Exercise bang on

 

LAC Daniel Carson services the radar on an Hornet.

Cannon rounds for an F/A-18 are left to dry after being marked with paint.

Photos by LAC Greg Piercede

*

Cannon Fodder

The M61A1 is a six-barrelled, 20mm Gattling gun with a fierce rate of fire. With 500 rounds on board the pilots can fire off the lot in about five seconds. The weapon is mounted in the nose forward of the cockpit on the centre line of the aircraft, giving the pilot an excellent line on to the target and the weapon has an effective range out to 900m.

The painted bullets left marks on the target banner around the bullet hole and each aircraft carried rounds painted a different colour.

Fast jets and big bullets were only a part of the exercise. For Exercise Classic Cannon 2004, the 75SQN clerks supply and suppliers organised and managed three semi-trailer loads of equipment, mainly aircraft parts.

LAC Daniel Carson, who services F/A-18 radars, said the deployment helped “teach us the little stuff that changes”.

“The job is the same but the way we operate [on deployments such as Classic Cannon] is different. It all comes down to giving us the experience,” he said.

During the exercise, Flight Lieutenant Elizabeth Harrison stepped up from her normal role of Flight Line Officer to Senior Engineering Officer.

She found the biggest challenge of the role “is knowing your limitations. Being able to understand the framework under which we operate, and to make time critical decisions is something that comes with experience.”
Exercise Classic Cannon 2004 involved 110 support personnel and 16 aircrew.

During 2004, 75SQN has been deployed five times and involved in eight exercises with six different air forces.

Back

.