Bang on
Cannon gunnery a ‘core skill'

CPL Jamie Atkinson loads rounds into the M61A1 Cannon in the nose of an F/A-18 for Exercise Classic Cannon.

Photo by LAC Greg Pierce

By LAC Greg Pierce

NO. 75 Squadron has ended the year with a bang.

In its final deployment in a busy 2004, the Squadron took part in Exercise Classic Cannon at RAAF Base Darwin from November 28 to December 9.

The annual exercise gave Hornet pilots a chance to hone their skills with their most fundamental air-to-air weapon, the 20mm M61A1 cannon.

75SQN CO Wing Commander Steve Roberton said the exercise was a critical step in the training schedule for his pilots.

“Pilots become current in air-to-air gunnery and qualified in flying butterfly and combat banner profiles. Aerial gunnery is a core skill for any fighter pilot to have in his dogfighting repertoire,” WGCDR Roberton said.

Although F/A-18s carry short, medium and long-range air-to-air missiles, WGCDR Roberton believes the cannon is still relevant in modern fighter operations.

“It is still the best close-in fighting weapon. It has no minimum range, it cannot be decoyed and, when used properly, it is lethal,” he said.

The pilots used ground-based radars and the Hornets' own radar to intercept a Pel-Air Learjet towing a target banner 30 nautical miles out to sea.

Flying Officer Craig Tobin, who took part in his first Classic Cannon after flying Hornets for 18 months, described what happened when the target was located. “You roll in on the banner and one guy shoots off his rounds, and then there's another guy in behind. It's fairly fluid and dynamic. You sort of hear the gun winding up and smoke starts pouring over the cockpit - it's pretty impressive”

The nylon-mesh target banner was towed 450m behind the Learjet. The Hornets only opened fire when the Learjet was in a turn so the aircraft was out of the line of fire.

The Pel-Air pilots were Geoff Penn, who served with the RAAF, and Andrew Fraser, who served with both the RNZAF and the RAAF. As former fighter pilots, they understood what the training meant for the members of 75SQN and the level of professionalism with which the Hornet pilots approached the task.

“We feel pretty comfortable with the Hornet guys shooting at the banner,” Mr Penn said.

To assess the success of each sortie, the target banner was examined to determine which pilots made the holes - and which didn't. To settle these sometimes passionate discussions, the 20mm rounds were dipped in marker paint.

Exercise bang on

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