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Regular Joe
 
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Last Login: 7/1/2008 7:38 AM
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They have a tail gunner. There was talk (at least when I was at Pax) about a gun in the starboard side door, but the problem come from the rotating nacelle. Gunner operations would have been the same as in a helicopter when the bird was in helicopter mode. But in airplane mode, the blades would have restricted the field of fire greatly. They would have had to put in an airplane-mode-guard so that the gunner didn't shoot through the blades. (Why you need guns in airplane mode, I don't know.) But they did away with it. Interesting piece of info; I shared a cubicle with a survivability guy on the MV-22. When they were talking about possible weapons to put in the tail, mini-guns were shown to be viewed as less threatening because of the volume of the weapon; whereas, a loud gun like the .50 cal made people think twice before popping their head up.
I lack people-skills.
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Hard Charger
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Ahemmm......currently using the MV-22 “like a truck,” and aren’t taking it into combat, Coyle said. “They have been doing that on purpose. They have not wanted to have another accident.” The addition of the gun could signify changes to that strategy. “This would be a step in the direction that they might begin to use it in combat,” Coyle said. If, however, the Corps continues to keep it clear of combat and continues to use it like a truck, it won’t even need the rear-firing ramp gun, he said. The MV-22s currently deployed in Iraq have a rear-firing 7.62mm ramp gun. “The more narrowly you define the mission for an aircraft, the less valuable it is. The Marine Corps has wanted to use the Osprey in combat and is trying to equip it so that it can,” Coyle said. link
"Let's Go Downtown" - Flight of the Intruder
http://www.327infantry.org/second/c_co Same Mud Same Blood - NBC documentary filmed 1967 RVN, chronicle Frank McGee
IMOFSGT Nelson P. Henry101st 2nd/327th -NO SLACKKIA October 28, 1967 in QuangTin Province RVN
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Regular Joe
Group: Registered User
Last Login: 7/1/2008 7:38 AM
Posts: 442,
Visits: 1,379
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SMSB (3/28/2008)
Ahemmm...... currently using the MV-22 “like a truck,” and aren’t taking it into combat, Coyle said. “They have been doing that on purpose. They have not wanted to have another accident.”
The addition of the gun could signify changes to that strategy.
“This would be a step in the direction that they might begin to use it in combat,” Coyle said.
If, however, the Corps continues to keep it clear of combat and continues to use it like a truck, it won’t even need the rear-firing ramp gun, he said. The MV-22s currently deployed in Iraq have a rear-firing 7.62mm ramp gun.
“The more narrowly you define the mission for an aircraft, the less valuable it is. The Marine Corps has wanted to use the Osprey in combat and is trying to equip it so that it can,” Coyle said.
link
I didn't say they settled on a .50 cal. I just thought it was interesting that a gun that sprays a gajillion bullets a second was less scary to the enemy because they couldn't hear it. Whereas a gun that shoots slower but louder is scarier, even though it's being fired from a moving aircraft. Walking the rounds in with mini (I think) would be easier than with a big gat. But then again, I was never a door gunner, so what do I know.
Maybe it was a weight/balance issue. Mini guns use lots of ammo. Lots of ammo = lots of weight.
I lack people-skills.
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