Posted on 01/20/2015 7:48:39 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
Despite multiple attempts by the US Air Force to retire the A-10 Warthog, the aircraft has carried out 11% of all airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since Operation Inherent Resolve began in August.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Looks like a truck.
We cant make more of them easily.
Fairchild Republic went outta business in the late 80s, at least as a functioning aircraft manufacturer.
The old Republic factory in Farmingdale was an abandoned hulk the last time I was there 25 years ago.
The engineers who designed the A10 lost their jobs, left for parts unknown, and the only company making money on it is Boeing with the rewinging contract.
Maybe the air force could outsource it from China.
definitely durable, designed to fly with the loss of one half a wing. sounds like something I would need to fly.
I’ll never forget when the AF brought their simulator to town and I took my kid. He was in fourth grade. We both got in and he flew right to the mission destination and I was going around in circles. He could have been a navigator (ironic because that was his nickname when we went on adventures) but chose to be a dumbgrunt instead.
I was a little upset when I learned the Corps didn’t have A-10s. I don’t even think he got to see one on deployment. I used to watch them fly overhead when I was hanging out his diapers near Willow Grove. Got quiet during Desert Storm.
so its been the one bombing Assad and letting ISIS go nuts.. Thanks Allahu Snackbarbama
It’s an institutional bias. The Air Force is run by fighter pilots. They detest the A-10 because it is not a fighter aircraft.
No matter what else is said, it really is that simple. Each service has a similar bias involving different weapons systems.
I used to see them flying out of Davis-Monthan when I spent some time in Tucson. After watching F-16s roar around in the pattern making more noise than you’d think a single-engine’d plane could ... the A-10s seemed to be silent as birds and almost hovering like a chopper. ;-)
“The A-10 is a heavily armored aircraft that is slower and less maneuverable…”
Slower, yes.
Less maneuverable, absolutely not true.
It is vastly more maneuverable than any other fixed wing combat aircraft I can think of.
I love the A-10 but the AF does not. I retired from the AF 14 years ago and they were trying to get rid of it when I went in. A-10 is slow and ugly, cheap, not likely to attract girls or high paying jobs. We (AF) wanted to give them to the US Army in the early 80’s but Congress and the law wouldn’t allow it. Of course it’s pilots and maintainers and people who occasionally need effective CAS love the A-10. I wish we could build a new one but if we tried it would become an F-35 along the way.
Congress forgot that they can change the law
Targeting Radar
Yup, come to think of it they were quieter. I’m pretty dang old until I hear a deep roar then I go sailing out the door. Not much going on around here anymore but I do get to see the transports coming into McGuire depending on the wind (I think). Sometimes I even wave. Used to wave at the Ospreys when I was near them. One wife told me they get the chance to look down. If I had a choice between living near a base or a freight train line I would definitely pick a base.
PETA is outraged.
The Israeli company Elbit Systems is the current owner of what remains of Fairchild Republic. I doubt that there is any A10 tooling included.
I was stationed at Myrtle Beach at the time. It was nice to be able to sleep at night without the rumble of the A-7s, that the A-10s replaced, during night sorties. We also got some awesome airshows to display some of the capabilities - the A-7s were rocket-powered rocks and the A-10s were beauthy in motion - I can still see it gliding down the runway, seemingly too slow to do anything, and having the landing gear run up leaving the plane seemingly hovering over the runway at an impossibly slow pace - then a sudden burst and a turning hard climb that just looked impossible. Then the maneuvers began - twisting and diving and climbing until you lost track of where it was going - it seemed as if it was moving away from you and suddenly it was bigger than life and right on you. One could pound a foxhole and by the time any survivors could raise their heads for a peek, it would be coming back from the other direction. A round from the cannon hitting/going through a tank would leave clothing full of ground meat instead of enemy combatants.
The A-10 coming to Myrtle Beach remains one of my fondest memories of a 24 year career.
Uncertain if they are real or fake, but there are photos of an A-10 flying under a highway overpass! (Iraq?)
Boneyard Safari, from your FB link.
Some Interesting photos.
Thanks!
tank
fixed artillery
mobile artillery
ground radar
truck
spouse/significant other
RADAR.
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