Future gunships for Russian Air Force

I think a Russian AC-130 is not what they need.

They might find something else is better and more useful, but I don't think putting large calibre guns in transport aircraft makes them cheap fire power platforms.

The aircraft is already in flight so gliding bombs probably makes more sense in terms of weight capacity and effect on target.

What I think they should implement is a storage/release rack for transport aircraft that can be extended out the rear of a transport aircraft in flight to release dumb bombs of various sizes and weights that together with a Gefest & T system achieve the necessary accuracy to make them even more effective than any gun system they could mount.

Very simply a release mechanism that can drop 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50kg bombs continuously or individually on targets, but could equally carry 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 3,000, 5,000, and 9,000 kg HE bombs too makes their entire transport fleet effective bombers against a poorly equipped enemy that could drop more ordinance on a target than any AC-130 could fire in the same time frame.

The problem with the AC-130 is that to use 30mm cannon effectively you need to be within about 3km of the target and that includes altitude as well as horizontal distance.

With a bombing rack that could be installed into the rear of any transport aircraft of suitable size... you could make a set of systems... one being a bomb rack to handle and release out the rear of the aircraft bombs, you could also create another mount for carrying water for fire fighting duties, and another for fuel for inflight refuelling duties.

The Il-272 would actually be better suited to 10km altitude bombing than the An-12 which would be operating at lower altitudes and much slower... the point is that the extra altitude means more kinetic energy for the bombs... you could probably use small guided bombs of 10 and 20 kgs weight that are pointy and do not have HE inside them... their impact speed being enough to penetrate most vehicles from above.

The best thing is that any aircraft could be used, you don't need special aircraft for the job... make the Gefest & T system modular and pod mounted with optics and sensors in an external wing pod or two that could be hung under wing pylons of any current or future transport plane.

When you need support load it up and mount the pylons and off you go and when you are finished take them off and return to transport duties.

I suspect the drones and the helicopters are still going to be developed and used, what they seem to be talking about is a long endurance support aircraft able to deliver a devastating attack when needed for use by special forces attacking enemy bases.

Something that is not expensive and can loiter long periods yet immediately deliver a devastating amount of fire power at point targets or over an area.

Attacking convoys or bases, or just areas held by enemy forces.

They are working on lots of new helicopter designs from upgraded Mi28NM and the upgraded Ka-52 attack helos, but also new high speed helos and new naval helos for helicopter landing ships, plus a wide range of brand new guided and intelligent weapons for helicopters and light strike drones...

I would think some sort of induction coil target setting system could be used for glide bombs of 1-2kgs where each has a GLONASS sensor and antenna where they could be dropped from 10km altitude and as they are released, as they fan out they each fly to a specific location nearby as set by an induction coil as they leave the aircraft so rather than totally random explosions along the line of flight of the transport plane the bombs could fly to specific points in the air and then dive straight down to the ground and perhaps even detonate 1-2 metres above the ground for best effect in a huge pattern to take out large numbers of enemy forces in the open.

Perhaps even give friendly forces in the area transmitters that disable the bombs should they land near till the signal has moved on and then reactivate them as mines.

The electronics required would not be that much, the transmitters could use the same frequency as the GLONASS system so it just needs one antenna for the job.

As I mentioned the bomb storage and release system can be rack mounted and modular and therefore fitted to any decent sized transport plane with the necessary avionics in external pods that can be hung under the wings including optical ports facing forward and back able to find targets and monitor results.

The first "bombs" released could be drones to fly down and get a good look over the area and transmit the view back up to the aircraft and also to the troops on the ground so they can start marking their locations and targets they want hit and when.

Those first "bombs" could be suicide drones that can be used to attack targets when their batteries run low to be replaced by other drones if needed.

They could adapt it so it can drop medicine or food or water or ammo or extra weapons as needed as well as delivering bombs to enemy targets.