{"id":773,"date":"2025-07-04T22:28:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T22:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/?p=773"},"modified":"2025-07-04T22:28:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T22:28:42","slug":"the-air-force-is-arming-pilots-with-this-longer-range-stand-off-rifle-to-use-if-theyre-ever-shot-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/2025\/07\/04\/the-air-force-is-arming-pilots-with-this-longer-range-stand-off-rifle-to-use-if-theyre-ever-shot-down\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force is arming pilots with this longer-range, stand-off rifle to use if they\u2019re ever shot down"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Air Force combat search and rescue personnel practice recovering a downed pilot. With the help of a new, compact rifle, aircrew shot down over enemy territory will have more fire power, at longer distances, than ever before. (Air Force)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Air Force isn\u2019t necessarily known for its small arms programs, but\u00a0aircrews\u00a0<\/a>are about to get a longer range stand-off rifle to use if they are ever shot down\u00a0behind enemy lines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The weapon is officially named the GAU-5A Aircrew Self Defense Weapon. It\u2019s a variant of the\u00a0M4 carbine<\/a>\u00a0with a modified quick-release barrel designed by Cry Havoc, according to Maj. Docleia Gibson, an\u00a0Air Combat Command<\/a>\u00a0spokeswoman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [GAU-5A] and four full magazines, 30 rounds [each], must all fit in the ejection seat survival kit,\u201d Gibson said in an emailed statement. \u201cThis has driven the dimension of 16 x 14 x 3.5 inches.\u201d<\/p>\n

That design gives pilots 120 rounds \u2014 about two magazines shy of a full load-out on a ground troop\u2019s personal kit \u2014 during an evasion scenario.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Air Force combat search and rescue personnel practice recovering a downed pilot. With the help of a new, compact rifle, aircrew shot down over enemy territory will have more fire power, at longer distances, than ever before. (Air Force) The Air Force isn\u2019t necessarily known for its small arms programs, but\u00a0aircrews\u00a0are about to get a longer range stand-off rifle to use if they are ever shot down\u00a0behind enemy lines. The weapon is officially named the GAU-5A Aircrew Self Defense Weapon. It\u2019s a variant of the\u00a0M4 carbine\u00a0with a modified quick-release barrel designed by Cry Havoc, according to Maj. Docleia Gibson, an\u00a0Air Combat Command\u00a0spokeswoman. \u201cThe [GAU-5A] and four full magazines, 30 rounds [each], must all fit in the ejection seat survival kit,\u201d Gibson said in an emailed statement. \u201cThis has driven the dimension of 16 x 14 x 3.5 inches.\u201d That design gives pilots 120 rounds \u2014 about two magazines shy of a full load-out on a ground troop\u2019s personal kit \u2014 during an evasion scenario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visionzone.designswebs.com\/cryhavoctac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}