Strafing Roles During The Vietnam War

Since the beginning of modern warfare, controlling the high ground has been a key strategy to military success. With the advent of aerial warfare, this philosophy remained true, however the new high ground became airborne supremacy. Early uses of close air support, during World War II and Korea, utilized fixed forward weapon systems, primarily through strafing roles. While these aircraft were very effective during their conflicts, a new issue arose out of the dense foliage jungle canopies of Vietnam. Many of these newer aircraft utilized jet engine propulsion, which led to pilots struggling to identify targets, especially during multiple engagement on the same target (Ballard, 1982). Given the vital successes of previous conflict impacts on enemy logistics, and the apparent shortcomings during the early years of …show more content…
Both men hypothesized that lateral firing while conducting a pylon turn would allow the pilot to keep targets in sight throughout the entire engagement, allowing effective fires for an extended period of time. This type of weapon system would solve the current dilemma of pilots needing to reacquire targets after their first engagement, a common problem in the Vietnam counterinsurgency conflict. Flexman and MacDonald submitted multiple proposals, dating back to May 1945 through 1962, each proposal failed to produce a positive response from the military (Ballard, 1982). Flexman continued to peruse his proposals, with the assistance of multiple Air Force Officers, finally receiving approval for limited flight testing, culminating in the first side mounted live fire test, conducted in 1964 (Davis, 1982). The results were enough to convince the Aeronautical Systems Division (ASD) of the validity of Flexman’s proposals and assumed the management of the gunship