What should a Russian gunship be like? Recently, TASS, referring to its source in the military-industrial complex at the Army-2019 forum, reported that we have begun the development of our own gunship aircraft based on the An-12. Arming him, they say, is planned with 57-mm cannons (which, of course, is very cool). Although the number of guns on the An-12 is not reported. That is, we again have interesting information submitted, so to speak, even before the deadline: there is not yet a horse or a cart, but … "development has begun." You can rejoice for our domestic military-industrial complex, engineers, gunsmiths, pilots, titanium producers. All of them will have work, prizes and awards! Which is definitely good. The question is, what will we get on the basis of the An-12 (and why exactly the An-12) and why did we need such an aircraft at all? However, the Il-106 was also called, and even a variant of the original aircraft.
Forgotten efficiency
First, a little history. Let us remember where the air "cannon ships" came from. The first attempts to create aircraft capable of "firing sideways" in the American army took place at the end of World War II. Several aircraft were converted and used in battles against the Japanese. However, despite the effectiveness they showed, with the end of the war, they were simply forgotten.
Fire from heaven
And then, during the Vietnam War, the US Army again needed very specific air support. The planes were not supposed to "bump into the target", especially the "Ho Chi Minh path", but constantly hover over a certain target and … pour fire from machine guns on it. At the same time, the plane turned to the target with one side, in which the weapons were installed. Moreover, this side was armored, which made it possible to protect the personnel of the rifle installations from fire from the ground. A large supply of ammunition and fuel allowed such aircraft to stay in the air for hours, which prevented all attempts to start moving below. The Ganship could also follow a course along the "trail" and fire at it for a long distance, which was also very important.
If true, then this is certainly a lot
According to American data, the effectiveness of air strikes of the "gunship" aircraft was very high. They destroyed about 10 thousand trucks, and in fact each of them also carried an important cargo. And also these are the people who accompanied this cargo and were wounded and killed. Moreover, not just people, but drivers who knew how to drive these cars. It was not so easy to replace them with peasants, who were more difficult than hoes and AKs in their hands, it was not so easy. It means, again problems, means, again expenses, expenses of time, money, "human material". In a word, everything is as in the well-known verse: "The enemy enters the city, not sparing the prisoners, because there was no nail in the smithy!" Moreover, in the battles, that is, from the enemy's fire, only 7 aircraft "gunship" were killed! Two planes fell into disrepair due to technical reasons, and … that's it!
From everything at hand
However, if at first the "gunships" were built from everything that was at hand, then with the accumulation of experience these machines became more and more perfect. The first "gunship" was the DC-47 aircraft, nicknamed "Spooky". Six-barreled Minigun machine guns were installed on them directly along the side in the open windows. At first, a cross made of white tape on the side glazing of the cockpit served as an aiming device for the pilot. Then they began to use other aircraft, until the military stopped at the four-engine transport aircraft AC-130 "Hercules". The very first use of this aircraft as a "gunship" brought success - 6 trucks were destroyed at once! Not surprisingly, the aircraft's armament increased from sample to sample!
For example, the AC-130E aircraft upgraded to the "gunship" level. It had a 1x20-mm M61 six-barreled Vulcan cannon with a rate of fire of 6000 per minute, then a 1x40-mm L60 automatic cannon and, finally, a 1x105-mm M102 - in fact, a field howitzer installed on an aircraft.
The next version of the AC-130U "Spooky" based on the C-130H already had a 1x25-mm GAU-12 / U autocannon, 1x40-mm L60, 1x105-mm M102. Well, for today the most relevant version of the American "gunship" is the AC-130W "Stinger II" model, armed with 30mm GAU-23 / A and 105mm М102.
The crew of such an aircraft is not at all small and consists of 12 people, including 4 officers: a pilot, a co-pilot, a fire control operator and an electronic warfare operator; 8 sergeants: a flight engineer, a TV system operator, an infrared system operator, a handling specialist and as many as 4 gunners.
The aircraft has a traditional "gunship" layout - that is, its small arms and cannon armament is located on the left side of the cargo compartment (in the direction of flight), that is, perpendicular to the axis of the aircraft, so that to fire at ground targets, it must fly with a constant left bend in the area goals. The armament compartment is separated from the rest of the cockpit by an anti-smoke curtain, and loaders and shooters work in masks, since the gas pollution from intense firing can be very high!
And what might we need?
And now (finally) “the gunship was needed by the Russian army as well. Here, however, it should be remembered that by the end of the Vietnam War, American aircraft of this type were shot down by 57-mm guns, S-25 missiles, and with the help of Strela MANPADS. That is, our modern aircraft must be inaccessible to the means of destruction that their potential adversary can have, well, say, all those bandit formations in the Middle East. And from this it follows that, of course, it is possible to cut the embrasure on board the An-12, install modern sighting systems and even arm the left side, but only a new aircraft that meets the requirements of the 21st century will be much more preferable. Why do we need such an airplane at all? Yes, first of all, as well as many other things, in order to impress everyone! "We can!", "We have the best!", "We can do that", "Everyone fainted!" - don't we read almost every day the headlines of journalistic articles about various types of Russian weapons? We would like, if not high salaries and pensions, then at least by this to prove to everyone else that … "we can!" But if this is so, then we will not gain much from the modernization of the An-12. We will simply repeat the experience of the Americans and remain on the sidelines.
And you need to show yourself ahead of the rest of the planet, and not only in the field of ballet. They've made a new powerful tank, so why not make a new powerful "gunship" too? And what kind of plane can such a plane become so that it can take off right away ?! Well, at least for a start … asymmetrical. There should be no wing engines on board facing the enemy. Why defeat the "fiery motor", or even more than one? No! Two engines should be located on the opposite wing, then it will be more difficult for enemy weapons to reach them!
If these are turboprop engines, then let them be located in tandem, and if turbojets, then one on the wing, and the other immediately below it. Accordingly, the tail of the aircraft must be such that it is most difficult to disable it, that is, the keel must cover the horizontal tail, displaced to the right, and there must be another keel.
As for weapons, of course, 57-mm guns are good, but they can work just as well against ground targets and a pair of 100 or 120-mm guns and a 30-mm machine gun, plus an onboard battery of six-barreled machine guns. It makes no sense to fasten the guns tightly, that is, so that their guidance is carried out by the operator by changing the position of the aircraft. It is necessary that they are located in two ball-shaped turrets in front and behind and could both fire at targets directly in the direction of the aircraft, and fire on the left side in the traditional "gunship" mode.
And now imagine what a sensation such an asymmetric plane will make in the same Parisian Le Bourget, how it will be photographed, how it will be printed in all the newspapers, how menacingly it will rotate its cannon mounts on turrets in front of the public … It will make an amazing impression, but this is exactly what we, by and large, want, isn't it?
