A-10 debuts in Operation Inherent Resolve
Yeah, I’m a fanboy. The Washington Post reports that the A-10 has been formally introduced to ISIS;
The A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet has been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State since late November on a near-daily basis, a U.S. military official said Tuesday. It marks the first time the use of the pugnacious plane against the militant group has been confirmed, although U.S. military officials disclosed last month that they had deployed the A-10 in support of the mission in Iraq and Syria.
The jet is beloved by U.S. ground troops for its ability to strikes enemy fighters from the air, but it remains in a fierce budget battle in Washington. Air Force officials and some fiscal conservatives have advocated retiring the aircraft to save money and using other planes for close-air support missions. A compromise in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act will keep it flying at least one more year, but it’s future afterward is still uncertain.
It has no equal and it makes it’s own case.
Category: Terror War
Scrapping one F35C could probably save the entire A-10 fleet.
Hell scrapping the entrie F-35 program would allow a complete moderization of the A-10 and probablly allow for a more modern solution. I.e. take the origional requirements for the A-10 and let a new design compitition. Lighter stronger airframe with composites/advanced materials, better engines, avionics the works from the ground up. (Can you put ceramic or Chobham armor on an aircraft?)
1. More composites – No, or at least very limited applications. This is a plane that flies “low and slow” and DOES take ground fire. Composites are notoriously difficult to repair in the field. You want an aircraft you can rivet and seal some sheet-metal patches to and send it back into the air. (Also, composites BURN.)
2. Armor for what? The armor currently on is to protect the pilot, and a few critical systems. Any additional armor will simply reduce available ammo and fuel payload with little or no benefit to survivability. The armor used is dense metal plate that provides the needed protection with minimal space requirement. Ceramic or Chobham take up much more volume that isn’t there to be used. And Chobham is superfluous. You don’t need to protect a plane from anti-armor shells.
I agree. The A-10 is unequaled in the ground attack role. Nothing else comes close. It’ll be a sad day when it is retired. Hopefully cooler and wiser heads will prevail and the A-10 will be transferred to the Army, allowing the USAF to spend it’s money where the zoomies in charge really want in fast and sleek high tech fighters.
“It has no equal and it makes its own case.”
Since when has reality had anything to do with Defense budget battles in Congress?
The A-10 is much like the A-1 Skyraiders we had flying CAS in Vietnam. A holdover platform from WWII, it was better suited for its ground support role than any jet aircraft. It could carry a weapons load equal to its own weight and could remain on station far longer than any of the fast burners.
Bet many of you don’t realize that it was an A-1 that dropped the most unique ordnance of the war on the North Vietnamese in 1965:
http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwayva25bomb/
Now that’s what I call bombing the sh!t out of ’em.
I wonder if any toilet bombs have been dropped by an A-10?
Also reminds me of something I read somewhere, can’t remember the source. Apparently, there was a radioman on a B-17 in Europe who eschewed use of the aircraft’s chemical pack toilet in favor of a bucket he kept onboard that was marked, IIRC, “FLEIGER SCHEISSE.” He would drop a deuce in the bucket over the North Sea, then stand by on the bomb bay catwalk when they started the bomb run. When the bombs were released, he would drop his own “ordnance” with them. And thus was insult added to injury.
I’m no expert, but as a civilian I’ve always thought the Warthog made a lot of sense. And all my military friends speak highly of the ‘pugnacious’ plane (great word to describe it).
Love the A-10….although the toilet bomb is a pretty good story too Poetrooper!
I remember when the A-10 was fielded. Jet jockeys were always “taking the mick” out of A-10 pilots. A common joke was:
Q: How are Warthog pilots trained for combat?
A: They’re placed in a dumpster and everyone throws bricks at them.
Real-world training in a way …. kinda-sorta.
“It has no equal and it makes it’s own case.” Cannot say it better. What I would have given to have had this in my day.
Okay, I’m out of my lane here; but I have it on good authority that the Warthog no longer serves any useful purpose. A bunch of folks at DoD and USAF said so.
What’s it doing in…where was that again?
I have it on good authority, that the “shit can” was often tossed by 8th Air Force, and UK Lancaster crews over Germany. My Grandmother’s brothers were in the 8th, and my good friend, Chuck, flew in the CBI.
These two are interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFgat19JldY