ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Marines from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 and sailors with Strike Fighter Squadron 94 performed an air-to-air banner shoot here, Oct. 10, as part of an ongoing monthlong deployment in the region.
The purpose of the exercise was to test ordnance and pilots’ proficiency in their mission capability of deploying aerial weapons.
“We don’t normally get to exercise air-to-air employment of the gun,” said Maj. Greg A. McGuire, VMFA-115 pilot and maintenance officer. “We generally spend more time using the gun in an air-to-ground role. So this is a great opportunity to head out over the water and work on our gunnery air-to-air.”
A banner shoot is when an aircraft or tower, pulls a target as other aircraft attempt to engage and shoot the target.
The target is eight feet wide by 15 feet long and was towed on a 1,500 foot cable. The exercise demonstrated the difficulty of firing a gun in air-to-air combat.
McGuire also said it serves to bolster confidence for newer pilots should they find themselves in an aerial confrontation incombat.
“It’s good for the young (pilots) to see how difficult it is to hit targets in the air,” said McGuire.
Nine aircraft in total took part in the exercise; one pulling the banner and eight engaging it. The eight aircraft were equally divided with four from VMFA- 115 and four from VFA-94.
The aircraft used nonexplosive, painted rounds fired from a 20mm M61A1 Vulcan cannon.
The Vulcan fires 4,000 rounds a minute and is the standard equipped cannon for all F/A-18s. Each aircraft was armed with 500 rounds. The tips of VMFA- 115’s rounds were painted yellow while VFA-94’s were not, to distinguish which squadron was more accurate.
Though the rounds were non-explosive, safety is still paramount when engaging in the exercise.
“We have a specific pattern we fly,” said McGuire. “(This pattern) gives us an interval between the aircraft to keep everyone out of the nose of the firing aircraft.”
This is done to give pilots, in firing range, enough time to disengage should another aircraft come into the pilot’s field of vision.
“Generally speaking, we fly a good pattern,” said McGuire. “We fly a pattern that allows us to come in at an angle on the banner to where we’re not pointed at the F/A-18 that’s pulling the banner.”
Even then, pilots do not fire on the aircraft until they receive the signal from the tail aircraft.
“The pilot who’s flying the banner assesses the nose position of the shooter and as long as it’s not pointing at him and pointing toward the banner, he’ll clear the aircraft (to fire),” said McGuire.
VMFA-115 ordnance Marines played a part in making this possible for the exercise. They made sure every aspect of the exercise from the ordnance side is acceptable beforehand, from the cable to maintenance of the aircraft.
“It takes quite a bit of manhours to pull this off, from the building to installing and stretching the cable on the runway,” said Gunnery Sgt. Jason A. Hewes, VMFA-115 ordnance chief.
The tow cable used in the exercise is built by ordnance Marines themselves. They take spools of cable and cut the main cable to 75 feet. The other cable is cut to 1,500 feet.
The training exercise not only afforded the pilots a unique opportunity, as banner shoots are not very common, but ordnance Marines as well.
“I was looking forward to it,” said Cpl. Trevor J. Fortin, VMFA-115 aviation ordnance technician. “It’s always fun learning new things and getting hands-on training with things you haven’t experienced yet.”
Both VFA-94 and VMFA- 115 are scheduled to conduct additional training in the coming weeks in the form of rocket and bomb training as well.