Air Force retires plan to retire A-10
3E9 sends us a link to the Defense News which reports that Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General David Goldfein claims that the world has changed since the Air Force last decided to take the A-10 Thunderbolt, the Air Force’s flying tank, out of the inventory.
“What happens is that life gets in the way of the perfect plan,” Goldfein said. “So when we made the decision on retiring the A-10, we made those decisions prior to ISIL, we were not in Iraq, we were coming out of Afghanistan to a large extent, we didn’t have a resurgent Russia.”
Shelving the A-10 retirement plan is a key policy shift that the Pentagon will reportedly lay out next month in its fiscal 2017 budget request, according to a Jan. 13 Defense One article.
Top officials had already hinted the Air Force could push off retirement of the A-10 by a few years to meet commanders’ demand for the close-in attack plane, beloved by troops for the distinctive roar of its Gatling gun. The service needs more close-air support to protect troops on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, and for the possibility of missions in trouble spots, such as Libya or Yemen, according to Air Combat Command chief Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle.
I can count three times in the last three decades that events have saved the A-10 – mostly because there’s nothing on the fightline to replace the ugly, effective creature. By the way, we don’t love the Warthog because of the sound of the Gatling gun, we love it because it kills bad guys in droves and it has no equal. Just the sight of the aircraft scares the life out of it’s perspective targets and raises morale of the good guys on the ground.
Category: Air Force
A sane decision from deep within the 5-sided asylum??!?
The Millennium must be at hand!
Well… Hell, err I mean DC, is suppose to freeze over this weekend.
Yea, pack you bags…it’s the seventh sign!
Follow-up: now, if the USAF will just cancel Thunder-Thud-II (AKA “design by Swiss-Army-knife committee” Frankenplane AKA the F-35), we’ll have proof that the Millennium really is at hand!
I don’t know about that – between the USAF/contractor circle jerk and subcontracting to just about every state it unfortunately might be a done deal.
The F-35, THE FLYING FUBAR? It needs to go the way of the SGT York AA Gun but the contractors own too many politicians for that to happen.
Air Force pilots use to pass out flying those unsafe birds. The F-35 is a waste of money.
I know the F-22 had pilot hypoxia issues, did that happen with the F-35 as well?
F-35 = M561 Gamma Goat with wings.
Gotta keep the charade up that our military is interested in winning anything.
In other news females already applying for MARSOC, but already don’t meet the requirements, so except the outrage from our betters.
In other news, talk of preserving the A-10 will no longer be considered treasonous. Low down freedom.
Or is because Congress was getting on their case to not let them retire it? I think I read that awhile back.
Made my morning! 🙂
Looks like good news for the pilots, ground crews and for those on the ground… one basassmofo of a plane!
THANK GOD!
I don’t know many military members that would agree to shelving this kick ass plane!
I’d agree it was a good idea if – but only if – the projected replacement was capable of doing an equivalent or better job. The A-10 is getting old, and keeping it flying will just get harder as it gets older. That’s not good.
However, the F-35 IMO simply can’t do an equivalent job, whether or not it’s a good airframe and works as advertised. For starters, best case the F35 carries barely 15% as much ammo for its gun that the A-10 does (approx 180 rounds vice nearly 1200 for the A10 – and I believe some A10 configs carry even more). And the fire-control software for the F35’s gun isn’t projected to be be ready for “prime time” for a number of years.
Don’t think it has the loiter time of an A10 either. I was involved in some CAS tests at NTC that also used real world data. CAS birds spend a lot of time in racetrack mode waiting for artillery to shut down.
That’s a different (but related) issue – and I’ve heard the same.
I also don’t think the F35’s airframe can either (a) take the beating the A10 airframe can and survive, or (b) can protect the pilot as well as the A10’s “titanium bathtub” does. And from what little I know about radar reflection/refraction, once you poke a few holes in the F35’s skin I think you can kiss stealth “bye bye” too.
The F35 may prove me wrong, and turn out to be a helluva good airframe (like the F4 did to the USAF after it was adopted). But I’ll be shocked if it’s anywhere close to as good as the A10 at CAS – much less as good or better.
The F-35 have too many problems and they always spending money to fix them. Engine, ejection seats,That’s on top of software delays, faulty fuel-tank design, lighting issues, flight-control problems, and helmet-display issues, in addition to many of the jet’s components being unreliable.
Instead of “life gets in the way of the perfect plan” I think he meant to say “LIVES get in the way of the perfect plan”. Glad to fix it for him.
How does the air force not have a mission for a plane that has the same fire power as a 120ft navy patrol boat and moves at 12 times the speed.
Someone posting about the Air Force planning to Retire the A-10 because they can’t read the post headline in 3…….2…….1…..
The only reason the A-10 should ever be scrapped is if someone makes abplane that does its job even better. That hasn’t happened, and won’t any time soon. Long live the Warthog.
I would rather see the snarling snout of the A-10 on the horizon than some airshow shiny thingy that can’t fly or turn, or land, either.
Seriously, if the USAF really doesn’t want the Warthof, I’m sure that with budget cuts, a new and loving home can be found for it… in the Marines, the Navy and the Army.
http://imgur.com/gallery/eDTt2YB
Keep calm and brrrt on
A plane that only a mother could love. And many mothers do.
…Sadly, don’t be at all surprised if A-10 units suddenly start having serious – if not crippling – personnel shortages, or all of a sudden MICAP parts start having a hard time getting to the Boys. The USAF leadership is embarrassed – and ANGRY – over this. The fight ain’t over yet.
Mike
Perhaps Berry O will order the A-10 chopped up with the power of the POTUS. That F-35 is not going to fund itself.
If they want to replace the A10, a better plane for its job is required. That f-35 ain’t cutting it.
I was watching this one program about Japanese child soldiers, where they were flying around in planes that could transform into robots with large swords–they also worked in space, so the idea is pretty much future-proof.
The A-10 is the current generations C-47, an absolutely great aircraft that I dearly loved riding and some of you less stable types jumping out of. But all of this didn’t save our beloved Arkansas Air Guard A-10 squadron.
Probably none are happier than those with boots on the ground.
Oh Hell Yeah give the Marines the A-10. Look how long we kept the UH34D flying, the Uh46. We (the Marine Airdales can get another 20 or 30 years out of the A-10. By then the Air Force maybe, might have a supersonic version of the A-10 . At triple the cost of the A-10 and do maybe a fourth of the orginal. The AF will be happy because it will break the sound barrier and look purdy. Joe
Yep!!
Somebody finally got ahold of and throttled the living shit out of The Good Idea Fairy.
Don’t think so. They just finally decided to ignore it this time.
It’ll be back again entirely too damn soon.