Posted on 09/23/2014 1:00:09 PM PDT by blam
Christopher Harress, International Business Times
September 23, 2014
A-10 Warthog in Afghanistan upload.wikimedia.org
As the U.S. begins bombing ISIS targets in Syria with a campaign of airstrikes that started Monday, a venerable airplane that was almost sent to the scrapyard joins the fight. The Pentagon will send a dozen A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft and up to 300 airmen to the Middle East in early October, to help in the conflict against the Islamic State group, the Indiana National Guard said.
The deployment of the 40-year-old aircraft comes just four months after it was controversially saved from defense cuts by Congress, whose rationale for saving it was simple: Cutting it would lead to the deaths of U.S. servicemen on the ground.
Built originally by now-defunct Fairchild to destroy Soviet tanks in Europe, the A-10 survived the end of the Cold War thanks to its ability to fly low, carry lots of bombs and a large cannon, and help troops with close air support, which made it often invaluable in Afghanistan. But with defense cuts looming and the Afghan war winding down, the Thunderbolt seemed on the way out.
The aircraft, while favored by some Air Force top brass, was slated to be cut from the defense budget in early May, with potential savings of about $4 billion over a five-year period. The more than 300 A-10s in service would have been grounded.
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
The A-10 should have been assigned to the Marine Corps from the beginning.
You probably meant the AD-4 Skyraider which was redesignated the A-1E. The A-4 was another plane, the Navy's Skyhawk.
The Navy specified the Skyraider and deployed the airplane from 1946 through Korea then Vietnam. It arrived too late for WWII.
It was never in the USAF inventory until Vietnam when they realized they had nothing that was good for extended loiter time at a rescue site. A bonus was that the A-1E was a flying dumptruck. It could carry huge amounts of ordnance compared to the fast movers.
(RIP Jerry Valentine, Col, USAF a SH Sandy driver from NKP)
I hadn’t heard they rescued it. It seemed like a particularly dumb idea to scrap it, because it is ugly and deadly, and built like a brick $h*thouse
The Marines would love to have them.
They sure liked our A-4s in nam.
VMA-223 Mag 12, Chu Lai RVN.
Viet Nam, we were winning when I left.
Actually, they KNOW there is glory in it. . .how many MoH awarded to Air Force CAS pilots during Vietnam? Five.
How many to the Air-to-Air jocks? Zero.
As it has been said, you can shoot down all the MiGs you want, but when you land and find Al Qaeda or ISIS having lunch in your snack bar, you lost the war.
Nothing wrong w/ the plane itself but spare parts for repair are getting hard to find. The production tooling has been scrapped which means the only parts available are canabilized from planes shot up so bad they are no longer airworthy.
Regards,
GtG
PS I love the A-10, it's a flying tank!
PPS I think the Army should should be in control of it's close in air support.
We used to have mass launched out of RAF Bentwaters and during one launch we had 109 Hogs in formation ‘attacking’ the UK coastline.
Such a ‘woodie’ over that one. . .
Thanks for that clarification on the nomenclature - much appreciated!! FRegards!
Perhaps they can start a military surplus program to benefit local Tea Party groups...
It's a sticker...
Instead of scrapping the A-10 Warthog the Air Force should update the design, add night vision, and build more, many more. There has never been a combat support aircraft that equals the A-10.
The 188th ANG flies the A-10 they used to buzz the farm on runs every morn. Was a sight to see! I would have hated to be on the firing end of a strafe by those guys.
Hit with the bombs from the fighters then send in the A-10’s
finish up with the MC 130E. Nothing left standing!
Instead of scrapping the A-10 Warthog the Air Force should update the design, add night vision, and build more, many more. There has never been a combat support aircraft that equals the A-10.
Great! Thank you for your service.
Since you've actually "been there, done that" could you please tell us some A-10 facts, experiences and stories. I'm sure many of us here would like to hear and talk about it.
The A-10 should have been assigned to the Marine Corps from the beginning.
Yes, Marines and Army.
The A10 is cheap and effective. The government needs a defective replacement that will cost a billion dollars per copy.
Great story. I watched the vid at the link also. Good read and I didn’t mind at all the language. I’ve used worse.
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