B52STRATO 215 Posted February 13, 2012 After reading an article on the B-57B and RB-57 in Vietnam, the memory came back of seeing a picture several years ago of a G version of the 'Canberra'... armed with a multitube cannon in the bombay, deployed down. The picture in black and white was bad but 'pods' under each wings could be distinguished. Anyone know if this modification was ever used in combat ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ignacioc91 101 Posted February 13, 2012 After reading an article on the B-57B and RB-57 in Vietnam, the memory came back of seeing a picture several years ago of a G version of the 'Canberra'... armed with a multitube cannon in the bombay, deployed down. The picture in black and white was bad but 'pods' under each wings could be distinguished. Anyone know if this modification was ever used in combat ? Only 1 Pave Cat Canberra was produced, but it never entered combat due to poor results. I hope it helps!!! BIBLIOGRAPHY: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d0_1287303302 After reading an article on the B-57B and RB-57 in Vietnam, the memory came back of seeing a picture several years ago of a G version of the 'Canberra'... armed with a multitube cannon in the bombay, deployed down. The picture in black and white was bad but 'pods' under each wings could be distinguished. Anyone know if this modification was ever used in combat ? Only 1 Pave Gat Project Canberra was produced, but it never entered combat due to poor results. I hope it helps!!! BIBLIOGRAPHY: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d0_1287303302 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MigBuster 2,884 Posted February 13, 2012 Pave Gat was the name for this project as part of Tropic Moon II - in about 1967 they trialed the AN/AXQ-5 system that consisted of a sensor slewed 20mm gatling gun in he bomb bay of the B-57G. The system actually worked pretty well - but was never used in combat - due to possibly a conflict between that project and a radar remedial program - and later cost overruns are stated. In combat over SEA the B-57G only carried bombs (Internal guns also removed). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ignacioc91 101 Posted February 13, 2012 Pave Gat was the name for this project as part of Tropic Moon II - in about 1967 they trialed the AN/AXQ-5 system that consisted of a sensor slewed 20mm gatling gun in he bomb bay of the B-57G. The system actually worked pretty well - but was never used in combat - due to possibly a conflict between that project and a radar remedial program - and later cost overruns are stated. In combat over SEA the B-57G only carried bombs (Internal guns also removed). That's right. The gun and the turret worked well per se, but there were poor results in the global performance. In fact, the gun increased the overall stability of the aircraft. I didn't know there were issues as regards the radar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MigBuster 2,884 Posted February 13, 2012 The radar remedial project was a conflicting program that seems to have got priority over Pave Gat at a certain point in the testing - this delayed the Pave Gat program which didnt finish being tested until July 1971 - and it seems they wanted to use it but Air Force systems command moans about the cost, TAC moans about the weather in SEA at the time, and some other high up brass indicate that 90 days testing was not enough. the test results are stated as demonstrating that with 4000 rounds the B-57G could hit 20 targets - 3 times as many as the bomb loaded version. Not only that could avoid AAA better by firing at an offset. This is information from a declassified 1978 report (photocopy) on the entire Tropic Moon III project Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ignacioc91 101 Posted February 13, 2012 The radar remedial project was a conflicting program that seems to have got priority over Pave Gat at a certain point in the testing - this delayed the Pave Gat program which didnt finish being tested until July 1971 - and it seems they wanted to use it but Air Force systems command moans about the cost, TAC moans about the weather in SEA at the time, and some other high up brass indicate that 90 days testing was not enough. the test results are stated as demonstrating that with 4000 rounds the B-57G could hit 20 targets - 3 times as many as the bomb loaded version. Not only that could avoid AAA better by firing at an offset. This is information from a declassified 1978 report (photocopy) on the entire Tropic Moon III project It's a pitty that version of the Canberra never made it into service. Greets!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
B52STRATO 215 Posted February 14, 2012 Thank you both for the information ... and the link, of course. This project seems to have been aborted too early, maybe its application was more effective on another platform, especially for a system that offered a shot as possible from all angles, much advantageous than the cross fire from 'Spooky' and 'Spectre'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+daddyairplanes 10,248 Posted February 15, 2012 maybe the AF or Marines should take a cue from Dale Brown and mount said system on the Osprey. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
