New Air Force issue breakdown AR for pilots

[LittleLebowski]

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/06/26/usafs-new-gau-5-a-aircrew-self-defense-weapon/

38364

[Kyle Reese]

Looks SAFE Act compliant.

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[Tokarev]

Not sure but I believe Ruger made their piston gun as a takedown to try to for this contract.

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[beenalongtime]

Where is it stowed? (picturing it getting sucked out when the cockpit blows)

Not quite the range they are used to and more manual targeting.

[HCM]

Where is it stowed? (picturing it getting sucked out when the cockpit blows)

Not quite the range they are used to and more manual targeting.

Under the seat. That’s where the stowed / broken down size requirements came from.

This was made public a few months ago.

[jetfire]

Under the seat. That’s where the stowed / broken down size requirements came from.

This was made public a few months ago.

Correct - the swept wing guys wanted something cooler than an M9...uh I mean they wanted to increase lethality and survivability for downed pilots, so a 10.5 inch full takedown AR was born. The reason it does all the things it does is because it has to fit in a storage compartment under an ejection seat along with all of the other survival goodies that wingers get.

[wvincent]

Correct - the swept wing guys wanted something cooler than an M9...uh I mean they wanted to increase lethality and survivability for downed pilots, so a 10.5 inch full takedown AR was born. The reason it does all the things it does is because it has to fit in a storage compartment under an ejection seat along with all of the other survival goodies that wingers get.

How about the ass and trash haulers who have to shuffle to the door to get out?
Will they be getting these in the seat kits also?

[jetfire]

How about the ass and trash haulers who have to shuffle to the door to get out?
Will they be getting these in the seat kits also?

Nope. No ejecto-seato, no cool rifle.

[okie john]

I guess that splitting the upper and lower receivers like a grunt is just too much work for a zoomie.


Okie John

[jetfire]

I guess that splitting the upper and lower receivers like a grunt is just too much work for a zoomie.


Okie John

No, it's because just separating the upper and lower wouldn't make it fucking fit in the little ass ejection seat box.

[breakingtime91]

No, it's because just separating the upper and lower wouldn't make it fucking fit in the little ass ejection seat box.

simmer down now air force

[314159]

I saw this and went into my wayback machine.

I was the squadron "gun guy" back in the late 70s and 80s and was always thinking about the perfect pilot's weapon. Mine was my Armoloyed (a type of hard chrome finish of the day) 1911, salt water being an issue you see. This being post Vietnam era, all the old heads (who must have been over 30!) had some interesting stories and theories about personally carried firearms.

The general consensus was that a second survival radio was worth a lot more than a pistol. You couldn't have shot your way out of North Vietnam and the PRCs of the day were less than perfectly reliable. Since we were so short of gear in that era I couldn't get issued a second battery for my radio much less a second radio, I decided to keep the pistol. (Visited an Air Force F-106 outfit and they had 3 radios per pilot!) We were told that if a hot war had come up all that stuff would show up pretty quick. Probably true but less than comforting.

One sea story from a rescue helo driver recounted how a pilot kept himself from being nabbed at the last second by a couple of farmers armed with machetes or such with a High Standard derringer (I think in .22 mag).

During a port call in Haifa we visited an Israeli F-16 outfit. I had to ask them what kind of gun they carried of course. I heard a .22 Beretta 70. Theory being, you weren't going to shoot your way out of the Bekka valley and a quiet .22 might help as a threat or sentry eliminator.

Things change and the radios today are reliable and have a built in GPS to say "here I am" with great precision. I'm sure the Air Force dudes still have 3 of them too. Still, you're not going to shoot your way out of Afghanistan either but there is another factor that comes into play. I really don't think being taken alive would be an option, so, take a few with you?