Posted on 02/03/2016 10:51:53 AM PST by DogByte6RER
A-10 retirement delayed for six years
There is good news for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The Air Force will not retire A-10s until the year 2022.
Tuesday Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the A-10 has been such a powerful tool in the fight against ISIS that plans to retire the warplane are on hold for another six years. That's what a lot of Southern Arizona was hoping to hear. The A-10 is a huge part of the local economy.
More life for the A-10 is good news for the local economy but bad news for ISIS.
The plane is built around a huge gun meant to slice open tanks so to an A-10 almost anything else is a soft target.
Troops on the ground love the plane because it can fly low and slow enough to tell good guys from bad, and make sure bad guys have a bad day.
As a former A-10 pilot and Squadron commander Congresswoman Martha Mc Sally has been fighting to keep the A-10 in the air. She's looking past the A-10s new 2022 retirement date---just six years away.
"And I've been advocating that until we have a suitable, proven replacement to keep our troops safe that we need to keep the Warthog flying and I'm going to continue to lead that fight."
(Excerpt) Read more at kgun9.com ...
No, the Air Force brass needs to do their job and support one of the primary reasons for the Air Force to be in existence - Support Ground Forces with Close Air Support.
Designed for WWI, and there's still no need to replace it. And the only significant change has been to eliminate the need to set headspace and timing, and just pair barrels with their receiver.
Just kind of makes me go all warm and fuzzy inside.
The B-52 and the A-10 are timeless classics.
Great news!!!!
Or the C-130 or B-52?
Good!
The A-10 would fit in very well with Army Aviation.
There are arguments on both sides of this issue and the A-10 moving over to the Army wins out. I don’t have them at hand but they are out there.
Because airframes have a finite lifespan.
That argument has been kicked around for decades without success. The Army is neither funded or equipped to train A-10 pilots or support the airframes and the Army leadership doesn’t want the airframes for those reasons. The Air Force needs to be forced to do its close air support role with the (proven) airframe it originally convinced Congress to fund and support over 40 years ago or be re-integrated as a force back into the Army.
It’s too bad they are not allowed to hit anything:-(
Then build more. When you have a great design, it’s hard to improve on it.
Agree. I wonder who is doing the upkeep on these; there is no more production but it should be on someone’s plate to look at the feasibility to start building them again.
I think the original run was in a plant in Maryland.
That’s a good argument. Thanks.
P.S. They have kept the B-52 flying for over 50 years and no plans to retire them any time soon.
You might want to distinguish which “military folks” despise the A10.
The perfumed princes? More than likely.
The maintainers and pilots? Not so much.
Pilots I had a chance to speak with enjoyed it’s maneuverability vs. speed.
And I rather enjoyed my relatively few forays into working the A10.
A classic machine from a mechanic’s perspective. One has to enjoy getting dirty to fully and truly appreciate it.
Several years ago there was a squadron of A 10s based out of Grisson Air Reserve Base just north of here. They made training flights over my brother’s farm. You could hear them droning around but weren’t exactly sure where they were. Then without warning, a pair would hop the tree line, make a “pass” at a tractor or shed, and were gone over the next tree line a moment later.
I would hate to be on the ground if it were for real combat.
Excellent news !
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