ALCON:
In an effort to more effectively engage targets from medium-altitude as a cohesive two-ship element, Baxter and I briefed a combat sortie last night that utilized a variation of a tactic called the Wedge/Bombs attack. As its name implies, the Wedge/Bombs attack is a bomb attack employed from Wedge formation at medium altitude, usually as Shooter/Shooter.
Shooter/Shooter refers to the format used to describe roles during the fighter-to-fighter brief, and can also be shortened to just "Shooters". 476th members, see your A-10 contract document for additional fighter-to-fighter standards.
Wedge/Bombs allows the two-ship element to simultaneously attack a target with freefall munitions from separate directions while providing lateral flightpath deconfliction as well as sufficient timing deconfliction to allow the Wingman (WM) to avoid Flight Lead's (FL) weapon frag envelope. The split attack affords the WM better protection from Air Defenses (AD), by allowing him to approach undetected from off-axis.
For the attack illustrated below, descriptive comms passed during the fighter-to-fighter brief would be "...WEDGE/BOMBS, IN EAST, OFF SOUTH, SORT WEST."
To execute the attack, begin in Wedge formation. When FL calls "IN", the WM should check-turn at FL's roll-in point. Approaching FL's roll-in point, the WM clears FL's six, deconflicts flightpaths, scans for threats, and maneuvers to his own base position. When the WM observes FL executing his SEM, he rolls in and executes his own attack. After coming off the target, FL arcs the target, clearing the WM's six and scanning for threats. As the WM performs his SEM, FL reverses his turn toward the egress heading and the WM rejoins to Wedge.
476th members: don't forget to comply with the priorities as prescribed in the appropriate egress contract.
A variation of this attack can be flown with Suppressor/Shooter roles. In this case, the Suppressor employs the 30mm gun or 2.75" rockets from standoff range in order to suppress the target while the Shooter maneuvers to deliver LDGP or CBU from off-axis. On 476th DS missions, suppression is an effective tactic that will cause the AI to button-up/hunker-down.
Fighter-to-Fighter comms for the modified attack would be "...WEDGE/GUNS/BOMBS, SUPPRESSOR/SHOOTER, IN EAST, OFF SOUTH, SORT WEST."
Typical deliveries for the Suppressor include the 30/45 HAS, LRS, and 45 HATR. Typical deliveries for the Shooter include 30/45 DB and 30/45HADB.