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 ...
I have a Swiss Army knife with blades, screwdrivers, scissors, bottle opener, can opener, wire stripper, toothpick, and tweezers...
But, excepting the knife part, it doesn’t do ANY of those jobs as well as the tool dedicated to each specific purpose.
When I see a video like this I ponder, what would have happened if the Allies had a squadron of these on D Day in 1944.
She married a another A-10 pilot!
I have long felt that the A-10, being the only active fixed wing aircraft designed specifically for close air support, should not be removed from the force structure without a suitable replacement. The roles and missions arguments that dictate that the Army must try to accomplish the CAS function with rotary wing aircraft is patently absurd and expensive.
Unlike the bombing campaign undertaken in Bosnia, CAS from 16000 ft. is practical only in the eyes of wimpy politicians.
We see so many every day flying out of Moody AFB, Georgia was goin to name it the state bird. Seems appropriate to bomb Muzzies with anything with the word hog in it.
Actually the A-1 Skyraider was the platform it was derived from. . .and the P-47.
Thanks for posting this. I didn’t know this great plane had been given a reprieve. Glad to see it still protecting our troops.
I don't recall her landing dead-stick, but I do remember her having to fly back to her base using the manual backup controls. The damage to her aircraft crippled all hydraulic power.
Hmm - does the F-35 have manual control systems as an extra layer of redundancy?
I thank gawd every day for that ‘luck’ (and skill during pilot training to ensure I was ‘fighter rated’).
There is another 300 guys heading over. Hope someone’s keeping an accurate count.
America should know the count before Election Day
A jet built around a machine-gun. A beautiful creation if man ever made one!
See #62 from a knowledgeable retired USAF FReeper who corrected my nomenclature error which I acknowledged @ #71.
“Anything that came before Premier Obola is obsolete and must be replaced. He is so much smarter than anyone else who has ever lived. “
Obama doesn’t know what an A-10 is. He had nothing to do with this decision which is way above his competency level.
The more than 300 A-10s in service would have been grounded.
Pretty good.
Unless it takes out all three flight control systems (two hydraulics and manual), both engines (high and wide, low thermals signature, flares), and the pilot (he is protected by a titanium ‘bathtub’). . .better than an 84% survival rate if hit.
F-16’s. . .any battle damage and an 80% loss rate.
No ‘dead stick,’ as that means no engines. Landed in Manual Reversion.
Those who wanted to scrap it are not on our side.
That’s great! Having been downrange from the hogs, I can tell you there is no platform that comes close in the intimidation factor. Nothing like watching three football fields explode in a rain of DU!
Too bad the AF has been trying to scrap them for decades. Just not sexy enough for the jet jockeys.
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