Viper Pilot Book Review
118I just finished reading Dan Hampton's Viper Pilot.
This book completely changed my understanding of modern day viper tactics. The book is primarily about Wild Weasals and DEAD/CAS/AI missions. It's written referring to specific jet switchology, symbology and legit brevity with very little attempt at dumbing it down for popular readers. Dan Hampton as a character is a weapon officer, extremely aggressive, fearless, profane and judgmental - which is in contrast to the "goody two shoes" of Keith Rosenkranz in VIpers in the Storm (a book primarily about the Gulf War, and also great). Dan is an 'infantryman" pilot who is very much about getting down very low and killing the enemy. He has gigantic balls of steel and the book vividly describes him being fired at by dozens of SAMs and AAA.
The book really shocked me on a few levels:
* Weasel flights routinely flew under 5000 feet during OIF - there are many times in the book he is flying around at under 2000 feet, and several in which hes below 500 feet.
* He extensively used his cannon against fixed SAM targets, and also moving mud during CAS - there are at least 5 distinct points in the book in which he is flying under sand storms and strafing BTRs and trucks with a cannon, or doing multiple re-attacks at low altitude against SAM sites with intent to DESTROY rather than suppress - WITH HIS GUN. Arguably the accuracy of the F16's gun makes it very useful for hitting point targets, especially compared to the A-10's shotgun effect.
* Towed decoys are extremely common, and apparently highly effective. I did not know such a thing even existed, but apparently were used exhaustively in his unit, and it's implied in the book saved his ass on multiple missions
* The air force between 1993 and 2005 went to a doctrine of DEAD instead of SEAD - and is slowly going back to SEAD as non-combat officers take over the air force and joint chiefs again. He resents the emphasis on UAVs because he does not think they will ever be effective in a real combat environment against guys with aircraft and modern air defenses. He claims that the transition from SEAD to DEAD operationally led to the GREATLY reduced loss of aircraft in OIF, only 1 fixed wing aircraft was lost in OIF vs 39 in the Gulf War.
* He hates the HARM and says its only use is to distract or temporarily suppress in a tactical sense, long enough for CBUs or cannon to hit the target - they would often call magnum calls in the clear without firing just to make an Iraqi radar turn off, then shoot it or drop bombs on it. He prefers AGM-65H (which he compares in optical quality to a TGP) and CBUs for killing SAMs.
I think a great reading circuit would be Vipers in the Storm followed by Viper Pilot. The former is centered on the Gulf War and 90s tactics, the latter is all about DEAD and late 90s/2000s tactics.
Music Credit:
Ghosts - Grief and Sleep
Creative Commons 3.0 License
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ghosts/Judge_EP/Ghosts_06_Grief_And_Sleep