- Tank plinking
Tank Plinking is a term that was given by pilots during the
Gulf War to the practice of using guided munitions to destroyartillery ,armored personnel carriers ,tanks , and other targets . [cite web|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030701faessay15404-p50/max-boot/the-new-american-way-of-war.html|title=Foreign Affairs - The New American Way of War - Max Boot|publisher=www.foreignaffairs.org|accessdate=2008-05-06|last=|first=] As the war progressed, the term began to encompass all forms of destroying a target (such as aT-72 tank) with an overly capable weapons system (such as an A-10 Thunderbolt II'sGAU-8 Avenger cannon, at acyclic rate of 3,900 rounds-per-minute) [TCTO 1A-10-1089, Flight manual TO 1A-10A-1 (20 February 2003 , Change 8), page vi, 1-150A.] . This term was discouraged by the military.Background
General
Norman Schwarzkopf was looking for a plan to incapacitate 50% of theIraqi army before any ground invasion could begin. Planning was performed including high intensity air strikes withGeneral Dynamics F-111 ,A-6 Intruder ,F-15 Eagle ,F/A-18 Hornet ,AV-8 Harrier ,A-10 Thunderbolt II , andF-16 Falcon crews. This culminated in December1990 , with "Operation Night Camel" in which air crews of the F-111 evaluated the ability of aircraft to use guided munitions with theLANTIRN andPave Tack target designation systems from medium altitude.This is a deviation from standard military air engagement due to the prevalence of the
surface to air missile ; mostaviator s would prefer to engage a target from either a very high altitude, or a very low altitude, and certainly with low observability aircraft. However, the Iraqi defenses proved to be very inadequate. The winning combination for the eventual campaign was either a pair or quartet of F-111F aircraft loaded with fourGBU-12 500-lb, laser-guided bombs. Bombs were designated for both entrenched, hard targets, as well as softer targets (eg APCs). Colonel Tom Lennon and the48th Tactical Fighter Wing flew 664 successfulsortie s over twenty-three days.References
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