USAF New Rapid Dragon Weapon: A C17 Launching 45 Cruise Missiles

[@willracer1jz]

I'm a retired USAF C-130 Crew Chief, as much as we want to take credit for yeeting the parachute out, that's the Loadmasters job. The equipment we maintain lets the Loadmaster yeet the parachute.

[@NexAura1]

And that chodemaster, ahem load master, is probably an E-4-E-6, lol.

[@G4Disco]

Came here to say this as well.

[@dremwolf5419]

As a former F-111A Crew Chief I was going to post the same. But you Flying Crew Chiefs would have a better chance at assisting with the deployment than us fighter CC's.

[@letsexplainit5479]

I can't wait for them to do supersonic missiles in it lol

[@SilverSix]

Former 141 crew. The Loadmaster is God in the cargo compartment. He pulls the trigger then its time…

[@Raccoonactual]

Never thought I'd see the day that a regular C-130 would one up a AC-130. Could you imagine the AAR between the 2 crews? AC-130- " yeah, we leveled a few buildings in such and such town with the 105". C-130 crew- "that's cute, we deleted 45 buildings all over the country in seconds"

[@44R0Ndin]

Seconds nothing, the missiles do take a long time to reach their targets since they're subsonic. But yeah if you planned the flight paths just right, I suppose you could have them all enter their final attack phase at roughly the same time. So overall I guess it depends on what exactly you mean by "in seconds". Is it "time from launch to destruction"? Or is it "time elapsed from first destroyed target to last destroyed target"?

[@Raccoonactual]

@@44R0Ndin figure of speech bud.

[@44R0Ndin]

@@Raccoonactual Oh I know it's a figure of speech, I was just trying to point out that technically you're not using it right.

[@itsjustmoney9039]

@@44R0Ndin I bet you’re lots of fun at parties

[@44R0Ndin]

@@itsjustmoney9039 Who said I had any interest in going to parties in the first place? 🙃

[@JohnMastrangelo]

I'm a recently retired aerospace engineer/defence contractor who spent his career working cutting edge shit and I will say this: For every crazy idea that comes to fruition (like this), there are 100 more that some genius/nutcase engineer hatched and spent years working on. God bless America.

[@mercwiththemouthsnewphone6798]

The backlog of psycho ideas the military is potentially interested in must be giant

[@victorkreig6089]

Skunkworks solved every single possible military obstacle from 1940 until the end of human history and 99.999998% of it is locked up and will never see the light of day

[@BrianTurner-m5r]

I mean i can only imagine how many ideas were just plain terrible to come to find out its fucking bullet proof and retard proof perfect for our service members. As a marine ejection seat mechanic. Even our pilots figure out how to break shit.

[@astartesfanboy5294]

My conscience and sanity leaving my body as I see the job offer from Lockheed Martin

[@deanfowlkes]

It’s not stupid if it works.

[@jwayneair]

Brings new meaning to ‘warheads on foreheads’. It’s like the Amazon Prime of warfare.

[@donaldploger5630]

Ya, you should market the hell out of that phrase

[@soonerfrac4611]

Hercules home delivery service.

[@Bobcat_X]

That takes "1-day rush" to a new level

[@Reniu87]

Yup dragon prime right there! Nice catch phrase man!

[@Ratkill9000]

Just air drop it anywhere within a 600mi radius.

[@AircraftSparky]

Just some corrections: it would be the loadmaster who would deploy Rapid Dragon and a Staff Sergeant (SSgt) in the Air Force is an E-5. However, anyone can become a loadmaster upon initial entry… so an E-3 (A1C) could be responsible for dropping Rapid Dragon out of the cargo plane. So some 18 year old kid straight out of Tech School could be launching his explosive bukkake all over the faces of America’s enemies.

[@the_fat_electrician]

ya I had army in my head I corrected It in the pinned comment that's my bad

[@ReustersPlace]

I think the explosive Bukkake was the perfect sentence enhancement. Well done!

[@jonf9633]

Dude, explosive bukkake isn't a phrase I knew I needed.

[@AircraftSparky]

@@the_fat_electrician oh you’re good, I think there’s a good joke to be had with explosive Bukkake and Loadmaster there though. Love your work man!

[@acewing1]

Correction: he'd probably be like 19 or 20 by the time he's out of schooling and actually allowed to drop anything out of a plane on his own

[@johno1544]

What a brilliant concept for a weapon system that can use any of a large number of cargo planes without any special modifications. Who ever came up with this definitely needs a raise.

[@shok24199]

Whoever came up with this probably makes a mint at Lockheed or Raytheon.

[@honorguardsfencingclub7322]

It was first done by Wile E. Coyote, from a balloon, with a bedsheet full of little winged firecrackers. Yes, the Roadrunner was unharmed.

[@nekotrashwillnyanforcash]

@@honorguardsfencingclub7322 I read unharmed as unarmed at first and thought Wile E. Coyote was now striking civilian targets.

[@matthew1995king]

​@@shok24199it's just recycling and old capability of the c130 but with modern smart weapons instead of nukes...

[@MrSwccguy]

Marine enlisted? Lmao yeah right

[@MrWWIIBuff]

This also plays off of target prioritization of the other side. If you have a limited amount of SAM missiles, are you going to target bombers, fighters, attack aircraft or cargo planes? Normally you'd prioritize the ones known for bad guy to bologna mist technology, not the one bringing MRE's to Forces. This means they second guess every thing the shoot at.

[@Cannon2541]

I mean, you'll be guessing which second you die, I suppose

[@bohba13]

@@StefanHundhammer oh yeah, this is full scale rapid saturation of enemy air defence. this is meant to be used in the opening days of a war desert storm style.

[@taemien9219]

If the enemy blows up the ride carrying chili-mac MREs, there's going to be hell on earth, I guarantee that.

[@blackmoon8459]

@@StefanHundhammer no, it’s more about which targets the bad guys go after first. Prior to this, the bad guys would target something like a bomber first, to eliminate some of that retaliation ability. Now though, when a cargo plane can launch a retaliatory strike, you either have to open yourself up to higher risk, or devote more resources to taking out airfields. But wait, the C-130 can operate from unimproved fields, aka dirt roads that are wide enough.

[@stevenjones6744]

@@taemien9219 because I'd be hungry. And chef boyardee only lasts so long. 😂

[@the_fat_electrician]

New Merch in the merch store!: -"BUH" -keyboard warrior - "Only Doors" Benelli m4 -Coffee Mugs -Flags ALSO I made a mistake. E6 in the USAF is Tech Sgt, not Staff Sgt. it's also a load master yeeting the parachute, not the crew chief. I apologize. I had Army stuck in my head filming, apparently.

[@havokvladimirovichstalinov]

Still waiting for a Rubber Quackbang

[@TheNinjaman97]

Your good. And btw loadmasters can be as low as E3. Now let that sink in

[@soonerfrac4611]

My Jeep *definitely* needs a quack bang duck!

[@scythelord]

Also at 2:33 you said "I'm trying to tell you a single C-130 can drop 45 cruise missiles from 600 miles away" when you really should have said C-17, as just a while before you said a C-130 could carry 3 pallets of 6 missiles each (18 total) and the C-17 could carry 5 pallets of 9 missiles each. (45 total)

[@connorwalsh7033]

Rubber quack bang mouse

[@christianporter3638]

No lie, this is one of the greatest short form videos I’ve ever seen. Engaging, edited well and most of all witty AF. Excellent

[@the_fat_electrician]

thank you! I appreciate that

[@rideshareog]

What Bob said...

[@AfricanLionBat]

​@@the_fat_electricianI've loaded this missile onto the F15E and I've seen what this weapon can do. It's one of the smartest weapons I've seen and I was shocked when I heard what it can do. I'll only tell you this, be thankful it's ours and not our enemies because if you make a mistake targeting, it'll call you a fucking idiot and suggest a "change in flight pattern."

[@christopherskipp1525]

Witty, depends on what one finds to be witty.

[@scythelord]

It's getting even better. The AGM-158B-2 variant, also known as the JASSM:XR, has an increased range of 1200 miles. The unit cost increased to 1.5 million per missile but can put warheads on foreheads from over twice as far away. The military will take delivery of the improved missiles next year.

[@MisterW0lfe]

that's out of a bomber, where you already have forward momentum. These will be deployed falling more or less straight down from parachuted silo packs. so you lose some range, halving the "official" range of the munition (since we both know the actual range is much longer than listed publicly) is a reasonable expectation.

[@scythelord]

@@MisterW0lfe No, the AGM-158B-2 is compatible with Rapid Dragon and will be deployed in such systems. Rapid Dragon fires the AGM-158B. AGM-158B-2 is the second range extending upgrade to the AGM-158 missile family. The missile itself has a 1200 mile range. Forward momentum has nothing to do with it.

[@sparrow9990]

Imagine the c5 with 190 of these. U could litterly destroy the entire Chinese airforce and army with 1 load if they didnt shoot like half of em down so we could litterly destroy the shit out of china by shooting their airfields and bases n shit with these. I'd get like 5 c5s like right now if I had the chance and just destroy the entire Chinese military with em then just do a land invasion. War won with very minimal friendly losses

[@chriswhite3692]

@@MisterW0lfe Lol what? The speed of the bomber is going to be so much more than the speed of a cargo plane that it's going to hurl a cruise missile an extra 600 miles by forward momentum/inertia? B1 speed: 950mph C17 speed: 590 mph

[@tenchraven]

@@chriswhite3692 You have a point, but you miss one- the pallatized launch system of Rapid Dragon is effectively nill at firing. But the speed of the platform is a minor variable, altitude is much more important. THAT is why bombers have better range, the JASSM has more time to fall once it's ballistic.

[@thelonehunter6025]

The scariest part about this weapon system is that those pallets can also be equipped with the new LRASM anti ship stealth missiles we are currently using. In other words assuming all of the missiles hit their target and we were to go to war with China tomorrow 3 C-17s with Rapid Dragon could sink half or more of the entire Chinese Fleet in 24 hours. And if we're just talkin the normal JASSM cruise missile rapid Dragon would be the ultimate method for the US to conduct anti SAM operations since they could deploy their cruise missiles with targeting data to strike enemy SAM batteries from standoff ranges where they wouldn't be able to take out our cargo aircraft. This would allow us the ability to destroy an entire enemy frontline's SAM coverage and essentially give us air superiority on a silver platter allowing us to bombard the front line and clean house with just about any opponent that doesn't have a counter to this weapon system. And to be honest if every single cruise missile only costs a million dollars that is extremely cost-effective if it means we can secure constant air superiority. PS. This also means that once we mass-produce this weapon system will double our bomber Fleet overnight forcing the enemy to have to Target every single aircraft we own not just our bombers. Spreading their Air Force thin.

[@anggisuwandi2404]

Also don't forget after the war is over America gonna have another headache and that was *the Legendary national debt*

[@dustinbrueggemann1875]

@@anggisuwandi2404 The bulk of the US national debt is to its own citizenry, and for every dollar we owe somebody, somebody else owes us at least 65 cents. It's a big number, but it's not really that spooky

[@doughesson]

As if the current National Command Authority has the stones to stand up to his Chinese masters.

[@troybaxter]

​@@anggisuwandi2404 That's why we should end the war as quickly as possible.

[@corellonable]

selling these weapons to Taiwan so they can use their own AA-saturated airspace to delete the Chinese Navy sounds like a fucking bargain im sorry @@anggisuwandi2404

[@hungriestshark8370]

E-6 in air force is tech sergeant, but just an fyi which may insult enemies more, is that crew cheif is a job, not a title, so an E-1 can be a crew chief, that means that a kid who graduated basic within that year, as long as he's done with on the job training within that year and i don't know how long that is for crew chiefs, could be the one sending those 45 missiles out of the plane.

[@Lomion]

C-130 to AC-130: "Imagine having to get close to your target."

[@jakestaples93]

Funny that the ac130 still has the loading door and room for a pallet or two. Usually extra ammo but who knows now....😉

[@kerbalairforce8802]

@@jakestaples93 Modern AC-130Js can carry 10 griffin missiles, and 8 laser guided bombs, or 8 Hellfire missiles, or 4 of both.

[@Kevin-fj5oe]

​@Kerbal AirForce but do they carry 45 cruise missile?

[@Dustin277]

Nerds

[@Arcalargo]

6 x 3 = 18 The C-17 can carry 45, not the C-130

[@MinnesotaCouchpotato]

This reminds me of the Honor Harrington series. They had ships designed to carry numerous disposable pods full of missiles. The intent was to create a broadside containing enough missiles to overwhelm the target's electronic countermeasures and point defense. I love it when sci-fi becomes reality.

[@tenchraven]

When this concept was proposed in the 70s it was considered to sci-fi so it was shelved. Then the guidance capabilities caught up.

[@mmasque2052]

That makes C-17s the first podnaughts?

[@panachevitz]

@@mmasque2052 Actually........yes! I mean, technically it would be the equivalent of the Q-ship that she commands in Silesia, but yes.

[@HeroicCid]

Thumbs up just for the Honor Harrington call back.

[@TheRenegadeMarine]

The good ol DN(P) and then the MSK (at the time) figured out they could basically build a missle revolver with wings and give it stealth tech

[@stevengrindle5336]

Crew Chief is the ground mechanic. Load Master (yes that is really their title) would be the one who sets up the parachute to deploy in flight. They also push the button on the panel once the pilot says green light. In the Air Force E-6 is a Technical Sgt and E-5 is a Staff Sgt. Last thing, a large majority of the Load Masters that work these planes are E-4 and below.

[@jamesbell6978]

Agreed. I used to be a C-5 loadmaster, but we didn't do airdrop.

[@robertalexander5892]

It figures that the E-4 Mafia would have their fingers/hands in here somewhere.

[@SegaRihdan]

This is proof our entire military *gruntwork* system needs a raise, like a big one for doing great work under horrible management.

[@the_fat_electrician]

fax

[@patrickscott1487]

@@the_fat_electrician Does management use fax? That might be part of the communication issue.

[@argentshrike516]

@@the_fat_electrician faxing is outdated

[@ayaxmcgill635]

My brother in Christ, 800 BILLION DOLLARS

[@thehellsage]

@@ayaxmcgill635 I think he means the actual front-liners, like that E-6 crew chief.

[@Lemongruntplace]

Despite that I am your Russian subscriber, Fat Electrician, i must admit that Uncle Sam’s Arsenal of Democracy capabilities always blowing up my mind God bless you all, who watch this channel,in hope to learn something new about Uncle Sam’s Freedom Delivery Service

[@Sapphiregamer8605]

We got an entire freedom garden of freedom seeds!

[@richardbossman9875]

I think equally as dangerous is the fact that not only can simple cargo planes act as launching platforms for these middles but there is nothing saying a C17 couldn’t drop a few pallets of the off to soften a target and when it gets a wee bit closer drop a battalion of Rangers to mop up what’s left.

[@patrickoviatt2432]

Another amazing American "Door Knocker"

[@VainerCactus0]

I don't think you could fit a battalion of infantry on one of these, even if you were not also loading pallets. You might need different planes for that. Besides, I think the air defence environment would not be suitable for an aircraft like this getting within parachute ranges. Unless there is a way for Rangers to glide hundreds of kilometres and follow those cruise missiles.

[@ArchieBl3h]

@@VainerCactus0 You're right. Can only fit 102 paratroopers. but i found this: Also that day, C-17 01-0186 from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Al Udeid Air Base transported 823 Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport on a single flight, setting a new reco

[@williamcastillo2312]

The Power washing business needs its own video.

[@the_fat_electrician]

😄 🤣

[@joeojeda4651]

Yesssss please 😂

[@miguelmederos8634]

Absolutely!

[@mobilemechanic7700]

BRUH, so much yes!!!

[@davidthorp01]

To be fair, we need to do a video on Napalm or all manner of incendiary hell spawn.

[@chriswithrow3107]

"Drop shipping freedom!" 🇺🇲

[@soda366]

This gives a whole new perspective to the 20+ C-17s that fly over charleston sc harbor as a demonstration/training every few years. charleston AFB has absolutely zero issue putting every C-17 they have in the air within minutes

[@willb5278]

Ever considered doing an episode on Skunkworks? 'Its not a War Crime the First Time' is essentially their motto.

[@the_fat_electrician]

I'm sure I will at some point

[@spartanonxy]

I think their motto is more "Its not a warcrime if no one knew it happened".

[@windwalker5765]

"Planes so crazy people think we're aliens."

[@mndlessdrwer]

Skunkworks is surprisingly communist about airspace. Russia: "Get out of my airspace!" SR-71: "OUR airspace"

[@John_Conner222]

3:37 can you imagine you are outside on the farm in the mountains sipping, your coffee, admiring your work while taking a break, then all of a sudden a massive piece of steel scaffolding just smashes either into your tractor, house, truck, or even you, from out of nowhere.

[@jeffjahns1974]

Thats what I came here to say. Can you imagine the damage in a metropolitan area from just the shipping pallets of 45 of those things falling from 20k feet?!?!

[@jackhunington4340]

Well I'd assume you could drop it in an area without and buildings or people considering the 600 mile range, you could also drop them over the ocean and the go recover the scaffolding

[@Hawkertempest1]

It's called collateral damage.....get over it.

[@jeffcauhape6880]

And just to be real dicks about it, we should stencil on the pallet: "Please recycle responsibly"

[@Aredel]

That’s why they have the parachute

[@Brainchild110]

In 2022 the newest JAASM, designated "XR", started production. It's range is +1000 miles. Daaayum!

[@generalrendar7290]

This should also work for deploying decoys with a strike package as well. Increasing the odds of successful strikes on targets and the exposure of enemy defense radars.

[@quillo2747]

Just add more $1.5 million missiles, armed decoys are polite decoys

[@friendlysnoworb6091]

@@quillo2747 exactly, if you add more missiles there's more potential for missiles to hit and do damage

[@IsraelMilitaryChannel]

Adding decoys in this case is a waste of space. I would rather have 45 real missiles than 35 real missiles and 10 decoys. 45 real missiles has more chance of hitting. However if it's 10 planes carrying 5 pallets each, and only 1-2 pallet consist of real missiles in each plane and the rest are decoys then it would be really effective saving cost while wasting your enemies air defense missiles. Another way is to send in the first wave of planes to strike with all decoys, second wave decoys too, and third wave with real missiles etc.. this also intentionally waste the enemy's air interceptor missiles.

[@Chancellor_dumb]

Christ that's scary thinking dummies,decoys and live missiles overwhelming the AD mapping it for us to later attack with harm strikes or just more of these and making the strike on target accurately

[@nekotrashwillnyanforcash]

@@IsraelMilitaryChannel Decoys don't have to be the same size and weight as the real missile so it doesn't have to play out like you suggested.

[@ilesbird]

Forklift Certified = Armament Specialist, Crew Chief = Lead Bombardier, Cargo Pilot = Freedom Delivery Officer

[@Schnozwangler]

Hey now, just because you can drive a jammer doesn’t mean you’re forklift certified😄

[@masterpooshi6031]

Freedom???

[@theangryotaku3361]

@@masterpooshi6031 free from this plane of existance

[@boredwoodelf]

@@Schnozwangler I mean i was both at one point... They tried to get me trained on the big brother version of the jammer... but they decided against it because it wasnt critical I knew how to drive it... but for some reason a forklift was because when will the tool crib ever need to use a forklift

[@ianshaver8954]

As far as I’ve seen, the Achilles heel of stealth aircraft so far seems to be payload. If you look at the F-35 or B-23, they don’t carry that much stuff compared to pre-stealth generations. In an air war, the difficult first step is establishing air dominance, which requires you to eliminate enemy anti air and aircraft. I think we’ll end up pairing cargo aircraft with this system with the extremely stealthy sensor platform that is the F-35 to end enemy integrated air defenses.

[@arkhaan7066]

While that is true, look at the f-22 vs the f-15 trials.

[@senseisecurityschool9337]

​@@arkhaan7066You mean the ones where they locked the F-22's targeting system to only be able to fire straight ahead (it can normally fire any direction), put in last-gen avionics, then had it *dog fight* unrestricted F-15s?

[@senseisecurityschool9337]

It was like saying "army sniper vs Hollywood actor", then you take away the sniper'a gun, blindfold him, and have him arm wrestle Jason Mamoa.

[@arkhaan7066]

@@senseisecurityschool9337 except that none of that happened, the f-22 was left capable, and it won handedly which was my point. The entire point I was making was that while they have less of a payload, the stealth lets them maximize that payload and win against more heavily armed targets.

[@senseisecurityschool9337]

@@arkhaan7066 Sounds like you're talking about a different test than I was thinking of.

[@Shadow952013]

The Oprah of missle delivery systems "YOU GET A MISSILE! YOU GET A MISSILE! YOU GET A MISSILE! EVERYONE GETS A MISSILE!!!"

[@denniscale1538]

Oprah would have to talk about it and make it a 3 part series!

[@Reepicheep-1]

Not just cargo planes: every Osprey/VTOL, every heavy-lift copter, anything that can lift the pallet is now a mobile cruise missle silo. 🤩

[@lgmmrm]

"Oh, it's just a King Stall- OH MY GOD IT'S A KING STALLION."

[@thomasschulz2167]

Just need to modify a 747 with a rear facing cargo door. Bring a whole new level to the term "Saturation Bombing". One 747 would have more fire power than most countries...

[@MrJakeros]

@@thomasschulz2167 Let me put my stupid cap on for a sec. Aren't military cargo planes bigger than commercial airliners? Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

[@alexreitler]

​@@MrJakeros after some googling, I found these numbers for cargo capacity of some military and civilian planes: C-130 H: 19 tonnes B52: 28 tonnes 747: 128 tonnes A380: 150 tonnes (Note: few civilian airliners have rear loading doors, so dropping bombs like in the video might not be possible) Also RIP An-225

[@cane6074]

Think of the sheer volume of cruise missile those things could fire such a short amount of time! All they have to do is just deploy the missles, land or hover off the ground, ground crews just attaché the pellets to the chopper, and begin the process all over again. Just imagine amount of damage a flight of heavy lifters could do. They could be used almost anywhere, which would make detecting them much more difficult! This could also allow it to to be done at a relativity close but safe distance from the frontline, allowing the missles to go much further into enemy territory!

[@MM22966]

Ironically, this idea was put forth in a science-fiction novel over thirty years ago; The Prince of Sparta by Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling. (Falkenberg's Legion). The missile was called Thor, and they described it as "rolling missiles" (off the ramp). Terminal guidance was supplied by special forces teams.

[@Sorain1]

I have to admit, the Military-Industrial Complex's continued "So this sci-fi story had this fun idea-" leading to real systems remains one of the most smiling inducing things in the world for me.

[@MM22966]

@@Sorain1 I want a light saber.

[@Techno_Idioto]

@@MM22966 Wait a few years, the U.S MIC will figure it out somehow.

[@MM22966]

@@Techno_Idioto There was this one in Britain, a hobbyist, but his version had a cord attached. Major bummer.

[@5peciesunkn0wn]

@@MM22966 the first forms of lightsabers did have cords! They didn't have powersupplies small enough to fit inside the handles, so all lightsaber wielders had power packs on their belts. Well. In the Expanded Universe anyway. Not sure if Disney got rid of it like everything else.

[@SoPG13]

Great video as usual, just some minor corrections. E6 in the Air Force is called a Technical Sergeant. Crew chiefs are maintainers that fly with the plane incase something breaks during a mission, I belive you meant Loadmasters aka pajama-wearing flight stewardesses. Also, one pallet is rated to hold 10, 365 lbs and a C17 can hold 11 pallets in center line configuration or ADS and in LGS 18...that is a lot of hate that can be shot out the back. Lastly, this airframe can also carry up to 150,000 lbs during wartime and with wavers can carry a lot more. Again, Keep it up the great work!

[@DerekAKApillz]

At least someone caught that

[@Randomnocluedude]

Also, Crew Chiefs usually stay on the ground. It’s the Loadmasters that yeet pallets out the back.

[@SoPG13]

@@Randomnocluedudeyour right, but technically loadmaster’s are the ones that babysit the cargo that Port Dawgs load for them.

[@zachhoefs9543]

I haven't seen anything about this weapon system talking about this, but it could be that 9 pallets is the current limit of the system.

[@toakongu1]

they ain't your run of the mill 4x4 ft pallets either

[@jklappenbach]

$35M is less than half of a single F35. It's a rounding error for the B2, or even the B21. It's like, maintenance. Rapid Dragon is a brilliant move for the USAF.

[@Er19421]

The Air Force has also begun a technology feasibility study on blended wing tanker and cargo aircraft, a body plan that is both capable of multiplying the cargo capacity and weight limits of these planes by using lifting bodies, but also one that can be optimized for stealth. So… I guess we can probably expect rapid dragon systems to extend their service life far into the future even as anti-air defenses become more advanced.

[@michaelyoung7261]

The cost to salary comparison reminded me of the sealant that we use at the water research lab I work at. One sausage tube that fits into the caulk gun cost $15 a pop. We usually get boxes of 20. I make just under $14. We easily use the entire sausage in under a minute when laying down flooring to make the boxes for the dam models we build.

[@sharkbowers6035]

As a c17 crew chief im an e3 and the flying guys are usually e4-6 so yeah your not wrong, i automatically love my job more now, i may have the back pain of a 50 year old at 19 but bad guy to bologna mist technology brightens my day

[@sharkbowers6035]

As the 50 year old father of the 19 year old c17 crew chief, I am exceedingly proud of the man he's become and the choices he's made. Glad that he's excited and loves the job he's chosen.

[@crewdoglm]

Awesome. Couple corrections from USAF retired aircrew guy: The crew absolutely does require training for air drop which is a separate qualification requiring a check/eval. The loadmaster not the crew chief does air drop.

[@Chard-O]

Wiley E. Coyote would be so proud. These are some serious ACME rockets!!

[@Ladco77]

This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time. These might be expensive per missile, but how much does it cost per shot yeeted out of a cargo plane compared to loading it onto a separate bomber and deploying it old school? This might even end up being cheaper overall.

[@cordellpatrick9517]

Especially if you consider the loss potential of any bomber while flying with them

[@BU1Lander]

Honestly, from all the cost he (TFE) quoted, these are already relatively inexpensive munitions... Yeah, sure, to the normal, average, everyday person it is expensive as shit, but as modern military munitions go, they really don't cost too much.

[@sladeb6036]

@@BU1Lander to the modern military these are probably free in their mind.

[@jarink1]

The main problem with schemes like this is that it takes a valuable transport plane away from (arguably more) important logistical duties. The USAF's cargo carrying abilities are already stretched thin.

[@hazardousfury]

@@jarink1 these aren't going to be used past the opening move of a war. They're gonna fly a dozen C-130's in front of the main fighting force launch off like 500 of these things seek and destroy style at max standoff and when the air defenses light up to try and knock em out of the sky the forces behind those cargo planes are going to flatten the air defense and roll up like they own the place (Because they do now)

[@MarkHasara]

Really enjoy watching your content Brother! Rapid Dragon is a game changer in the Pacific. Image an invasion in Country X and C-17s leave Base Y loaded with these and LRASM!

[@tringalij]

Sweet man. I was working on this back in the day for C-17s. But some fixes for ya, no, that’s not a crew chief that’s a loadmaster and guess what the median rank for an airdrop loadmaster is? Senior Airman. But don’t worry, the C-17 does that drop itself when it’s set for auto, or the copilot does it in manual (pilot monitoring technically). Good stuff man. I did airdrop testing for S/LRALT back in 04 ish launching the top of a Minuteman II ICBM from 25,000 feet as a test.

[@jimbobsmith2496]

I wanted to say the same, that and a E6 is a Tech Sargent

[@MCSgt117]

Hey Man, I remember those shots posted in the unit of the ICBM being airdropped. This seems like it would be a more common tactic considering the frequency we use ICBMs.

[@PhycoKrusk]

The only reason this is less terrifying than it could be is that it has a conventional warhead. I bring up now the W89. Never went into production, but it would have weighed 145 kilograms, well within the JASSM's payload limit, and had a yield of 200 kilotons, or about 10 Nagasakis. The C-17 can carry 45 JASSMs in this Rapid Dragon configuration. Have fun with that.

[@jlokison]

The United States has greatly diminished its inventory of nuclear ballistic missiles. Because it makes us look nice, and the older ones are a pain to maintain ready to go. Besides with our new toys we don't need them to wipe someone off the map.

[@Kumquat_Lord]

I still think the SLAM is still a bit scarier

[@davidthorp01]

So, let’s play the game; what if they develop something similar for a rainy day and just don’t tell anyone. You put that payload in the Rapid Dragon configuration, and then you play “Where’s the ball” with C-130s all over the tac map so now the enemy has zero clue which one holds a Sunrise Dragon, Normal Dragon, or Uncle Sam’s Undies. Reaaaal fun now.

[@jwayneair]

A bit of a tangent along the nuke topic, look up W23, the Navy’s 20kt 16” shell for Iowa-class BBs. Only 50 were made. It was derived from the W19, 20kt shell for a special 11” howitzer.

[@Troy_Built]

Only capable of conventional. That's what they tell us and they would never lie.

[@christopher3406]

“It’s never a war crime the first time.“ Loved it. lol. Enjoy your content and energy. Keep it up.

[@jakobgrayson1039]

"We will now be deploying cruise missiles by the pallet" *Happy POG noises*

[@the_fat_electrician]

😄 🤣

[@jakobgrayson1039]

@@the_fat_electrician I heard they were gonna use 3x3 tubes of DIs instead of missiles but Geneva considered it "cruel and unusual punishment....for the enemy'

[@vitamink2211]

Happy grunt noises too

[@xscaliersolid1194]

@@jakobgrayson1039 OK, hear me out - we put the DIs INSIDE the missiles, and we deprive them of their coffee.

[@arnoldsherrill2585]

Can you imagine going to your local Air Force recruiting station, a few years down the road, and they add this to part of the job description for for loadmaster, and someone actually uses a piece of the fat electrician's video, as part of the explanation of what some of the jobs a loadmaster can do!?

[@jonmittlsteadt4297]

I don't know what's more surprising the fact that this exists, or the fact it's not been tried until now 🤣

[@the_fat_electrician]

exactly my thought

[@kbar150]

Has not been tried That we know of. .

[@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76]

this is just the version that worked

[@Mike-ukr]

The USSR had developed this exact system, but decided it wasn't useful

[@mpk6664]

The USSR and the US have done similar things like this, just not with cruise missiles that I know of. Both and MOAB and FOAB can be dropped from cargo planes.

[@katamekothriis1613]

0:53 That cut killed me, absolutely hilarious!!!

[@jdtheone]

Seen this before but your explanations are always better and funnier soooo I prefer yours because they are much easier to understand so thank you and keep up with the great videos 🤣🤣👍

[@the_fat_electrician]

thank you I'm glad you like um!

[@fuzzyhead878]

This is beautiful. Also do you think you can do a video about the time the Air Force considered making 747s into airborne aircraft carriers?

[@baldieman64]

Not to mention the 747 CMCA program.

[@fuzzyhead878]

@@baldieman64 Looked that up. That also sound amazing. Now if we could have convinced Europe to do stuff with the A380…

[@cjthenarhwalking1378]

If you think the 747 mothership is crazy just look up the Lockheed CL-1201.

[@bodin1912]

@@cjthenarhwalking1378 oh %@#$! That plane would be huge. An 1,120 ft wingspan? The wingspan is a Boeing 747-8 is 224 ft 7 inches

[@cjthenarhwalking1378]

@@bodin1912 exactly. It was designed just to see how large an aircraft could be.

[@KenKill]

As an army veteran this is hilarious 🇺🇸 🥂Too the boys in the lab you’ve out done yourselves.

[@jamesj1523]

First time watching anything from you and was laughing for half of it. Loved the commentary and "random" flight paths. What a great video. Cant wait to watch more.

[@badrobot2478]

@jamesj1523 he has a lot of stuff for you to catch up on,my favourites are the"submarine that sank a train"&"dreadnought gangsta lean".

[@airgunshooterssyndicate103]

Yes the best on KZbin made my day thank you

[@the_fat_electrician]

thank yoy!!

[@121stFleet]

Love your videos, please keep them coming Having been in the USAF, the guy handling the cargo area is a “loadmaster” and staff sergeant is E5 (Technical Sergeant is E6) but up to E8 can be loadmasters. Not trying to be the “helmet guy with a keyboard” but trying to give aid!

[@Kcheeseboro]

It seems like we are our only competition. Puts a whole new meaning on financial aid 😂😂😂

[@the_fat_electrician]

indeed

[@SouthTexasGaming17]

Another example is during the gulf war when coalition warships launched cruise missiles at Baghdad from the coast and they flew all the way there even with the mountains around them and hit their targets without being shot down nor probably recognized

[@gsellis]

David Weber must deserve credit for this. In the Honorverse, the pod launching ships were a turning point. I am sure someone read his books.

[@filanfyretracker]

something else to look up which sadly there is not a terrible pile of info on because it never left the concept on paper stage. Boeing once proposed a 747 Cruse Missile carrier, apparently it could carry 72 missiles in the design.

[@kevinhyler2474]

What's even more terrifying is most large commercial airliners can be converted to drop these in smaller portions. Just imagine a whole fleet of domestic flights rolling up and yeeting these out the back door.. Puts a whole new perspective on the name Spirit Airlines.

[@KoneSuitt]

That spirit airlines ref. at the end def. deserves a like.

[@danielstephens7416]

Large commercial airliners don't have back doors.

[@kevinhyler2474]

@danielstephens7416 hence why I said converted. all american commercial airliners have conversions to be fitted for military application. In the event of a massive scale war It's a fail safe should something happen to our airforce. Commercial airliners can be converted in about a month while something like a new C130 would take months to build.

[@KoneSuitt]

@@danielstephens7416 Lmao where does the luggage go then? Sorry I forgot that the airports just mail it.

[@danielstephens7416]

@@kevinhyler2474 I believe that a commercial freighter could be converted to military use in about a month, maybe they could even convert a few in that time. But there's no way that it would be achievable at a strategic scale.

[@wesidk5662]

Everyone says America has no anti ship weapons, but the lrasm which is a stealth cruise missle based on the Jassm meant to sink ships. This fits in rapid dragon and the Navy's Mk41 VLS launchers (each destroyer has 96 VLS cells for missles). Meaning that in the past couple years the US went from no modern anti ship missles to being able to sink any fleet in the world without ever having to shoot a gun or fly a plane

[@Kiite702]

Dear Christ it's beautiful 😍

[@KibuFox]

The Jasm aren't just low profile... they're stealth.

[@brilobox2]

And sea skimming.

[@steeljawX]

WOW! Costco deliveries sure have come a long way! It's one of the most American things ever. It's clearly been bought in bulk if the serving size is measured in "pallets" and no need to get up, we'll bring it to your face for you. What great service.

[@KamekazeKuban]

The Moab walked so that the Rapid Dragon could run

[@scottyV1000]

We could use the MOABs on whatever was left after the first strike. After that all you’ll have left is powder.

[@windwalker5765]

Okay. I'm trying to do the math here. 18x missiles per C-130. 45x per C-17, and an unknown, larger number per C-141 or (dear God) C-5. Between Air Force, Navy, and Marines, we have to have over a thousand cargo planes. That adds up to... all the goddamned missiles getting yeeted at some poor bastards.

[@masterpooshi6031]

You must be a boomer. C141 retired 20 years ago.

[@windwalker5765]

​@@masterpooshi6031 Technically I'm Gen X, but I'm old enough... Been going to airshows since I was a little kid in the late 80s. I remember they used to use Starlifters for battalion size paratrooper drops to open the show.

[@Maktumekal_Ilzrei]

Theoretically you could probably throw these out the back of a Chinook or Ch-53 as well. Might be some duckery with the parachute's interractions with the rotorwash, but yeah.

[@bieuxyongson]

Just another accolade for C-130. I've been retired awhile so these are new to me. Very Kick Butt Awesome. Nice to know we still have a few aces up our sleeves.

[@crayfish9966]

"buh, you listed the incorrect aircraft, buh" C-130 (the one you said) - 3 pallets x 6 missiles = 18 C-17 - 5 pallets x 9 missiles = 45 besides all of that, love your work, makes me laugh every time

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

Imagine a C-5 Galaxy. My dad was in the airforce and worked on one. He says it would be able to hold 250 missiles.

[@arkhaan7066]

@@KaoretheHalfDemon Thats 375 million dollars in under a minute.

[@F15ElectricEagle]

C-5 Galaxy - 1 nuclear ICBM (look up " Air Mobile Feasibly Demonstration").

[@bkbenelli]

Whew, and here I am watching this a few months after and wondering if nobody else caught that! Solid crayfish.

[@ethanmeatzie6179]

Now, see, when you said this was a self contained palletized system, my mind immediately went to the C-5.

[@RedRoofGarage]

I used to work on C-5 and my thought exactly...A plane that can stuff 6 Greyhound buses inside, the LoadMaster would be having a fun time Yeeting it out not a crew chief...Bah lol

[@mikecrabtree8200]

GOT daium I love this channel. This dude knows how to tell a story.NEVER A DULL EPISODE. Booyah quack bang. OUT.

[@johnmcmanus2447]

AC-130: I have a howitzer, a 40mm cannon, and a minigun. C-130: That's cute. Hold my beer.

[@F15ElectricEagle]

C-5: Hold my nuclear ICBM (look up Air Mobile Feasibility Demonstration)

[@grady1134]

This puts a new meaning to the phrase opening up a can of whoop ass. This is a case worth. Great video and keep up with the great content.🍻

[@jlokison]

By the six pack

[@YazzieMcGee]

Its so awesome that I can Smash Like in the first 5 seconds on literally any video on this channel and never regret my decision. Quack Bang 🦆💥 0:05

[@Altoist2000]

Bad Dragon would have been cooler. Take notes Lockheed

[@kaminsod4077]

Whoever's on the receiving end is definitely getting fucked regardless.

[@the117doctor]

... I mean, whatever those cruise missiles lands on will get fucked either way, so...

[@BullGator-kd6ge]

😂 Should I be ashamed that I know exactly what you’re talking about?

[@arnoldsherrill2585]

Actually the name change fits the concept almost perfectly, gives an a entirely new meaning into the phrase" shove it" , from a weapons delivery perspective

[@jjice3863]

If 600 miles is the range of 1 missile the cargo plane can effectively attack any target within a radius of 600. Which means with proper planning u can hit two targets (or more) 1200 miles apart.

[@Urugami45]

This reminds me of a book I read a while back.... It had a thing called a NIRTSat (Need It Right This Second), but instead of cruise missiles, it launched surveillance satellites. Reality is more awesome than fiction, though.

[@Khaos_Bringer]

Now offering to unalive our enemies through express delivery.

[@speedderiv]

Would not be a crew chief, would be a load master. Your videos are fantastic. Keep them coming

[@raigeki4668]

Also E-6 is Tech Sergeant haha

[@steveysimmons13579]

Yup, ex load here. And not even an E-6-, I got air drop qualified as an e-4.

[@gamersoaisis3147]

The JASSAM-XR has about a 1000 mile range. This thing can hit you from a country and a half over. You would never know that a cargo aircraft deployed that missile.

[@Jadefox32]

and then you take 45 and multiply it by the planes

[@Archer957]

This is utterly amazing and I love it

[@jok3r906]

It's terrifying yet oh so much beautiful freedom fire power... I love it

[@Samson373]

Best idea the US military ever had. We need more of this kind of thing -- more creative thinking about ways to leverage existing strengths.

[@cordellpatrick9517]

Could you imagine an AC130 with just 1 of these as it's entrance into the battle field

[@jakestaples93]

Yeah I think the AC130 can load a few pallets not as much as a C130 due to the broadside cannons but yeah I think the might be able to tuck one or two pallets at the very back

[@kerbalairforce8802]

AC-130's can't load pallets to drop. The griffin missile rack and pallet mounted 105mm takes up that space.

[@armoredcoreexile]

This is amazing for reasons I can't explain. I'm so glad we have this tech. This is the kind of stiff on my childhood wishlist.

[@ReallyTrailerTrashed]

I had to read the title 3 times before I realized it didn't say "New Bad Dragon weapon" lol 😂

[@1stCaptainJozura]

New COD callout. "Enemy C-130 taking off."

[@Quinn_J]

When you said that a C-17 could drop 45 of those missiles at once, I had to pause the video to grin like a maniac and chuckle to my self while I thought about how completely and utterly f**ked NATO's enemies are. Great video man!

[@XiloTheOdd]

it is certainly a much more effective bad guy eraser than the physical cash itself. imagine if one could mount just a single on of these to a fighter kinda like a training weight or the fighters version of a PT belt, but once they drop it on a target suddenly everything the enemy thought they knew changes very suddenly.

[@Maktumekal_Ilzrei]

They can be, the individual cruise missiles are cleared for use from F-15E, F16, F/A-18, And likely the F-35 in the near future! In fact, most of these airframes can carry at least 2 of them!

[@arrynyo]

"It's never a war crime the first time" never fails to get me to laugh till I cry

[@Jeff-C-Dallas-Texas]

Your videos are informative and entertaining thanks Jeff

[@jamesmartin5220]

Just an interesting bit of history; Back in the 70's, after Carter canceled the original B-1A program, the Air Force decided to see if it was possible to launch an ICBM from a C-5. Similar sort of concept to the Rapid Dragon. It was tested and yes.... it did work. But the program was stopped after common sense broke out.

[@killman369547]

Can you imagine if a plane went down with one of those missiles onboard. The nuke may not go off but there's still going to be one hell of a conventional explosion. Oh and they were thinking of building a sled/missile carriage that could hold either 2 or 3 of them before the plug got pulled.

[@brentranke7528]

I believe testing was approved as a bargaining chip to get the Russians to sign one of the arms treaties.

[@chrisb7198]

@@killman369547 Aren't there still a few missing nukes we haven't recovered yet?

[@mikem9331]

I'm imagining a 3 ship cell of C5's max loaded with Imagine Dragon's. 500 miles off the coast and lobbing hundreds of missiles at once about 700 miles into the target state. All the while protected by AWACS and invisible F22s. It's a nightmare for our adversaries. Literally unstoppable devastation.

[@CorePathway]

This is why I don’t buy the “China is taking over” bullshit. They have ZERO capability to project power or stay afloat anywhere we don’t want them to be. And even less than zero capability to conduct expeditionary land warfare. “They just launched another cruiser”. Well we just built 200 more cruise missiles, capable of conducting a coordinated simultaneous attack, thus overwhelming any defense system. Of course they likely have similar capabilities. The future does NOT belong to big ass aircraft carriers, but to mothership drones carrying strike drones. Yikes.

[@attilaabonyi8879]

Russia and it's allies:" nooo you can't just lobb missiles out of a cargo plane, pls stooop!" Nato:"hehe cargo plane go brrrrrrrr"

[@MrScrofulous]

But, but, but, China has water missiles, so America loses :))))))))))))

[@petertimmins6657]

The two points furthest away from each other in Texas are El Paso and Orange. They are 713 miles apart. Growing up in Texas we had to take Texas History in Jr High. When they would teach about this fact they would use what was called the Great Circle Map. It was a map of the US with two circles on it. Each had a 713 mile radius and one was centered on El Paso and the other was on Orange. It showed how so many other places in the US were closer to El Paso or Orange than they were to each other. From El Paso westward it ended well off the California coast. From El Paso you are MUCH closer to Los Angeles than to Orange. That might help picture just how far these cruise missiles can go.

[@xdstrongplayz9707]

I wonder how many they could fit in a C-5 🤔

[@ZeroHour8456]

If my guess of total weight of 26,000lbs., for missiles, pallet and the 9 cell frame is somewhat close. Then, by weight alone, 10 pallets in 2 rows of 5.

[@scottyV1000]

@@ZeroHour8456 The only problem is the C5A is pretty easy to see. A bunch of C130s is a lot harder to take out.

[@darkhawkgaming3238]

This is great. This fits the meme "i see no god up here other then me"

[@lukkaredwolf3534]

What just happened is just too good not to share. I have a specific notification tone for my work email address. While I was listening to this video, just as the cargo plane was opening up the rear hatch and letting the pallet out, my work email tone popped off. Reason why it was so great, is that the notification tone is the following: Starts with the sound of a long snort, followed immediately by someone saying, "God said, he'd teach me karate." Just the right mood for the weapon system.

[@justinwilburn688]

Love to see your thoughts on the CL-1201 also know as the Nuclear Powered Flying Attack Carrier. Too bad the idea was canned but I still think it's something worth talking about. Can you imagine a plane that just NEVER lands?

[@cjthenarhwalking1378]

It would land, just every 49 days.

[@KKSuited]

There is no reason to fly anything powered by a nuclear reactor. All aircraft crash eventually, especially ones operated by the military in wartime. You would have to factor in the potential cost of that happening before you could ever deploy it. Do I want to pay for the cost of a nuclear clean up? I was a nuke ET in the Navy so I'm not really coming out of left field. The thought of one in the sky terrifies me.

[@justinwilburn688]

@@KKSuited I understand it's a stupid idea, but so is a nuclear football. I still want to see my favorite electrician do a video on it.

[@ad41340]

This guy makes me love stats.

[@fademusic1980]

cargo planes also typically have the lowest cost per flight hour. this saves a lot of money when you compare fighter and some bomber flight hour costs. the missiles will always cost that much no matter how they are launched

[@diep541]

"Its not a war crime, the first time!".... lol

[@bearcabrera1085]

You need bigger shrts 6xl mens would be nice.

[@MajesticDemonLord]

I mean, at this point - the C-130 is going to be become the Battlespace Superiority 130. And I am totally here for it.

[@brianzhang349]

The BS-130 lmao

[@OR56]

That is the best thing I have seen all day. And those 4 cities where totally random, how could anyone find a correlation between them and the current state of world affairs?

[@ryanlicce7785]

This is an odd comparison but as a Walmart worker it just hits weird that each missile weighs 2200 pounds, that’s near the exact weight of pallets of water, they’re about 2217 pounds if I remember correct, or at least the ones we get the most of are

[@Sorain1]

That's like a fact you'd see in a thriller novel. "That's how they snuck the missiles in, the plane's load indicator was 17 pounds too light!"