erichswafford -> RE: Missile hit ratio (1/30/2014 5:13:06 PM)
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All I can tell you is that this is how it has always been, in every conflict where you had some real competition. So, if you're going to bet that a hypothetical conflict would suddenly be a lot different, you need some pretty powerful evidence to indicate things have somehow changed. Technology changes, but human nature stays the same. I was USAF. We looked at a lot of historical examples. Expenditure rates in SE Asia were tremendous, and this was hardly stiff competition. That was a "police action" and yet expenditure rates ran far above expectations for a full-blown WW3 scenario. Same thing happened in the 1st Gulf War. And, let's be clear - These were conflicts which were (militarily, anyway) complete Turkey Shoots. Most of the time, the poor bastards didn't even know we were there until their $hit started exploding around them. There's a reason why, say, a tank platoon on the North German Plain would, at every single opportunity, refuel and rearm (or at least practice doing so). Also, pilots can tell you they spend a huge amount of time refueling at every available opportunity. Basically, every time they do something, they refuel ASAP. In a war, the same would apply to rearming. They do this because everything in war gets used up far faster than anyone could reasonably expect. The reason is, like I said, people want to live. Not to next week or even tomorrow. They just want to live right now. So, would this apply to a SAM site "sniping" a lone intruder? It depends. If that intruder is on SEAD, then they might get trigger-happy. Ordnance tends to get used up at a rate that is proportional to the perceived threat. Anyway, I thought this thread was more about how many missiles were getting used up in things like dogfights? Frankly, I'd be extremely surprised that, after a dogfight, any of the planes did not come home with empty racks. "Use it or lose it" tends to be the motto when faced with imminent death. quote:
ORIGINAL: jdkbph Kondor, You sound like you're coming from a been-there/done-that place, and I wouldn't question that kind of wisdom-born-of-experience, because I haven't. Not for real anyway. But it also sounds like your focus is infantry, small arms, etc, etc. True? If so, do you see any difference between that - where you're faced with an immediate threat (eg, someone is shooting at you) - and a situation like the one described by the OP, where the SAM missile site is "sniping" at what might be described as an indirect threat, using assets that are far more limited and tightly controlled than a clip of 7.62? Again, not having been there myself, I can only suppose that those entrusted with the employment of such assets would be far more judicious, and only resort to 10x worst case peace time estimate as a last resort when directly threatened. Am I wrong? JD
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