better, and I believe, a second seat added at that time.
It doesn’t seem like a bad plane, but the wing/intake juncture almost certainly makes the wing root a poor lifting surface, and I would personally guess, a source of a lot of turbulence and drag.
His opinion: they took a good idea and messed it up. He said drones could do the same job, cheaper, and with less risk.
Textron came in and bought them out. Two of the immediate changes were “no gun!!”, Despite protestations from those who knew better, and I believe, a second seat added at that time.
It doesn’t seem like a bad plane, but the wing/intake juncture almost certainly makes the wing root a poor lifting surface, and I would personally guess, a source of a lot of turbulence and drag.
His opinion: they took a good idea and messed it up. He said drones could do the same job, cheaper, and with less risk.
#12
IIRC SOCOM looked at drones... not flexible enough and actually pretty expensive in their own right.
#13
Correct, Rick. He was referring to armed overwatch, not CAS.
For CAS, he said single-seat with more weapons capacity would be better. He also felt it was underpowered.
He had 800+ combat sorties in the A-37 in SEA, and I’d say he’s a pretty good judge of light-attack jet aircraft.
For CAS, he said single-seat with more weapons capacity would be better. He also felt it was underpowered.
He had 800+ combat sorties in the A-37 in SEA, and I’d say he’s a pretty good judge of light-attack jet aircraft.
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2019
Position: B-58
Posts: 131
A friend of mine was part of the initial design project. The airplane was much different, and was designed to have an internal cannon.
Textron came in and bought them out. Two of the immediate changes were “no gun!!”, Despite protestations from those who knew better, and I believe, a second seat added at that time.
It doesn’t seem like a bad plane, but the wing/intake juncture almost certainly makes the wing root a poor lifting surface, and I would personally guess, a source of a lot of turbulence and drag.
His opinion: they took a good idea and messed it up. He said drones could do the same job, cheaper, and with less risk.
Textron came in and bought them out. Two of the immediate changes were “no gun!!”, Despite protestations from those who knew better, and I believe, a second seat added at that time.
It doesn’t seem like a bad plane, but the wing/intake juncture almost certainly makes the wing root a poor lifting surface, and I would personally guess, a source of a lot of turbulence and drag.
His opinion: they took a good idea and messed it up. He said drones could do the same job, cheaper, and with less risk.
#16
#17
#18
The jet is designed for a stable ISR platform and a mainly level attack aircraft though you can obviously make some diving attacks too for certain ordnance deliveries. The MK-15 (ball turret), though speed limited on the Scorpion (not the AT-6), doesn’t have the same limitations with blanking as some shoulder mounted systems (e.g. ATFLIR). I’m pretty sure Bret’s answer to the glide was like 30:1.
#19
Correct, Rick. He was referring to armed overwatch, not CAS.
For CAS, he said single-seat with more weapons capacity would be better. He also felt it was underpowered.
He had 800+ combat sorties in the A-37 in SEA, and I’d say he’s a pretty good judge of light-attack jet aircraft.
For CAS, he said single-seat with more weapons capacity would be better. He also felt it was underpowered.
He had 800+ combat sorties in the A-37 in SEA, and I’d say he’s a pretty good judge of light-attack jet aircraft.
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turk
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01-13-2012 05:58 AM