Air Force Thinking About an F-7 Light Fighter...

[+daddyairplanes 9,268]

although if they wanted to be accurate within the Tri Service System wouldnt it be an AT-7B?

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/11/air-force-weighing-turning-t-7-into-f-7-armed-light-attack-jet-official/

 

[+EricJ 3,994]

If it doesn't BRRT I don't care. Lol seriously that would be interesting for it to be one. I think it looks weird how the landing gear looks but it's a neat little plane.

[+daddyairplanes 9,268]

yeah well BRRT is sadly going to be a thing of the past. but it did take the AF over 40 years to kill the Hawg

this tho, if it gets an internal gun itll probably be 7.62 rather than even 20mm. but when i read the article visions of a supersonic Dragonfly kept poppin in my head. or call it the Super Tweet 2 even.....

[bazillius 1,254]

Now the good old Spitfires, with searchlights and audio detection devices, would be very useful in the modern war. And i am not jokin now.

[+EricJ 3,994]

14 hours ago, daddyairplanes said:

yeah well BRRT is sadly going to be a thing of the past. but it did take the AF over 40 years to kill the Hawg

this tho, if it gets an internal gun itll probably be 7.62 rather than even 20mm. but when i read the article visions of a supersonic Dragonfly kept poppin in my head. or call it the Super Tweet 2 even.....

Yeah I know... but as far as the gun I wouldn't be surprised if it was an M61 or so, but we'll see.

[+Gepard 10,682]

A Vulcan gun would be to much for this small bird. To many vibrations, which can cause electronic failures or other system breakdowns. A better choise would be the british ADEN, french DEFA or german BK-27. The best would be the GSh-23, which has enough firepower and cause very few vibrations. An american copy of this gun, in caliber 20 mm, would be the best solution.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by Gepard

[+daddyairplanes 9,268]

i disagree. best solution for a COIN aircraft (which is pretty much how it would be used) would be an M134. 7.62, but still with the high rate of fire. as a pod or in the nose

i mean, its been done before

while the AF is saying F-7, they arent gonna load it up with a freakin APG-83, GAU-25 and enough a2a and a2g ordinance to wing tthe second world war

would interfere with teh B-21 budget too much

[+Gepard 10,682]

Of course it depends on what you want to do with a plane. For COIN a F-7 Red Hawk would be overpowered and not efficent enough. There are better solutions for that task, for instance drones or attack helicopters. But if you want a low cost fighter the F-7 Red Hawk would be good enough. It can do air policing at much lower costs than the 5th gen fighters. You can train pilots, help them to collect flight hours at a much lower price than on a Eurofighter, F-35 or F-22.

And you can sell it to countries which have not te money for high end fighters, or have no need for it. It would be the F-5 of our days.

[+daddyairplanes 9,268]

overpowered for COIN. or in otherwords, perfect for the USAF mindset

it would still be cheaper to use in that role than F-35 for sure and probably even F-16. and be the "similar capability" to the A-10 that Congress mandated, all except for the gun. thats the main reasons the USAF is thinking about a fighter version (especially that last one sadly)

I agree it would be a good entry to the light fighter market, IF the USAF buys some for that purpose. its not the  60s and i dont think other countries will buy it if the US doesnt (like the F-20)