"TV" wrote in message
...
snip
One other moment of great implausibility (maybe it happened twice?!) was
when an F-16 finishing a bombing run saw a SAM site, and then turned
towards it and hosed it with his cannon. OK, that's weak, but for those
(Ed and others) who've done Iron Hand/SEAD missions, how often were
cannons used agaisnt SAM sites? I would imagine pretty rarely as they
would be accompanied by AAA. I think it's been said (by Ed if not
others), that dueling ground guns with aerial cannons isn't the best idea
in the world.

All SAM systems hav a min engagement range, inside that range they
can not engage a target. In general, the longer range the SAM system
in question is the farther out the min engage range is. A gun is pretty
short range, and I would bet in many cases with larger / longer range
SAMs (say the SA2/3/6), if you are close enough to hit it with the
gun you are pretty safe from the missile itself.

Of course, you have to penetrate the operational envelope before you
get that close to the site.

C!