Photo By Tech. Sgt. Emerson Nunez | Airmen assigned to the 48th Munitions Squadron aircraft armament systems unit put...... read more read more
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Flexibility is the key to airpower, and the F-15 Eagle demonstrates that flexibility by having a wide variety of weapons to choose from to complete mission objectives.
All F-15 models can be armed with a combination of different air-to-air weapons while the “E” model can also carry air-to-ground weapons. The Eagles also have the 20mm Gatling gun.
48th Munitions Squadron aircraft armament systems Airmen ensure the Liberty Wing’s F-15s can deliver munitions on target every time the trigger is pulled.
“We support the adaptability of the aircraft,” said an armament apprentice assigned to the 48th MUNS aircraft. “We keep it versatile and [we help] support different missions.”
The armament flight works 24 hours a day to inspect and repair all weapons systems and their components on all F-15s assigned to RAF Lakenheath.
The shop is responsible for maintaining ammunition carriers, bomb racks, pylons, missile launchers and all their components. Sometimes they break down the equipment to its most basic parts to fully inspect and repair it.
“Any type of armament equipment that goes on the aircraft, we maintain,” said a 48th MUNS armament floor supervisor. “There are three aircraft maintenance units for the F-15s here and we maintain weapons equipment for all of them”.
Last fiscal year, the 48th Fighter Wing’s F-15s fired over 41,500 rounds with the 20mm cannons during training. During the year, approximately 55 Gatling guns will go through the shop for their 18-month inspection and maintenance to ensure they fire properly. The armament shop will have each Gatling gun fully disassembled, re-assembled and ready for operation in under 72 hours.
“Everyone works together here,” the armament apprentice said. “You have many different career fields working on the flight line. If one of us was to fall out, then it would collapse everything because it all works in a circle. So the more able we are to do our jobs, the more we can produce sorties and it allows the mission to run very smoothly”.
Keeping the armament equipment mission ready ensures the Liberty Wing’s flying squadrons can provide combat airpower 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
| Date Taken: | 01.18.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.18.2018 05:25 |
| Story ID: | 262383 |
| Location: | RAF LAKENHEATH, SUFFOLK, GB |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Liberty Spotlight: Keeping F-15s versatile, by TSgt Emerson Nunez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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