Posted on 03/21/2014 12:52:04 PM PDT by SandRat
Under the Air Force's plan to phase out the A-10, 55 of the planes operated by regular Air Force units at D-M would be retired in fiscal years 2015 and 2016. The rest of Davis-Monthan’s “Warthogs,” 28 aircraft operated by Reserve units, would be eliminated in fiscal year 2019.
Service-wide, 259 A-10s would be retired from nine bases including D-M between 2015 and 2019, while another 24 A-10s stationed overseas would be retired by 2015.
It's the only explanation that makes any sense.
Well, it’s not like we’re ever going to blow up another tank again, not when the plan is to simply surrender at the first sign of trouble.
I have heard that the muoozlums really hate the A10.
Fools.
I spent 2 years in the 41st ECS, 355th TS and the 43rd ECS during the 1990s.
Those EC-130s are OLD. Really old. We don’t need to put airmen up there anymore with the capabilities of drones and modern electronics.
“not when the plan is to simply surrender at the first sign of trouble.”
The plan is to send strong letters to any attackers deploring their attack. These high value strategic complaint and interdiction letters (HVSC&IL) have already been written with blanks for the appropriate names and offenses. They use the strongest possible wording and the highest moralistic tactical words. They are so worded as to reduce any receivers into begging not to receive another. This means the end of all aggressor actions in the entire world. If only George Bush had listened to the academic community. None of this stupid war would have been necessary.
They call it "The Dragon Plane".
As recently as last year many veterans here on Free Republic were arguing with tofu brained idiots (some of them active military) that these systems are desperately required in case of major war.
The idiots in question insisted that future war would all be like Afghanistan, and the days of massed armies being deployed were gone for the foreseeable future.
Any of you idiots want to step up with the same crap in light of Europe and Asia now?
And islamist raghead jihadis and communist tank jockeys everywhere are celebrating...
Hate to see the A-10 go away, of our current planes it is my favorite.
The A-10 is just too embarassingly cheap to allow to continue. Probably less than $5 million a copy fully upgraded (that’s a purely civilian guess, and probably $4 million of that is in upgrades) We can’t get by with planes that do not cost at last 25 times that much.
3 months after the last A-10 is retired, China, Pakistan, and the Seychelle Islands will show up with similar planes in their forces and we will have nothing comparable.
Yeah, just a WAG here, but can't you just imagine Valerie Jarrett's pals back in the old country letting her know via back channels "hey, could you do something about those damn flying cannons?"
"We'll have more flexibility after the elections."
Well, if you started with the A-10 and removed the pilot, controls, armored cockpit and replaced it with a remote controlled / artificial intelligence pilot, it would be one of the best bang for the buck aircraft. We are at the age when it is not politically acceptable to sent a pilot up in such a slow “vulnerable” aircraft.
While RC is great, a good AI system would also be immune to jamming, and react faster cheaper, lighter etc. Shooting one down would be a nearly worthless victory because they are so cheap.
If you think that is a criteria for BRAC, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Now that the Fulda Gap is back in play, wouldn’t keeping the A-10’s be a no-brainer?
No-Brainers are what we have in Washington.
If the Fulda Gap is back in play then there's nothing to stop an enemy from coming through. The U.S. has removed its troops from Germany. Europe has pretty much disarmed. A couple of A-10s won't make any difference.
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