Posted on 08/24/2019 11:25:36 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
The Air Force this week awarded Boeing a contract worth up to almost $1 billion to expand its effort to add new wings to A-10s, shortly after wrapping up a previous initiative that replaced wings on most of the fleet.
“The Air Force currently has a fleet of 281 A-10s and recently announced the completion of wing replacements for 173 A-10 aircraft, by Boeing, from an earlier contract award,” the service said in an Aug. 21 release. The Aug. 21 contract allows the Air Force to re-wing up to 109 aircraft, plus three spares, “depending on how many aircraft are needed for the future,” the service said.
Warthogs appear set to remain in service through the 2030s, after a recent debate about whether to retire the attack plane that ended with the Air Force keeping the platform in its inventory. Offering Boeing more funds for new A-10 wings on the remainder of the fleet can help keep the plane viable into the future.
Boeing receives about $240 million for an initial 27 wing sets upon award. The 11-year contract covers work in the US and South Korea, and is expected to run through Aug. 23, 2030.
The company expects to deliver the contract’s first wing sets to Hill AFB, Utah. It will also partner with Korean Aerospace Industries and other suppliers on the effort.
“Our established supply base, experience with the A-10 structures, and our in-depth knowledge of the US Air Force’s requirements will help us deliver high-quality wings to meet the customer’s critical need,” Pam Valdez, vice president of Air Force services for Boeing Global Services, said.
Hi.
Help me here, didn’t Fairchild make the A-10?
5.56mm
Like the man said when he asked for air support, send anything that starts with “A”.
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I’d love to see the Marines have absolute SWARMS of armored up Pilatus PC-6’s with GE gatling guns like a mini AC-130...
Will somebody please post a pix of what the USAF is talking about ? Thank you
The Boeing A-10 Max!
well the a10 is a jet.
The original wings are worn out so new wings are needed. They just cut off the old and attach the new.
Better yet, I read somewhere, the new wings will be much stronger and be able to carry more ordinance, newer ordinance like the triangle of death missile (no payload just 3 blades that pop out on nearing target) good for those crowded shots and small vehicles
“What, in hover mode?”
Obviously, the rounds and the film were shot by two separate aircraft.
Old Navy guy here. I have no idea besides the title.
Old Navy guy here. I have no idea besides the title.
Old Navy guy here. I have no idea besides the title.
Rate of fire too high for the single-barrel gun on the Apache. Only a motor-driven Gatling-style gun can deliver that rate of fire without melting barrels.
Also, the thermal camera appears to be on a fixed, elevated mount, rather than on something like an Apache.
Most of that is gone now that SecDef Gates is out. That Obama bootlicker hated the Air Force and set to work killing every USAF program he could. He told USAF that they had to make a choice between the F-35 and A-10. What the hell kind of choice is that? It’s like putting a gun to your head and telling you that you have to choose which arm or leg that you’re going to lose. USAF chose the F-35, how the hell are you going to dump a 5th generation aircraft that you’ve already put 15 years and who knows how much into development costs? There were overtures to have F-35 take over the CAS (close air support) mission but everybody damn well knew that what it really meant was that USAF was abandoning CAS.
What kills me is that Sen. McCain was going into his political grandstanding by screaming at the Air Force that they need to support the A-10. If you want the A-10 to continue in the inventory, rally your buddies in Congress to fund the freakin’ thing, moron. And you might want to call a hearing to have SecDef Gates explain what the hell he’s doing. It’s telling that none of that happened. Sen. McCain loved the opportunity to yell about Republicans in his own party but didn’t give a crap about solving the problem. I’m so glad that Congress fell ass-backwards into making a good decision and funded the A-10, that’s a jet that we still need.
Of course....I was talking about a fighter jet...I should have been more specific!!!
Yes, the A-10s were built by Fairchild Republic. When was sold to an investment group in 1999, then M7 aerospace in early 2000s, which was purchased by Israel’s Elbit Systems around 2014. So they’re not really around anymore. And Boeing’s been doing the wing replacements since 2007, so I’m guessing M7 either dropped that division and couldn’t do it, or didn’t have a good enough proposal to get the rewinging contract.
Thanks.
5.56mm
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