CAP Overseas Deployment

[Smithsonia]

OK this is fantasy ball... but they need spotter planes to go up against Somali Pirates.
http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=101464

Sign me up and I'll see you in Jabouti.

[Always Ready]

I'm game. If CAP wants to do an overseas deployment, it's fine with me. In fact, I'll be one of the first ones to sign up. Besides, this whole college thing is getting old 

[SJFedor]

I'm in.

[Smithsonia]

Best plane for the mission is probably the P3 Orion. OK I don't know how to fly that one... but second best is a Twin Commander 500. 7-8 hours of gas. Twin engine. High Wing. Short Field. As rugged as yo momma. I've got tons of hours in Shrikes. We'll carry sidearms and laugh at the TSA when they ask us for our local IDs, or want us to be escorted here and there by the FBO kid...

We'll strafe all those who need it and rock our wings to all those we like. We'll carry on like
Van Johnson in a WW2 movie and make goo-goo eyes with the native gals (Dorthy Lamour, she sings at the O-club, and her American friend the nurse, June Allison)

Yeah "it's the pirate spotters life for me."  Oh wait, there's Spencer Tracy, in the tropics, in his leather A2 jacket. I see he's about to call a briefing... I gotta go.

[Al Sayre]

Best plane for the mission is probably the P3 Orion. OK I don't know how to fly that one... but second best is a Twin Commander 500. 7-8 hours of gas. Twin engine. High Wing. Short Field. As rugged as yo momma. I've got tons of hours in Shrikes. We'll carry sidearms and laugh at the TSA when they ask us for our local IDs, or want us to be escorted here and there by the FBO kid...

We'll strafe all those who need it and rock our wings to all those we like. We'll carry on like
Van Johnson in a WW2 movie and make goo-goo eyes with the native gals (Dorthy Lamour and her American friend June Allison) Yeah "it's the pirate spotters life for me."

Sign me up... ID Badges?  We don't need no stinkin' ID badges!

[DG]

Make sure you remember to take your Kevlar seat cushion.

[Spike]

Can I be a pirate instead?

[Gunner C]

Mahe sure you remember to take your Kevlar seat cushion.

Nah, big sky, little bullet.  I'm in.

[RiverAux]

Sure, I can take some time off....

[NIN]

Mahe sure you remember to take your Kevlar seat cushion.

Nah, big sky, little bullet.  I'm in.

Yeah, I'm with Gunner C here.... Except we should be doing this with Skymasters...  Right?

[Al Sayre]

How about we pull a few OV-10's out of mothballs?

[Always Ready]

^That would be cool!

[Smithsonia]

Twin Commander with a twin ma-deuce out the side like a mini-AC-130. Pilot, Co-Pilot, Observer, Door Gunner, 14 Shrikes fanning out on 1000 mile sorties, free fire beyond the 250 mile military exclusionary zone. Pirates who forget to wave; "say hello to my little friend."

I'm punching up the screen play tonight -- Jean Claude Van Damm stars in "Tropic Heat" This time it's personal... watercraft!

[CadetProgramGuy]

Best plane for the mission is probably the P3 Orion. OK I don't know how to fly that one...

Ahhh Phooey...Flying is flying......takeoffs are easy in any aircraft.  Landing however.........

[SarDragon]

Best plane for the mission is probably the P3 Orion.

What's your reasoning there? Beyond the tremendous loiter time, I don't see any big advantages.

[Al Sayre]

Weapons load- The P-3 has an internal bomb bay under the front fuselage which can house conventional Mark 50 torpedoes or Mark 46 torpedoes and/or special (nuclear) weapons. Additional underwing stations, or pylons, can carry other armament configurations including the AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-84E SLAM, AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, the AGM-65 Maverick, 5 in (127 mm) Zuni rockets, and various other sea mines, missiles, and gravity bombs. 

Hey Mr. Pirate, say hello to my little friend...

[Smithsonia]

P3 Orion is a big plane. It is the primary land based "shipping control" aircraft of the US Navy. It has lots of big anti shipping devices. In this case, a P3 is overkill as an attack bomber. P3s can't torpedo a skiff. Whalers/skiffs/row boats/inflatables are too small, and your "boom-box" is too big. BUT, P3s are also configured with the right crew stations (radar, comm, command/control, etc)

I think in this case less is more. Get more Aero Commander Shrikes and just one or 2 Orions (to hold down the CC part of the mission and in doing so keep them up high for "good-god" communications) then let the Aero Commanders do the attacks. If I had a few hundred million dollars and 6 months I'd build me a squadron of pirate killers out of 2 P3 Orions and 14 Aero Commanders, 250-300 personnel, and of course 2 dogs, 8 hanger-ons, some locals for comedy relief, a parson, and my old drinking buddy Doc... Kind of "Mash" but fewer jokes.

All of this is just goof-ball hangar talk so say what you like.

[MIKE]

Why would you waste a torpedo on some pirates rust bucket?  What you need is an appropriately sized gun that fires cheap ammo and the pylon turn.

[Smithsonia]

Precisely! CAP Somali Anti-Pirate Campaign Starts June 1... be on board. After we clean them out then we head for Bernie Madoff. The only good pirate is the one lined up for my next attack run.

"the spirit of the warrior comes slower to old men... but remains." Eddie Rckenbacker

[Gunner C]

Why would you waste a torpedo on some pirates rust bucket?  What you need is an appropriately sized gun that fires cheap ammo and the pylon turn.

Why? Two words:  Bigger Splash!

I think an AC-130 would be the weapon of choice.  The sensor suite would be much better suited for interdicting small, point targets.  Plus, it would have unlimited loiter time - it can be air refueled.  The armaments choices are much better:  7.62 miniguns, 40mm Bofors, and the ever-popular 105mm.  Anyone for a CAP Spectre gunship?