Posted on 01/08/2005 5:48:14 PM PST by iso
I guess the question is, would you like to be a target from an A10?
Ping
I'm also 55, but am well beyond a "mid life upgrade" which the BUFF is now undergoing. It will fly for at least another 20-25 years, which is about as long as we are likely to last. It came on board when we were toddlers and it will go out about the same time we do. :)
"Only the Marine and Brit (and maybe some other exports) versions. The Navy will have a carrier capable version, but it will use cats and arresting wires. The Air Force version will be strictly CTOL."
Roger that. Thanks. I assumed the Navy would stick to the hook regardless if it was totally VTO. Never thought about the Airforce specs.. Obviously they don't need a hook.
I used to go down to the flightline and watch the P-51's and later F-80's take off and land. He got layed off around 1954 as did a large number of civilian employees. Daddy always hated Eisenhower after that.
A few years later he got back on at Eglin and stayed there until he retired. Eglin was an even better base for a kid to visit. I spent many nights roaming around the King Hangar, (Daddy knew all the AP's).
Actually some of the MOAs associated with Tyndall are over land. They are used mainly for refueling, but also for some of the contractor operated twin turboprops used to train the Air Weapons controllers at the schoolhouse for that, which is also at Tyndall.
I still hate to see the A-10 go away. Can't imagine the JSF/F-35 taking as much battle damage as the A-10. I don't have the confidence in the JSF yet, largley due to the lack of reasearch on my part. Want to know more about it's payload etc....
My personal favorite too.
It's not quite that solid, but it bites like an M-1. :)
Nope, I've seen the engineering film of an A-10 shooting up a tank. I also have met many of the folks who designed and built the Laser Guided Bombs which the A-10 uses for "tank plinking".
And don't forget Boeing gets 32% of the work share building the jet. (LM gets 35%).
Air Force aircraft have hooks, just a little lighter than the Navy/Marine ones. Undercarriage is much lighter as well. Compare F-16's gear to that of an F/A-18. The hooks are for engaging the emergency arresting gear at the end of the runway, the departure end, where a landing aircraft, even one with failed brakes, will have slowed considerably.
Damn
And I've shot the gun and been on the ground calling in air strikes in Gulf War I, and let me tell you how I describe the gun; it is the Fist of God. One punch and you are gone.
"I still hate to see the A-10 go away. Can't imagine the JSF/F-35 taking as much battle damage as the A-10. I don't have the confidence in the JSF yet, largley due to the lack of reasearch on my part. Want to know more about it's payload etc...."
I don't think the intention is for a JSF air superiority fighter to have to take the type of punishment a Warthog could take.It will be very very stealthy. I don't know much about it other then two documentaries on it last year or so. I assume one could do searches at google etc., and come up with a somewhat realistitic idea as to what to expect.
My brain is getting so bad that I cannot even remember which two companies did the initial model up work.
As for the F22. Who knows what the Ruskies and ChiComs may come up with in the next ten years. I am one not to get cocky anymore concerning our jets verse theirs. We may maintian a lead in super sophisticated avionitic packages, due to our years of experience, but we must be realistic, they are quickly catching up in things like Integrated Circuit Design and fabrication techniques. Once they either steal and or gain a generation worth of new designs they are going to be a lot of trouble. There are a lot of very bright Chinese scientist and engineers. Just to damn much shared technologies now adays.....the smart can gain a generation of new weapon systems if their carefull without putting in the kinds of R&D used to be required.
This is one of the reasons I want the Army to take over the A-10. How many A-10s can you buy for the cost of 1 JSF? Also want them to take of the Spectre aircraft as well. It's absurd to prevent the Army from having fixed wing aircraft.
They are the ugliest most beautiful thing flying IMHO. Hell even their name WartHog...but, it's very fitting.
It just exudes power.
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