Negligent Discharge - F-16 Vulcan Cannon


Mechanic's Mistake Destroys Multi-Million Dollar Fighter Jet
A blast from a Vulcan cannon destroyed another jet
Mechanic's Mistake Destroys Multi-Million Dollar Fighter Jet

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Bekeart

I have never seen a Vulcan pod on an F-16 but they evidently exist. I'd say this type of incident would be impossible. The Belgian AF must have some truly gifted mechanics.

Some might know that a number of F-22s were destroyed by Hurricane Michael at Tyndall AFB (which is near Mexico Beach). USAF has not released a formal number destroyed (at least not that I have seen) but I have it on good authority that the number is 17. At $500,000,000 each. See: Hurricane Michael: Storm destroys F-22 Raptors stealth bombers

More than a little oops.

DWalt, the F16 has an internal Vulcan, not an external pod.

From what I understand, those mechanics had to really try to get the Vulcan to shoot while the plane is on the ground. They have a circuit that disables firing while there is weight on the wheels and from what I understand, the circuit's supposed to be on safe at all times if the circuit goes defective for some reason. I bet there will be some tall explaining to do about this incident.

The story I read about the destroyed F-22s say that weren't evacuated because they weren't in service. Apparently less than 50% of the fleet is in operation. It seems they have some serious problems with part shortages.

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Common sense isn't so common.

A Vulcan "pod" can be mounted on (almost) any underwing hard-point.

The ordinance is enabled via high-speed air passing over/through a propeller-like device. similar to the little propeller devices on the front of WWII bombs.

Somebody needs to be fired over this. What a waste of tax dollars.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Weeee-ellll, I guess there are plenty of spare parts spread around Tyndall they could use now.

Joking aside, the F-22 situation is a staggering waste of taxpayers money. If that wasn't enough, there was a ground stop issued on the F-35 recently. The fix has been found, but the recall rate on these modern systems is getting like owning an Alfa Romeo. More than 80 percent of F-35s cleared for flight after fuel tube problem | TheHill

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Release the Kraken

Yup, that is a pretty big ND.

Those F-22s sound kind of like a car I used to have. Great car when you could get it to work. The guy who owned the parts house really liked it a lot more than I did.

I'll bet there is a mechanic looking for a new job.

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Paul
Salome, AZ

Well how stupid is that!!

So much for their safety check systems !!

I bet they have LOTS of parts now..................... !!

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Sad day for the Belgians... hoping that mechanic can treat himself to a plate of waffles and get over it. I’ve destroyed AT LEAST a million dollars in taxpayer money. Stuff happens on the job, this time it happened in a big way but let’s not demonize this guy. People wonder why the suicide rate is so high in the military, well this stuff is stressful and when you fail you can feel lost. Many here have served and understand, myself included. Many others are swift to be the Monday morning quartback and make the guy look like an idiot without knowing all the details.

Exactly, look at what happened to John McCain's career after he blew his own crewmen up, he faired well afterwards. Of course having Admiral Daddy didn't hurt either.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist