RDA vs North Koreans

[Ilya Muromets]

From what I recall, Jake killed the Dragon assault ship by pulling out one of its missiles and jamming it down one of its engines.

EDIT: Also, one of his grenades seemed to have exploded outside the upper hull, but only did relatively minor damage. Only the missile shove really killed it.

[Shroom Man 777]

Compare the missile's yields with that of the North Korean's missiles, from the MiG-17s and the MANPADs. Assume that the Home Tree is a spherical block of iron, and that each missile vaporized an XYZ-amount of iron.

But seriously. Anti-air missiles in MANPADs and MiG-17s would need little in the way of explosives, because all it takes to kill an aircraft is shrapnel, which is why anti-air/air-to-air missiles detonate and send shrapnel to rip planes to pieces, am i rite? Whereas the Papa Dragon's missiles would be more powerful because it is air-to-ground and thus has to chop down trees. Since Home Trees are fatter nerds than airplanes, it would take more megajoules for the Papa Dragon to destroy the Home Tree fatty than it would take MANPAD/air-to-air missiles to down fatty aircraft. Who knew. Lol.

In short, the Papa Dragon's missiles >> MANPAD/MiG missiles in terms of explosiveness. So it may take more MANPAD/MiG missiles to down Papa Dragon. Considering that the damn thing also took a facefull of cannon fire from Michelle Vasquez Rodriguez' rogue VTOL (with glass canopies! URGH!). It is very durable.

[Ilya Muromets]

It'd probably depend on where the missiles hit or how close it blows up. Shrapnel showering the cockpit or fucking up the turbofans would bring it down just as well as anything. But, yeah, KERNEL CATBITCH'S personal ride was actually pretty durable, all things considered.

Compare the missile's yields with that of the North Korean's missiles, from the MiG-17s and the MANPADs. Assume that the Home Tree is a spherical block of iron, and that each missile vaporized an XYZ-amount of iron.

Well, hey, I gotta at least put some paltry effort at serious versesness in this or I'll be tempted to start thread-shitting like yous. I'll leave that to the professionals.

[Shroom Man 777]

I interspace my shit with mockery of stupid people mangs.

When Jake Sully swung the missile like a baseball bat, did he seriously injure the crew of the Papa Dragon? I can't remember too well, but didn't the pilot get killed or something? I remember it being in total disarray and the only one who still had his balls left was Quarritch, who bailed out on an AMP. While ON FIRE.

[Ilya Muromets]

I don't really recall the crew's fate during the missile beating, but I do remember that despite all the damage at that point, the thing was still flying until Jakey boy chucked the missile into the turbofan. As for the grenade I mentioned earlier, I now recall that it ended up in an air vent, made a breach, and forced the crew to put on breathing packs. But it still caused no significant damage to the thing's flying capabilities.

[CBG]

F-111s get destroyed by hitting birds. Oh no. If only F-111s didn't have glass canopies and VTOLs lol. If only the Australian air force used XB-36s insteads!

F-111's and MIG-21's can fly at altitude no bird can fly.
But my point there is that they aren't armored like an AH-64, with critical areas able to withstand a bit of shilka's 23mm fire.

Too bad there are only two MiGs. How fast can they take off, hit targets, and land and reload and refuel before the VTOLs reach them and strike them while they're on the ground?

Each of them (assuming Mig-21bis) carry 200 internal cannon 23mm rounds, and up to 6 AAM's of various types. Quite enough to get the shuttle and heavier gunships.

The range and capabilities of the RDA missiles are an unknown since they got hampered by technobabble flux vortexes. There won't be flux vortexes in here.

But there might be ECM. And wonder if missiles that were supposed to be used against big birds will work properly on mach 1.9 fighters.

The observation of the RDA VTOLs not even having turret chin cannons is interesting. So maybe they weren't even originally armed with guns to begin with, and bolting on guns was something they did afterwards in a jerry-rigged fashion (due to politico-bureaucratic complications, which is why people bitch about the RDA had to contend with sub-par mechas and VTOLs instead of T-34s, Shermans and MiG-17s or whatever) because the realities on the field conflicted with what their superiors on Earth wanted (i.e. don't shoot Na'vi, bad for PR, space environmentalist greenpeace hippies, grrrr arrrgh etc)?

So, mounting automatic weapons on turrets was ok with the Dragon, but would be unacceptable for the smaller gunships?
Looks more like a "provided by the lowest bidder" certificate. It's not like turrets are some sort of classified, super advanced military technology. An electronics geek could build you one easily.

There are only five of them. And two MiGs. The RDA has a crapload of VTOLs and the Papa Dragon. RDA mercs can play spotter, and the RDA VTOLs can pop out of the horizon or out of tree cover or terrain and shoot the Shilkas (and the tanks) from a distance. Wiki also says Shilka armoring is insufficient against HMGs, so those RDA mechas can damage them.

The question here is what is the effective range of the VTOL's HMG's. They can't snipe targets with them like a turret equipped Cobra or Apache can. They could be expected to have gunpod like accuracy. Which is very low one. Wonder if RDA has them supplied with rounds designed to pierce steel armor, instead of rounds designed to pierce a thick skin and fuck up a lot of flesh, which would kinda suck against shilka's steel armor, especially at longer range. They also have to fire while trying not to get shot by a shilka or a MANPAD.
On the other side, there are shilkas. With quad 23mm cannons (more dakka, much longer effective range), with stabilisation, computer targeting and firing while standing.
Damn, even Apaches don't duel shilkas cannon against cannon, despite actually having cannons (not puny HMG's), armor, and a stabilised turret. Some shilka models also have Igla SAM mounts for additional firepower.

The RDA VTOLs were able to hit the bigass tree.

That was quite a lot bigger than a T-72. And was immobile.

There are only two MiG-21s and five Shilkas. The RDA has many more VTOLs, plus the Papa Dragon and then the shuttle. If the MiGs chase the hypersonic shuttle, then the Shilkas will have to fend themselves against the numerically superior numbers of VTOLs that will spam missiles at them. The VTOLs can also hunt the tanks and Nork infantry. Anyway, the shuttle can make its approach when the MiGs and Shilkas are distracted by the VTOLs. Then it can drop a bomb in the Nork base and basically do whatever damage it can do.

Then we have priority targets for mig's. Dragon and shuttle. Once a mig gets it's priority targets, it starts killing choppers. Shilkas protect the ground forces and kill any gunships that get too close. T-72's and infantry help with gunships and kill ground troops that mange to land or walk too close.

Shilkas can be killed by the RDA mechas. Shilkas aren't heavily armored.

And vice versa. RDA mechas can also be destroyed with ease by a T-72. Or a nork infantryman with an RPG. Or a nork ATGM team.

Anyway, the RDA's advantage is that despite the Nork's aerial and anti-air capabilities, the RDA has a significant and superior number of VTOLs. The shuttle can also act as a distractor.

I think the deciding factor will be the Nork infantry with their MANPADs. Because if the superior number of RDA VTOL can whittle down the Nork forces (spam the Shilkas and shoot the MiGs when they're on the runway), and if the RDA VTOL survive, then the RDA can win.

But if the Norks shoot the VTOLs down, then the Norks win cause the RDA has nothing left to counter the tanks.

The RDA has to do a VTOL zerg rush and hope they kill off the Nork's anti-air capabilities before the Nork's anti-air capabilities kill them.

Yeah, the question here is if the VTOL's are numerous enough to kill all the nork AA defense before it kills them all.

In short, the Papa Dragon's missiles >> MANPAD/MiG missiles in terms of explosiveness. So it may take more MANPAD/MiG missiles to down Papa Dragon. Considering that the damn thing also took a facefull of cannon fire from Michelle Vasquez Rodriguez' rogue VTOL (with glass canopies! URGH!). It is very durable.

It wasn't a cannon, it was a HMG. Not even necessarily loaded with good armour pierceing ammo. It isn't something an Apache couldn't possibly take. And Apaches go
down after being hit by MANPADS. Also don't confuse them with MIG missiles. MANPADS have warheads around 1-2 kg. A2A missile warheads start around 5 kg and go up. Comparing Dragon's A2G missiles to nork AA missiles is pointless. Unguided A2G missiles kinda suck against mig's efen if they have big warheads.
Dragon is a Large, Slow Target, a Mig could just attack it from above and fire a short 23mm burst into 1 or 2 of it's turbines. Then it goes down.

The unmentioned variant here is what if the norks are the attacking side.

[Shroom Man 777]

F-111's and MIG-21's can fly at altitude no bird can fly.
But my point there is that they aren't armored like an AH-64, with critical areas able to withstand a bit of shilka's 23mm fire.

It's a good thing the Shilkas are on the ground, below the VTOLs, then. Cause if the Shilkas could fly with dragonoid wings, they might be able to hit the canopies on top of the VTOLs instead of their presumably less vulnerable hulls.

Admittedly, since those VTOLs were probably built on-site with those RDA fabricators, I don't think its hull composition is that shit hot either.

Each of them (assuming Mig-21bis) carry 200 internal cannon 23mm rounds, and up to 6 AAM's of various types. Quite enough to get the shuttle and heavier gunships.

Except the shuttle is fast enough to achieve orbit, so it can lead the MiGs on and basically fuck with them while they try in vain to shoot the much-faster shuttle down.

But there might be ECM. And wonder if missiles that were supposed to be used against big birds will work properly on mach 1.9 fighters.

That ECM will have to move mountains. Literally.

Those missiles that were supposed to be used against big birds will work properly on mach 1.9 fighters, when those fighters land and reload and refuel.

So, mounting automatic weapons on turrets was ok with the Dragon, but would be unacceptable for the smaller gunships?
Looks more like a "provided by the lowest bidder" certificate. It's not like turrets are some sort of classified, super advanced military technology. An electronics geek could build you one easily.

The Dragon could be bigger. For all we know, those aren't automatic weapons turrets but manned ones like in bomber tailguns.

The question here is what is the effective range of the VTOL's HMG's. They can't snipe targets with them like a turret equipped Cobra or Apache can. They could be expected to have gunpod like accuracy. Which is very low one. Wonder if RDA has them supplied with rounds designed to pierce steel armor, instead of rounds designed to pierce a thick skin and fuck up a lot of flesh, which would kinda suck against shilka's steel armor, especially at longer range. They also have to fire while trying not to get shot by a shilka or a MANPAD.

The VTOLs can shoot with their missiles. The HMGs, I was talking about the RDA's AMP suit mecha's HMGs.

Wiki says: The ZSU-23-4 is very vulnerable to enemy anti-tank missiles, cannons and heavy machine guns; the armour is thin (not exceeding 15 mm) and the exposed wheels, tracks, radar, and gun barrels can easily be damaged in combat.

On the other side, there are shilkas. With quad 23mm cannons (more dakka, much longer effective range), with stabilisation, computer targeting and firing while standing.
Damn, even Apaches don't duel shilkas cannon against cannon, despite actually having cannons (not puny HMG's), armor, and a stabilised turret. Some shilka models also have Igla SAM mounts for additional firepower.

The VTOLs can shoot them with missiles. The AMPs can shoot them with bullets. Either way, there are more VTOLs and AMPs than the Shilkas.

That was quite a lot bigger than a T-72. And was immobile.

They are also expected to be able to hit and kill space dinosaur dragons. So I don't think T-72s flying evasive maneuvers and pulling Pugrachev's Cobras will be a problem.

Then we have priority targets for mig's. Dragon and shuttle. Once a mig gets it's priority targets, it starts killing choppers. Shilkas protect the ground forces and kill any gunships that get too close. T-72's and infantry help with gunships and kill ground troops that mange to land or walk too close.

Except there are only two MiGs and five Shilkas. MiGs have to land and rearm and refuel. Can five Shilkas shoot the VTOL Zerg rush down entirely? The RDA VTOLs charge at the Norks and launch all their missiles, that's it. Would the Norks be able to down the hordes of VTOLs quick enough, and would they be able to survive the shower of missiles? If the Norks had more forces, I bet they could. But the RDA outnumber them, so there's a good chance that the RDA can just bury them with VTOL missiles (and wreckage).

And vice versa. RDA mechas can also be destroyed with ease by a T-72. Or a nork infantryman with an RPG. Or a nork ATGM team.

The RDA mechas are pretty mobile though. I mean, they can get into fucking swordfights. A squad of AMP suits using cover and fire and movement tactics would be harder to hit than not-as-maneuverable armored vehicles. A Humvee would be easier to hit with an RPG than a robot that's ducking behind cover and moving like a giant human.

But whatever. Point is the RDA mechas have air cover in the form of many VTOLs, more VTOLs than the MiGs and Shilkas and tanks.

Yeah, the question here is if the VTOL's are numerous enough to kill all the nork AA defense before it kills them all.

I searched the Pandora wiki (how many of them are there anyway) and I didn't find total numbers of the RDA forces.

It wasn't a cannon, it was a HMG. Not even necessarily loaded with good armour pierceing ammo. It isn't something an Apache couldn't possibly take. And Apaches go
down after being hit by MANPADS. Also don't confuse them with MIG missiles. MANPADS have warheads around 1-2 kg. A2A missile warheads start around 5 kg and go up. Comparing Dragon's A2G missiles to nork AA missiles is pointless. Unguided A2G missiles kinda suck against mig's efen if they have big warheads.
Dragon is a Large, Slow Target, a Mig could just attack it from above and fire a short 23mm burst into 1 or 2 of it's turbines. Then it goes down.

The question wasn't whether the A2G missiles would be good at killing MiGs. It was a question of how durable the Papa Dragon was, since it could take a bunch of grenades and an A2G missile to the face and still fly for a short while.

The Papa Dragon's turret guns could shoot at the incoming MiGs. Depending on where the turret guns are located.

The unmentioned variant here is what if the norks are the attacking side.

Let us assume that the Norks are in Pandora to wage a proxy battle against the capitalist and turn the Na'vi into good communists.

[CBG]

Except the shuttle is fast enough to achieve orbit, so it can lead the MiGs on and basically fuck with them while they try in vain to shoot the much-faster shuttle down.

One Mig can rearm and refuel while the other is watching the shuttle. If the shuttle wants to hit anything it has to go low and slow.

Those missiles that were supposed to be used against big birds will work properly on mach 1.9 fighters, when those fighters land and reload and refuel.

Not if those fighters are reloading because they have just made these missiles lie in a pile of wreckage.

The VTOLs can shoot with their missiles. The HMGs, I was talking about the RDA's AMP suit mecha's HMGs.

These have to go through infantry and tanks first. And shilka can fire at ground targets too. Mechas have a serious effective fire range disadvantage against all of them.
For best effect, just put the T-72's against them. They can defeat them even by driving into them at 50 kph. Or shoot them with a HMG. Or with the cannon.

The VTOLs can shoot them with missiles. The AMPs can shoot them with bullets. Either way, there are more VTOLs and AMPs than the Shilkas.

Before they shoot them, they have to get very close. Shilkas can shoot and hit at longer range than VTOL's and AMP's. Which means that shilkas can destroy them before they get a shoot.

They are also expected to be able to hit and kill space dinosaur dragons. So I don't think T-72s flying evasive maneuvers and pulling Pugrachev's Cobras will be a problem.

Space dinosaur dragons would be quite a bit less resistant to fragmentation and blast wave of those HE rockets than a MBT. These need direct hits. And are a bit smarter than animals.

Except there are only two MiGs and five Shilkas. MiGs have to land and rearm and refuel. Can five Shilkas shoot the VTOL Zerg rush down entirely? The RDA VTOLs charge at the Norks and launch all their missiles, that's it. Would the Norks be able to down the hordes of VTOLs quick enough, and would they be able to survive the shower of missiles? If the Norks had more forces, I bet they could. But the RDA outnumber them, so there's a good chance that the RDA can just bury them with VTOL missiles (and wreckage).

Shilkas can put a lot of lead into air in a very short time. Slow helicopter like craft flying close and low are shilka target practice.
You also keep assuming that RDA pilots are kamikazes bent on flying en masse into massive AAA and SAM fire in slow, poorly armored craft. They are mercenaries, not zombies or kamikaze pilots.

The RDA mechas are pretty mobile though. I mean, they can get into fucking swordfights. A squad of AMP suits using cover and fire and movement tactics would be harder to hit than not-as-maneuverable armored vehicles. A Humvee would be easier to hit with an RPG than a robot that's ducking behind cover and moving like a giant human.

And have huge glass cockpits just begging for attention of a HMG (or anything bigger) gunner.

But whatever. Point is the RDA mechas have air cover in the form of many VTOLs, more VTOLs than the MiGs and Shilkas and tanks.

On the other hand, shilkas can engage VTOL's at ranges considerably greater than vice versa, and migs while in air are almost impossible to shoot down for them. And are also up to 6 times as fast. If the distance between forces is bit it can mean a lot.

The question wasn't whether the A2G missiles would be good at killing MiGs. It was a question of how durable the Papa Dragon was, since it could take a bunch of grenades and an A2G missile to the face and still fly for a short while.

An A-10 did once get a small missile to the face and still kept flying. Dragon has huge, easy to hit turbines that can't possibly like A2A missiles or very fast flying steel getting into them.

The Papa Dragon's turret guns could shoot at the incoming MiGs. Depending on where the turret guns are located.

Looking at photos it doesn't lack blind spots. Considering these turrets are not computer controlled shooting at a supersonic fighter could be far away from actually hitting a supersonic fighter.

Except the shuttle is fast enough to achieve orbit, so it can lead the MiGs on and basically fuck with them while they try in vain to shoot the much-faster shuttle down.

Or they can just cruise around the place where they really don't want to have the bomb dropped.

[Shroom Man 777]

One Mig can rearm and refuel while the other is watching the shuttle. If the shuttle wants to hit anything it has to go low and slow.

That means that while the other one is watching the shuttle, the MiGs available to attack the VTOLs has been halved.

Also, the Norks do not know that the shuttle has to go low and slow.

Not if those fighters are reloading because they have just made these missiles lie in a pile of wreckage.

Those fighters don't have Ace Combat-style warloads, not all of those missiles will lie in a pile of wreckage. There'll be VTOLs left to shoot them while they're on the ground.

These have to go through infantry and tanks first. And shilka can fire at ground targets too. Mechas have a serious effective fire range disadvantage against all of them.
For best effect, just put the T-72's against them. They can defeat them even by driving into them at 50 kph. Or shoot them with a HMG. Or with the cannon.

Then some of the VTOLs deal with the tanks, which will be dealing with the AMP suits and infantry, while some of the VTOLs deal with the Shilkas. There are lots of VTOLs.

Before they shoot them, they have to get very close. Shilkas can shoot and hit at longer range than VTOL's and AMP's. Which means that shilkas can destroy them before they get a shoot.

The VTOLs can fly very low, very near the ground and using the terrain as cover, to avoid getting into the Shilka's LOS, only popping up to fire their missiles. Isn't this what Apaches do when tank-hunting?

Space dinosaur dragons would be quite a bit less resistant to fragmentation and blast wave of those HE rockets than a MBT. These need direct hits. And are a bit smarter than animals.

These animals have pilots though. As for the precision of the VTOL missiles, I'm gonna assume that they're good enough to kill T-72s. If not, and if the situation basically gives RDA weapons that can't even ding off the T-72s armor, then lol this is just a one-sided shitstomp to appeal to people's stupid milwankering tendencies. Oh no the phasers are bouncing off the packing crates. Oh no his dick is a packing crate! Aaaaah!

Might as well have the ISV crash into North Korea and vaporize the whole Korean Peninsula.

Shilkas can put a lot of lead into air in a very short time. Slow helicopter like craft flying close and low are shilka target practice.
You also keep assuming that RDA pilots are kamikazes bent on flying en masse into massive AAA and SAM fire in slow, poorly armored craft. They are mercenaries, not zombies or kamikaze pilots.

Well, instead of this perhaps they can use other strategies. Like instead of flying in a massive wall of VTOLs, they could spread out and attack the Norks from a distance - using the terrain as cover and only popping up over the horizon or over obstructions/cover to launch their missiles at Shilkas and tanks.

And have huge glass cockpits just begging for attention of a HMG (or anything bigger) gunner.

Meh, they can shoot back.

On the other hand, shilkas can engage VTOL's at ranges considerably greater than vice versa, and migs while in air are almost impossible to shoot down for them. And are also up to 6 times as fast. If the distance between forces is bit it can mean a lot.

The VTOLs can avoid this by hugging the ground and using the terrain as cover, which is what Apaches do when tank hunting. MiGs don't spend most of their time supersonic. Do they even have look-down shoot-down radar?

An A-10 did once get a small missile to the face and still kept flying. Dragon has huge, easy to hit turbines that can't possibly like A2A missiles or very fast flying steel getting into them.

Then again it did take Jake Sully hand-feeding the turbine with a considerably huger tree-chopping A2G missile to disable it. Even then the Dragon was still in the air.

Looking at photos it doesn't lack blind spots. Considering these turrets are not computer controlled shooting at a supersonic fighter could be far away from actually hitting a supersonic fighter.

A supersonic fighter won't be supersonic when coming in to shoot its guns, though.

Or they can just cruise around the place where they really don't want to have the bomb dropped.

That means the MiGs have to defend those sites instead of shooting down VTOLs, and the shuttle has done its job.

[Shroom Man 777]

See those long poking things under the canards/front wings near the nose?

The Scorpion is armed with four gimbal-mounted .50 caliber guns with 700 rounds per minute cyclic rate of fire as close range primary weapons.

[Ford Prefect]

Yeah, the RDA fields more than one VTOL type. One is the Samson, which is basically a space Huey, and the other is the Scorpion, which is an actual gunship.

[Shroom Man 777]

Those things are pretty damn maneuverable. They chased those dinosaurs down into the jungle canopy, and maneuvered between the trees, and miraculously we didn't see any scene where they stupidly crashed into trees or anything clichéd like TIEs in asteroid fields, ID4 alien fighters slamming into closing mothership doors, or enemy cars hitting obstacles in action movies or something.

[Iosef Cross]

Due to an act of ROB the entire RDA forces on Pandora are teleported to a deserted island. On other end of the island are following North Korean forces. The North Koreans have =>

10 T-72 tanks

5 ZSU-23 Shilkas

A small airstrip with a pair of Mig-21 fighters

And 100 infantry with the expected North Korean weapons ranging from kalashnikov rifles to RPGs and SA-14 missiles.

Both forces are told by the ROB that the winning forces gets sent back home.They commence battle.

Who wins ?

So, North Korea doesn't get artillery pieces? Because artillery is usually the main factor in terms of casualty infliction in the battlefield in all major wars since the late 19th century. Even in the Gulf War the main cause of Iraqui casualties was artillery, not air strikes.

In avatar we didn't see any type of artillery beign used by the RDA, so if the North Koreans have artillery, they would possess a major advantage over the RDA if the RDA doesn't have anything like artillery.

[CBG]

That means that while the other one is watching the shuttle, the MiGs available to attack the VTOLs has been halved.

And so it happens that the place that needs defending from shittle is the same place that needs defending from VTOL's.

Also, the Norks do not know that the shuttle has to go low and slow.

And RDA doesn't know that norks have no long range SAM's...

Those fighters don't have Ace Combat-style warloads, not all of those missiles will lie in a pile of wreckage. There'll be VTOLs left to shoot them while they're on the ground.

They still have to get through shilkas for it.

Then some of the VTOLs deal with the tanks, which will be dealing with the AMP suits and infantry, while some of the VTOLs deal with the Shilkas. There are lots of VTOLs.

Which brings back the question how many exactly is "lots".

The VTOLs can fly very low, very near the ground and using the terrain as cover, to avoid getting into the Shilka's LOS, only popping up to fire their missiles. Isn't this what Apaches do when tank-hunting?

Depands of the terrain of this island and where is the nork base located on it.
And Apaches tank hunt with ATGM's, preferably fire and forget ones, from distance well beyond effective fire range of 23mm cannons. They don't do tank hunting with FFAR rockets.

These animals have pilots though. As for the precision of the VTOL missiles, I'm gonna assume that they're good enough to kill T-72s. If not, and if the situation basically gives RDA weapons that can't even ding off the T-72s armor, then lol this is just a one-sided shitstomp to appeal to people's stupid milwankering tendencies. Oh no the phasers are bouncing off the packing crates. Oh no his dick is a packing crate! Aaaaah!

They are just not weapons designed for the job - killing tanks. They have wrong warheads and are less precise than ordinary helicopter launched anti tank missiles are.

Well, instead of this perhaps they can use other strategies. Like instead of flying in a massive wall of VTOLs, they could spread out and attack the Norks from a distance - using the terrain as cover and only popping up over the horizon or over obstructions/cover to launch their missiles at Shilkas and tanks.

Depands if there are conviniently placed obstructions at convinient distance from the nork base. Which is a short one.

Meh, they can shoot back.

And how far away they can hit anything?

MiGs don't spend most of their time supersonic. Do they even have look-down shoot-down radar?

The bis variant does.
And Mig's "not supersonic" is still extermaly fast when compared to the VTOLs and their usual targets.

Then again it did take Jake Sully hand-feeding the turbine with a considerably huger tree-chopping A2G missile to disable it. Even then the Dragon was still in the air.

Maybye because it was only 1 of 4 turbines?

A supersonic fighter won't be supersonic when coming in to shoot its guns, though.

Because against a helicopter they don't need to go that fast, and against a fighter it is freaking hard to hit anyway. Though it is not impossible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI3dkZ0qBnE
On the other hand a helicopter has never shoot down a fighter.