HOME | DD

Description
The wonderful gave me the right to use his aircraft in Red Skies

Once again, this is a drawing I've played around with for a while. The Intruder II is a complex and unique design. The way the plane is built with that space between the wings and the fuselage give's it a certain je ne sais quoi that I find quite alluring. So, I've been playing around with it trying to draw it from different angles, baker only has one ravajava.deviantart.com/art/In… . This is the result

Now, to fit it inside the Red Skies universe...

By the 2040's, the ability of US designers to keep 400 A-10's (all of which were built in the 1970's) modern was reaching its limit. The 70 year old frames had served valiantly but the 2030's had shown the frames age. A quick and dirty replacement, something cheaper to serve alongside the Kestrel II was required. Stealth was traded for natural countermeasures, high speed low level flight.

Much like the A-10 it replaced, the Intruder came together easily, quickly and relatively painlessly. Cost overruns were surprisingly avoided in an era where they are considered to be part of the process. Test aircraft performed exactly as expected, another rarity, allowing the plane to receive little scrutiny in Congress. The plane took only six years to go from the drawing board to full scale production, and was unaffected by defense cuts done by the Reformist Government which came to power in 2047. Production was set to 410, 30 of which would be a B variant for
training, while the A variant went to the Air Force, the C to the Marines and Navy. 150 aircraft reached squadrons in 2046, a further 270 came in 2047, the remainder of the original production run coming in 2048. With the US entrance into WW3 in 2052, these numbers spiked to 850, with 50 going to the PAF.

Relatively low operation reliability in the Kestrel II made the Intruder II a go to for support missions. The planes sturdy and stable frame allowed to it to naturally handle high speed low level attacks that none of its American counterparts could manage. The A-15 quickly became one of the most beloved aircraft around in the eyes of the average allied soldier. The saying "Go Ugly Early" was passed on from the A-10 to the A-15.

Pilots had a very different experience, not that it was the fault of the aircraft. Early in the war, Intruders were often given some of the difficult missions of any US aircraft, primarily Wild Weasel missions. Unlike the later phases of the war where the allies were able to attack enemy AA as it moved, retreating back with collapsing PLA, the Intruder was forced into missions where they were simply thrown at occupied Korea. They would would reverse track the lock of enemy AA and engage the SAM or SPAAG site. While they were successful in this mission, almost 300 planes were lost in the course of the first year, counting for 40% of all US manned aircraft loses in the war. Fortunately, the loses were not in vain. Thanks to this effort, the A-15 opened the way for relatively safe allied precision bombing attacks on airports in occupied Korea, ending the Chinese led bombing campaign on Japan, a major turning point in the war.

The A-15 also showed that it could shine fighting submarines and naval targets, being credited with the most ships sunk of any allied aircraft, beating even the famous British Spitfire II.

Post war, few countries could justify a dedicated manned air to ground aircraft in an age dominated by air superiority planes capable of doing air to ground job decently. None the less, the US and a few countries kept the plane around. Currently, 300 remain divided between the Marines and Air Force in the US, 25 in the Philippines, and 30 in Japan.

Description
The wonderful gave me the right to use his aircraft in Red Skies

Once again, this is a drawing I've played around with for a while. The Intruder II is a complex and unique design. The way the plane is built with that space between the wings and the fuselage give's it a certain je ne sais quoi that I find quite alluring. So, I've been playing around with it trying to draw it from different angles, baker only has one ravajava.deviantart.com/art/In… . This is the result

Now, to fit it inside the Red Skies universe...

By the 2040's, the ability of US designers to keep 400 A-10's (all of which were built in the 1970's) modern was reaching its limit. The 70 year old frames had served valiantly but the 2030's had shown the frames age. A quick and dirty replacement, something cheaper to serve alongside the Kestrel II was required. Stealth was traded for natural countermeasures, high speed low level flight.

Much like the A-10 it replaced, the Intruder came together easily, quickly and relatively painlessly. Cost overruns were surprisingly avoided in an era where they are considered to be part of the process. Test aircraft performed exactly as expected, another rarity, allowing the plane to receive little scrutiny in Congress. The plane took only six years to go from the drawing board to full scale production, and was unaffected by defense cuts done by the Reformist Government which came to power in 2047. Production was set to 410, 30 of which would be a B variant for
training, while the A variant went to the Air Force, the C to the Marines and Navy. 150 aircraft reached squadrons in 2046, a further 270 came in 2047, the remainder of the original production run coming in 2048. With the US entrance into WW3 in 2052, these numbers spiked to 850, with 50 going to the PAF.

Relatively low operation reliability in the Kestrel II made the Intruder II a go to for support missions. The planes sturdy and stable frame allowed to it to naturally handle high speed low level attacks that none of its American counterparts could manage. The A-15 quickly became one of the most beloved aircraft around in the eyes of the average allied soldier. The saying "Go Ugly Early" was passed on from the A-10 to the A-15.

Pilots had a very different experience, not that it was the fault of the aircraft. Early in the war, Intruders were often given some of the difficult missions of any US aircraft, primarily Wild Weasel missions. Unlike the later phases of the war where the allies were able to attack enemy AA as it moved, retreating back with collapsing PLA, the Intruder was forced into missions where they were simply thrown at occupied Korea. They would would reverse track the lock of enemy AA and engage the SAM or SPAAG site. While they were successful in this mission, almost 300 planes were lost in the course of the first year, counting for 40% of all US manned aircraft loses in the war. Fortunately, the loses were not in vain. Thanks to this effort, the A-15 opened the way for relatively safe allied precision bombing attacks on airports in occupied Korea, ending the Chinese led bombing campaign on Japan, a major turning point in the war.

The A-15 also showed that it could shine fighting submarines and naval targets, being credited with the most ships sunk of any allied aircraft, beating even the famous British Spitfire II.

Post war, few countries could justify a dedicated manned air to ground aircraft in an age dominated by air superiority planes capable of doing air to ground job decently. None the less, the US and a few countries kept the plane around. Currently, 300 remain divided between the Marines and Air Force in the US, 25 in the Philippines, and 30 in Japan.