Cluster bombs or napalms?

[GMagos 6]

I am currently playing the WOV air & ground war Exp. pack.So when it comes to soft armor targets such as vehicles or troops which is best?CBU's or napalms?

I started choosing napalms to my loadout but they didn't do much damage to troops.On the other side CBU's where absolutely lethal.

I also load rockets to strictly CAS missions.

Maybe it is just my idea maybe I am doing something wrong.

What is your prefered weapon loadout against soft armor targets?

 

[+CrazyhorseB34 937]

20mm.

[+Nightshade/PR 7,931]

A mix of cluster bombs, combined effects munitions, and snakeyes. MK-82's make a real mess of a column when you drop a string right down the middle.And if I have any hardpoints left, a Maverick or 2 for those lethal AAA & SAM sites. As always, a pair of AIM-9's for the ever present party crashers.

[GMagos 6]

Crazyhorse I want to save my 20mm ammo for air to air combat.Nightshade I never used MK-82's in soft targets I'll give it a try,and the mavericks are not such a bad idea.

[MAKO69 186]

Use the CBUs on the soft and lightly armoured targets and the napalms on the villages.

[+Dave 2,322]

MK-20 Rockeyes........kills bad guys......DEAD.....

 

 

[Wrench 9,846]

nothing says lovin' like a cbu fresh from da oven!!!

 

 

wrench

kevin stein

[firehawkordy 34]

Mk20 shreds 'em, Napalm cooks 'em, 20mm turns them into bite size pieces. BBQ,mmmmmmmmmmmm!

 

Seriously, your load out for a CAS mission should be a mix of 2.75" FFAR, Mk 82_either Snakeye or fuze extender_ Mk 20 Rockeye and 20mm for those just in case targets. Since you did not state your bird are we to assume that it is an F-4? For CAS I use one of 4 airframes depending on my mood and level of pissed off at the word I happen to be in, my first choice is the B-57B, second is the A-26K, both birds have bomb bays and lot's of external stations to hang ordnance from, last two are the SPAD (A-1H for you kids) and the OV-10, the Spad is like a flying bomb truck lots of store stations and 4, count them 4, Colt Mk 12 20mm cannon.

 

My advice is to look at your mission brief and take a good mix on your bird, fast movers are not that effective for two reasons, 1- stores load, you can't put as much ordnance on a Phantom that you can on a Spad or Invader and 2- speed, you are moving in and out of your engagement area to quickly to have any semblance of accuracy. The birds I listed are fast enough to get to your target, carry a good mix of ordnance and can slow down to put rounds on target.

 

If you really want a challenge come talk to me after you do a CAS in a UH-1B with 14 2.75" HE/FRAG FFAR and 2 GAU-2B/A mini-guns ( M134 for the non Ordnance folk).

[Faust_ 1]

the ordnance's choice depends very much of the type of mission that your are flying...

 

the napalm is a weapon with 2 or 3 virtues: very small blast radius, incendiary effect and... burn people badly with a hollywood-type fireball

 

so napalm is good for:

 

-burn down combustible materials, like fuel storages, warehouse, trucks, wood or palm hut in rural villages, ect.

 

-close support weapon (when the own troops is nearby de targets, is good to have a little blast effects weapons)

 

-scare away people!

 

the cluster munitions are area weapons, to cover a greater area than the blast effects of a weapons like general purpose bombs o fragmentations bombs, so cluster munitions is more suitable where there's no problem with collateral damage like a urban area, nearby a friendly structure or troops, ect.

 

is for these reasons that a typical loadout for a CAS mission is: guns, rockets, napalm and sometime retarded bombs, to have a focused fire, limited blast or bombs with little circular error of the intended point of impact.

 

a BAI, interdiction or armed recon mission, is good to have cluster munitions.

 

always remember:

 

-napalm is for BURN things (wood, fuel, buildings, material, people...)

 

-cluster bombs is for DESTROY things (vehicles, small objets, military hardware, lives, etc...)

 

when you go to a CAS mission, carry napalm

 

when you go to a BAI/interdiction/armed recon mission, carry cluster munition

 

example, to kill people or trucks/jeeps with napalm, you must hit the canister over his heads to break it and spread the fire upon they...

 

to destroy things with cluster munition, spray the area with submunitions, requiring less accuracy and hit all things beneath the black rain

[Bravo80 0]

Well, you didn´t specified aircraft and area you fly. South, North, Navy or Airforce. For a easy kill, there is good choice to use Mavericks or cluster bombs. But, if you want to fly over Vietnam with little historical "understanding" you should beware of Mavericks (never used there) and avoid of many clusterbombs. Altough very effective, cluster bombs where not used very often due to the rules of engagement. US high command forced pilots to use simple solid bombs, because large blast radius of cluster bombs was to dangerous due to political reason. Don´t ask me what political reason is greater than need to win the war, but they had different idea that time. So, i recommend simple iron bombs, napalm and rockets. It is "historical" and also entertaining to fly like it was done before. To hit target with simple targeting sight is challenge and it is well described here on this site. There are at least two superb articles about bombing technique, here or on SIMHQ. It

 

Well, you didn´t specified aircraft and area you fly. South, North, Navy or Airforce. For a easy kill, there is good choice to use Mavericks or cluster bombs. But, if you want to fly over Vietnam with little historical "understanding" you should beware of Mavericks (never used there) and avoid of many clusterbombs. Altough very effective, cluster bombs where not used very often due to the rules of engagement. US high command forced pilots to use simple solid bombs, because large blast radius of cluster bombs was to dangerous due to political reason. Don´t ask me what political reason is greater than need to win the war, but they had different idea that time. So, i recommend simple iron bombs, napalm and rockets. It is "historical" and also entertaining to fly like it was done before. To hit target with simple targeting sight is challenge and it is well described here on this site. There are at least two superb articles about bombing technique, here or on SIMHQ. IT IS MUST READ FOR ANYBODY WHO WANT FLY SFP SERIES IN ANY OTHER THAN ARCADE SETTINGS : http://www.simhq.com/_air/air_055a.html And if you are really interested in air war over vietnam, check book called "On Yankee Station : The Naval Air War over Vietnam". There is a lot explanation about use of munitions and many other interesting informations. I think, book is out of print now, but you can download it from here : http://military-machine.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-yankee-station-naval-air-war-over.html

Edited May 24, 2011 by Bravo80

[+Heberth 159]

nukes

[GMagos 6]

Most of my CAS missions are in South Vietnam.My fav plane is F-4 (even in WOE) so this is the plane I use more.I thought that napalms would have more deadly effect.

Anyway as I can see almost every weapon does its damage and it is up to everybody to use what he likes.

I'll stick with CBU's and rockets.

Also I will carry always one napalm so I can please Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore who loves the smell of them in the morning...

 

 

 

[GMagos 6]

And if you are really interested in air war over vietnam, check book called "On Yankee Station : The Naval Air War over Vietnam".

 

Thanks about that and thanks to everyone for your suggestions!!!!

[+Dave 2,322]

nukes

 

I like the way you think....

[+Florian 394]

I like the way you think....

Listen, a nuklear weapon is never the solution for a problem!!!

 

 

 

 

Always take at least a dozen with you...

[+Heberth 159]

Listen, a nuklear weapon is never the solution for a problem!!!

 

 

 

 

Always take at least a dozen with you...

 

hahahaha i know, but we get almost 6000 ,7000 points for it! (if you don't go killed in the blast...)

[Lt. James Cater 62]

First off, more time should be spent on the Range if you have problems with Napalm. The weapon is fine. Most likely your delivery is somehow at fault.

 

I'm flying a B26K in WOV right now and CBUs are my weapon of choice for soft targets. Napalm is right behind it followed by 2.75 rockets (mainly flechettes.) WP is also a great piece of ordnance as you can a carry a max load of since they don't weigh much.

 

BTW everyone-Fly DiD for a real challenge!

[charlielima 328]

Mk20 shreds 'em, Napalm cooks 'em, 20mm turns them into bite size pieces. BBQ,mmmmmmmmmmmm!

 

Seriously, your load out for a CAS mission should be a mix of 2.75" FFAR, Mk 82_either Snakeye or fuze extender_ Mk 20 Rockeye and 20mm for those just in case targets. Since you did not state your bird are we to assume that it is an F-4? For CAS I use one of 4 airframes depending on my mood and level of pissed off at the word I happen to be in, my first choice is the B-57B, second is the A-26K, both birds have bomb bays and lot's of external stations to hang ordnance from, last two are the SPAD (A-1H for you kids) and the OV-10, the Spad is like a flying bomb truck lots of store stations and 4, count them 4, Colt Mk 12 20mm cannon.

 

My advice is to look at your mission brief and take a good mix on your bird, fast movers are not that effective for two reasons, 1- stores load, you can't put as much ordnance on a Phantom that you can on a Spad or Invader and 2- speed, you are moving in and out of your engagement area to quickly to have any semblance of accuracy. The birds I listed are fast enough to get to your target, carry a good mix of ordnance and can slow down to put rounds on target.

 

If you really want a challenge come talk to me after you do a CAS in a UH-1B with 14 2.75" HE/FRAG FFAR and 2 GAU-2B/A mini-guns ( M134 for the non Ordnance folk).

 

SPADS, Sandys and A-1Es with a mix of small nape, rockets, CBUs, snakeyes or MK-117s allways equals quality entertainment in my cyberworld.

CL

Edited May 26, 2011 by charlielima

[+331Killerbee 840]

MMMMMM Mk-117's with Fuze Extenders with 904's.

 

 

KB

[Lt. James Cater 62]

Due to various issues, i tended to arm my fellow SPAD drivers with full loads of either napalm or CBUs.

 

A really nasty loadout is the Super Strafer loadout with two 20mm and two 7.62 pods under the wings.

[GMagos 6]

A really nasty loadout is the Super Strafer loadout with two 20mm and two 7.62 pods under the wings.

 

Trully nasty. Ideal to spread havoc and panic among your enemies.BUT I still prefer CBU's...

[Slartibartfast 153]

As the old saying goes... if you don't kill it on the first attack go home and get a bigger gun...

 

Me I prefer snakeye's rockets and the odd cluster bomb in the mix I have an extremely dangerous habit of flying low and fast... so Snakeyes are the way to go oh and a good sprinkling of Mr 20mm... But thats because I love driving Skyhawks...

[Lt. James Cater 62]

Trully nasty. Ideal to spread havoc and panic among your enemies.BUT I still prefer CBU's...

 

Nice for YOU. How about your AI guys?

 

Seriously, given a choice i use CBUs as much as possible.

[Slartibartfast 153]

My AI generally go with what I have... or if I want to shake and bake my wingman goes clusters and I go with the heavy stuff... also depends on the scenario... last time I went as an 8 ship was as follows (NATO IV+)

 

F-4E's

 

Me 3 Sparrow 6 bombs centreline and 2 Shrike

Wingman 3 Sparrow 16 Bombs Centreline

Wing 1 loaded for Sead Sparrows Shrikes and Mavericks with Centreline Tanks

Flight 2 all Air to Air Sparrows and Winders...

 

Thankfully I loaded that way as we had no support at all... and we had hassle with a quite a few Mig-23's and some SA-6's and SA-2's. Learnt the hard way when you get 8 Jets you go mix on the loadouts.