Re: DU in missing plane

[Noel Montgomery <montyhp@flash.net>]

Date: 18 Apr 1997 15:44:09 -0400
From: "Mike Bohan" <mike.bohan@yale.edu>
Subject: Re: Du in missing plane

<<        Reply to:   RE>Du in missing plane

Hi Mark,

I believe the A-10 has a titanium tub in the cockpit as a shield for the
pilot.>>

No significant RAM in the A-10 that I am aware of during normal
training.


<<However,  the cannon that the A-10 was built around to use as one of
it's
primary attack weapons can use DU projectiles to penetrate tank armor. 
I don't
know if they always use DU, especially for training purposes, because
things can
get awfully messy.  See some of the recent media reports about DU
residue from
Desert Storm.>>

Nellis is the only place that the AF can legally shoot DU. I think they
would have to load the DU rounds at Nellis, most bases don't have
expendable supplies.

<<My first RSO boss was an ex-Air Force officer>>
Anyone I know?

<<You'd need a very sensitive detector to detect DU from an air
survey, over the naturally abundant U in the Colorado Rockies.  On the
ground,
you'd probably see the wreckage before your detector saw the DU.>>

I tend to agree.

Capt Noel Montgomery, CHP
USAF