MORE MEAN MACHINES!!!
Probably one of the best multirole fighters ever built, the McDonnell-Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle remains one of America's most prolific hunter of the skies. These babies all but wreaked havoc on Saddam Hussien's forces in the 1991 Gulf War, dropping everything from iron bombs to the laser guided boomers that can be trained on your neighbors air conditioner vents. Two thrust-vectoring Pratt & Whitneys power this monster, enabling the Eagle to carry a full warload, drop them smack-dab on target, and fight its way out of hostile territory. Two crewmembers occupy the cockpit instead of one; the pilot (rows the boat), and the Weapons Systems Officer (shoots the ducks). Weapons include the M-61A2 gatling gun, 500-1000 lbs. bombs, Maverick missiles, and air-to-air missiles. Bad to the bone.
McDonnel-Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle
One of my most fave attack planes is the A-6 Intruder series (left) by Grumman, used by your friends at the United States Navy and Marine Corps. If you've read "Flight of the Intruder" by Stephen Coonts, you know that this is one bad girl. The A-6 can carry 4 tons of high explosives to a target, refuel and head back out to sea to land aboard an aircraft carrier, all in a day's work. The Intruder carries no defensive weapons and only has electronic and launchable countermeasures to defeat enemy missiles. Intruders were retired in 1993 when the F/A-18 would take its place. Still no plane could haul the mail and take as much punishment as an A-6. They saw service extensively in Vietnam, and were used against Iraqi invaders during the Gulf War, where the A-6E variant used its undernose TRAM pod to light up targets by laser in total darkness and do what it did best...ATTACK!
Grumman A-6E TRAM Intruder
The Ilyushin Il-2M3 was the Soviet Union's last hope during WWII to stop the Nazi onslaught. With an impressive 47-foot, 10 3/4 inch wingspan, this armor-plated "flying tank" turned out to be more than a match for the German armored divisions. The Il-2 was armed with two 23mm cannons (used against tanks), two 7.62mm machine guns (used against smaller vehicles and troops), four internal wing bomb bays that each held a 250 kg. hollow-charge antitank bomb, and four rails on each wing that held rockets. The rear seat was manned by a gunner who watched the rear with a 12.7mm (.50 cal) machine gun. This aircraft holds the record for being one of the most mass-produced aircraft. The men who flew them were surely heroes to stop the Nazi war machine dead in its tracks. The trouble is...where can I get one?
Ilyushin Il-2 Type 3 Shturmovik
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