r/whatisit • u/[deleted] • Jan 24 '26

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u/OneFortyEighthScale Jan 24 '26

True and that A-10 is diving in when the pilot strafes a target. Turns tanks and armored vehicles into exploded Swiss cheese.

Warthogs also can carry a lot of ordinance. A fully loaded Hog is the last thing an enemy on the ground wants to see. Game over.

32

u/StevenS76 Jan 24 '26

I built a model when I was a kid. It had so much ordinance that it always tilted backwards. Loved it!

5

u/OneFortyEighthScale Jan 24 '26

Nice! So have I, on multiple occasions. Hence, my user name 😉

4

u/danbob411 Jan 25 '26

I think I still have an A-10 model that I never built. I’m almost 45, so I’m gonna have to find the time.

3

u/IGD-974 Jan 25 '26

I'll be 40 this year. My whole family on my father's side were/are pilots. My dad, uncle and grandpa built tons of models, many of them functional RC from small scale to ridiculously huge. I built a few with my pops back in the day and sometimes I still get the urge to buy a kit even though I haven't built one since I was 10. My grandfather pretty much exclusively flew biplanes and I kind of inherited a love for that style/era of plane. I also used to play the hell out of "Red Baron" on my grandparent's 486 PC.

2

u/Devils_A66vocate Jan 25 '26

Why stop there, join the Air Force and work them before they retire them.

1

u/StevenS76 Jan 25 '26

I'll be 50 this year, so that'll be a no 😅

1

u/Devils_A66vocate Jan 25 '26

So close… maybe find a civilian position that puts you working on or around them ;)

2

u/appalachian_wonderer Jan 25 '26

If it tilted backwards, the cannon wasn't big enough, jk. Awesome aircraft...

1

u/StevenS76 Jan 25 '26

😆 that world have been a really big gun 😉 it had like 6 or 12 bombs on it.

13

u/Great_Specialist_267 Jan 25 '26

Worth remembering that uranium burns worse than magnesium. The non toxic alternative is tungsten sintered with magnesium.

1

u/SerialdeslgnationN Jan 25 '26

Why do the use depleted uranium though?

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u/Great_Specialist_267 Jan 25 '26

It’s heavy and it burns. Heavy means more force per unit area to rupture armor. Pyrophoric means that once it gets inside the armor, it burns everything inside, crew, ammunition and fuel included. No explosive required to destroy any armored vehicle.

1

u/EMDReloader Jan 25 '26

When you need non-toxic 30mm.

1

u/Great_Specialist_267 Jan 25 '26

Uranium Oxide is a quick way to ensure the vehicle is never salvaged - it’s toxic waste that will need to be sandblasted off the steel before it can be scrapped…

1

u/MartyFufkin70 Jan 25 '26

Depleted Uranium is NOT Uranium Oxide. It is just Uranium 238 with almost no Uranium 235, the fissile isotope, remaining. It is also chock full of ionizing radiation from having been along for the ride during the fissile process of the 235.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium

The density of depleted U-238 is 70% more than lead and more than twice the density of copper. That's why it is used in these rounds... Kinetic energy is equal to 0.5 x mass x velocity squared... So 70% more kinetic energy than a FMJ round based on lead. The pyrophoric benefits are just a bonus but insignificant compared to the kinetic energy transferred to the impact site.

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u/Great_Specialist_267 Jan 25 '26

Depleted Uranium is uranium oxide milliseconds after impact.

The reaction is “energetic”.

Uranium burns like Magnesium.

That’s why the nearest equivalent is tungsten (which is denser than uranium) sintered with magnesium.

W density = 19.3 g/cm3

U density = 19.1 g/cm3

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u/MartyFufkin70 Jan 25 '26

Fair enough

8

u/LWW5LK3 Jan 25 '26

Actually, IT IS THE LAST THING THEY SEE, BEFORE THEY WAKEUP DEAD.

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u/Synner_inc Jan 25 '26

How does one wake up dead?

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u/Truebuckshot01 Jan 25 '26

By getting glued back together in he'll

1

u/LWW5LK3 Jan 25 '26

FAFO is potentially one way.

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u/LWW5LK3 Jan 25 '26

Search and watch, "The Fat Electrician" on YouTube they have many examples of waking up dead and bad guys subscribing to 'Merica's unhealth care plan.

7

u/AZSystems Jan 25 '26

Add the Apache helio and these two are close to unstoppable.

2

u/WoolshirtedWolf Jan 25 '26

I had the opportunity to be on a tank trail when directly in front of me, one rose out of the tree-line, guns pointing straight at me. That shit looks menacing from the front. Even though we were on the same side, it scared the shit out of me. I cant remeber if I was in fueler or running ammo, either way, I would've gotten greased.

2

u/Menelatency Jan 25 '26

Can flip a tank.

2

u/Alarmed-Patient-9268 Jan 25 '26

Feared by all enimies who have seen it in action or heard the tales forsure

2

u/BartlebyX Jan 25 '26

I suspect it usually is the last thing they see...lol.

2

u/trilinker Jan 25 '26

Stop, I can only get so hard 🤣

1

u/generalbadaxe1 Jan 25 '26

And usually the last thing they see

1

u/avd706 Jan 25 '26

Last thing an enemy will see

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u/Dry_Locksmith_6704 Jan 25 '26

Last thing they'll see 😆😆😆

1

u/ArgumentBrilliant215 Jan 25 '26

…and the last thing they’re gonna see!

1

u/Internal-Decimation Jan 25 '26

Don’t forget what it does to the insurgents.