Posted on 03/16/2010 8:27:33 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
South Korea — The Air Force’s ground-attack airplane in South Korea is being replaced with an upgraded version that can strike targets with state-of-the-art satellite-guided smart bombs, officials said Monday.
The 25th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base currently flies the A-10A Thunderbolt II, known as the Warthog.
It received its first three C-models with smarter weapons capability earlier this month, with more to come at an undisclosed future date.
The squadron is known as the Assam Draggins and has 30 aircraft.
The A-model Warthog can launch high-tech laser-guided bombs and other munitions, but not the more advanced satellite-guided JDAM — or joint direct attack munition — that C-models can. The newer version started entering the Air Force inventory in 2007.
“As ‘Hog drivers,’ the 25th Fighter Squadron, we never forget about that grunt on the ground, that 18-year-old soldier on the ground who might need us to get him out of a pinch,” said Air Force Capt. Matthew Kaercher, an A-10 pilot.
“We’re excited that … we’ve got increased ability to provide that support.”
Besides the ability to launch JDAMs, the C-model is fitted with new electronics gear that allows pilots to receive key targeting and other data digitally.
That can help them get vital information earlier in the mission and can shorten the “kill chain” — the time that elapses from takeoff to the striking of the target, Kaercher said.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
What a joke they are trying to replace the Warthog with the JSF. Some of the brass in their love of hi-tech forget military history.
From a faithful rotorhead, I have to confess the A-10 is the coolest aircaft in the U.S. inventory. Followed VERY closely by the AC-130.
A10 is slow and often low, but If I could pilot a plane I think this one would be it. Nimble as one could ask for. Good lift and firepower its awesome.
A-10 also =
Amendment X to the Constitution of the United States:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Ratified 12/15/1791.
I concur
Twenty years ago the Air Force brass tried to replace the A-10 with the F-16. They put a 30mm gun pod on the F-16 to try to ease the Army's fears, but the real issue was the USAF wanted to move from CAS to Battlefield Air Interdiction (BAI).
BAI is about bombing bridges to bottleneck the invading Warsaw Pact tanks, and then bombing the stalled tanks, rather than waiting for them to come through and shooting them as they are engaging NATO tanks. The idea was to leave the CAS role to the Army helicopters.
Thank goodness this didn't happen. The Taliban and Al Qaeda don't have armor divisions. And CAS is everything in the current wars. Every aircraft, from an Army helicopter to a B-1 bomber is a CAS platform. The JDAM has evolved from a precision strike weapon to a utility back weapon equally suited for CAS, hence the ability to use B-52s and B-1s for CAS.
To the enemy on the ground....you are soooo screwed if these guys show up.
great video. you can feel the gatlin guns in your chest from a half-mile away when they fire them, even when airborne.
pop is an old Huey driver and used to tell me stories about A-10 pilots flying below Helos just to prove they could.
Great guys, all of them.
The lift on this pig is amazing.
Sure it slows he down but that’s when fire control kicks in.
Amen.
Thunderbolt is Afghanistan..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iz5MwPsfyo&feature=related
that made the BDA an easy one!
Its not an easy plane to pilot but it is very capable. Has a ton of lift, that’s good and bad.
Slows it down but makes it quick.
A10 Warthogs from Hell..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJSk2Xc3Eq4&feature=related
The Hog is awesome. Yeah, it catches ground fire, but it can take it. That titanium bathtub the pilot sits in is pretty good. And the gun? No armor in the world can withstand it. Clancy wrote an entertaining account of Hogs scaring the crap out of a Russian ‘can in “The Hunt for Red October”. Fictional, but fun to read.
surprised youtube has not banned these yet, sine they’ve banned firearms ones.
have you seen the story of the lady hogdriver from several years ago who landed a badly damaged A10 after a mission?
Are these really new aircraft, or upgraded refurbs?
They are upgraded aircraft. They can carry JDAM bombs
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