Posted on 01/11/2017 6:41:13 PM PST by SandRat
In another positive sign for the beloved A-10, Air Force maintainers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona have outfitted the Warthog with an upgrade for combat search and rescue missions (CSAR). Dubbed the lightweight airborne recovery system, the upgrade helps A-10 pilots "communicate more effectively with individuals on the ground such as downed pilots, pararescuemen and joint terminal attack controllers," according to an Air Force statement. Of all the fixed-wing aircraft in the US Air Force's inventory, no plane carries out CSAR missions like the A-10. CSAR missions jump off with little warning and often involve going deep into enemy territory, so becoming certified to perform CSAR missions takes tons of training, which only A-10 pilots undergo. The A-10's rugged survivability, massive forward firing power, newly acquired communication capabilities, and long loiter times at low altitudes make it ideal for flying low and slow and finding the lost person.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Since the Engine Pods on a B-52 hold two Engines side by side, it’s incredible that the second Engine wasn’t damaged by the spinning debris as the damaged Engine came apart.
I remember getting the routine message traffic while underway.
“Things that fell from aircraft” was always one of my favorites.
General’s A-10 treason comment sparks concerns over protected speech
Maj. Gen. James Post raised eyebrows this month when he warned fellow airmen in Nevada that talking to Congress about the embattled A-10 Thunderbolt could qualify as treason.
“If anyone accuses me of saying this, I will deny it … anyone who is passing information to Congress about A-10 capabilities is committing treason,” Post told an audience of officers at Nellis Air Force Base according to the military blog John Q. Public.
The Air Force has brushed off the statement as hyperbole but confirmed Friday the inspector general has opened an investigation. The two-star general’s warning comes at a delicate time for the Warthog — the service is facing an internal backlash from airmen who want to keep the close-air-support aircraft and another uphill budget battle with Congress over the retirement. The blog said it corroborated the quote through senior officials and several other sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Experts said the statement was meant to quash disagreement within the Air Force over phasing out the A-10 and push the plans by leadership. Whether Post’s method was inappropriate or trampled the rights of servicemembers depends on your point of view.
Two-star fired for 'treason' rant against A-10 supporters
The two-star general who told officers they would be "committing treason" by advocating to Congress that the A-10 should be kept in service has been fired and reprimanded, Air Combat Command announced on Friday.
No No !! it is the greatest killing machine in history . We need it to kill these sunni bastards. You can hear it coming 10 miles away before you die!!
The fighter mafia has been trying to kill the A-10 forever. It’s everything they hate: simple, cheap, tough, slow, low, maneuverable, and excels at its one mission. USAF thinks all her bells and whistles can replace machismo.
While the Russians have a similar role aircraft, SU-25, I would suggest the comparison of the MI-24 in close air support.
I think the comparison would still favor the A-10.
The A10s could be on the scene of the downed pilot alot faster than the helos would get there and keep the heads of goat humpers down till the helos get in there to extract.Fast movers cant get low and slow enough.
excellent
Good point. Makes a lot of sense.
Was about to respond with shock until I saw your second line...
I'm for building more too, but I just can't think of them as "birds".
old SAC term
10miles, huh?
Gotta link?
Like in that movie Bat21 with Gene Hackman as the downed pilot and Danny Glover as the spotter-plane pilot keeping tabs on him. Based on the true story of the guy in Vietnam that used the “golf course code” to get to safe territory.
I recall that spotter plane had a few rockets to launch at the bad guys - but also risked getting shot up a bunch. I can see the A-10 in that role.
We're Americans. We can rebuild the tooling, even if the plans were burned.
The SU-25 has more modern upgrades than the A-10, but both can do the same mission set with the possible exception of CSAR. Hard to compare planes and helicopters (Mig-24).
The Russians pioneered the CAS missions I believe during WWII, the plane I forget but while some credit it with many tank kills, apparently in reality it missed most of the time. That said, the Russians know the value of CAS unlike the USAF boneheads and keep upgrading the SU-25.
We can rebuild the tooling as soon as the people who made the original tools are brought out of their Senior Centers, and are able to explain to younger folks the knowledge of how to make the tools which made the tools to make the parts for the new planes which need to be reverse engineered from existing examples, assuming that there is spare money in the military budget to permit the whole decades long enterprise to turn out a plane that could have been designed from scratch cheaper and quicker.
You can’t go home again.
Way back when, out at China Lake, I think, we ran a CH-53D Sea Stallion (Sikorsky helo) against all the fighters in the inventory. The -53 was outfitted with a gun camera and loaded into the air combat maneuver computers as being armed with Sidewinders.
The -53 would stay down on the deck, looking up for fighters. Back then, not too many had “look-down, shoot-down” radar. Once the helo crew spotted a fighter, they would turn toward him. The fighter’s dive quickly became too steep, so he’d have to break off the attack. That’s when the -53 would turn and pop him up the tailpipe with the (hypothetical) Sidewinder.
The CH-53 ended up 50-50 against the all jets... except for the Harrier (AV-8B). The Harrier with its vectored thrust won 90% of the time.
Great movie.
I was doing some work at an airport in Maryland. Two A-10’s would leave in the morning and come back. I was standing on top of the work van taking some photos of the site from a “bird’s eye view”. The two planes came back. They were both landing at about the same time - one right behind the other I’m guessing.
Well, the one plane landed, and two seconds later the other guy flew right over me real low. I just laughed and thought “Well - I’m dead!”
Earlier in the day I was warned to stay out of their gun-sight target area. “Oh - will I mess up the results?”
“No - if there is a mistake you’ll get killed - they have live rounds.”
I’m hoping the pilot used up all his ammo at whatever test range he spent the morning at!
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