Posted on 04/28/2016 12:03:53 PM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Congress to Air Force: You Can't Retire the A-10 Until the F-35 Proves It's Better
Legislators want proof the F-35 can take over the aging tank-killer's job
Congress threw down the gauntlet at the Air Force on Monday, introducing legislation to mandate keeping the A-10 Thunderbolt II—affectionately known as the Warthog—in service until the service can prove the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can take over its job.
As reported by DefenseNews, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mack Thornberry has introduced legislation to forbid the Air Force from retiring the plane. Thornberry's proposed law would prohibit the Air Force from using funds to retire the A-10, and would forbid the service from reducing manning levels for the aircraft. It would further mandate the Air Force keep a minimum of 171 A-10s in active service.
Thornberry's law would keep the A-10 in service until the results of a 2018 competition between the A-10 and F-35A are complete. The two planes will engage in a fly-off, performing various ground support duties, to see which is the most capable in supporting troops on the ground. ..................
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
The only way to have a real fly off between the two for close air support would be to have real anti-aircraft rounds hitting them.
Which one can take the most hits and return home?
Nobody’s gonna get rich that way.
IIRC, the tooling was destroyed, not counting all of the subcontractors who have probably long since gone out of business.
D-M has many A-10s in storage...rework the wing boxes (mid-life improvement) and get them flying.
I believe that the Army is restricted to Propeller fixed wing combat aircraft. Only the other services can have dem new-fangled 'Blow hot air' types. Don't know if it is by law or by agreement, but if you want to fly combat by "blowin'it out your a$$", you ain't gonna be wearing Army Green!
GAU-8 Avenger 30 mm rotary cannon
In this day and age, who knows if some of the manufacturing jigs/tools/dies were 'sold' to China. As I believe was the entire B-1 Lancer Rockwell plant (Columbus Ohio).
Spads were great!
We also really appreciated "Spooky"...
When the Army and Air Force separated after WWII it was agreed the Army would give up fixed wing aircraft. But that could be changed if the Air Force doesn’t want its orphan.
Actually, the Army had and likely still has fixed-wing combat aircraft. They used the OV-1 Mohawk in early Vietnam and while there is some dispute, I believe that there were some Army pilots on its successor, the OV-10 Bronco (Both are Prop jobs). While the 'O' designation made them observation / recon, the natural inclination to shoot-back had them equipped with a degree of combat fire-power.
Still, the point is correct, the Army has rotary combat only, while the rest of the services use a lot of "hot air"!
Around 2010, Boeing was considering a modernized OV-10 for a proposed USAF tasking for a "Light Attack / Armed Reconnaissance" platform.
That is the one plane enemies fear the most. I know pilots, military pilots, and they all agree. The A-10 is the most feared plane in the US arsenal.
That’s the beauty of the A-10. It can take a pounding and still accomplish it’s mission. Awesome aircraft.
For its time, AD Skyraider was a better plane - lower and slower. Flew from 1946 until they literally flew the wings off in Vietnam. The single engine AD was designed originally as a torpedo bomber to replace the Helldiver and Avenger. It could carry more bombs than a B-17.
Marines with squadrons in Korea reported that some crashed on landing because of mud on the windshield or telephone wires entangled in the flight controls. Now, THAT is low and slow.
All in all, the Warthog fills some mighty big shoes. Would dearly love to see what my Marines could do with it.
I know of the Skyraider but not how it stacks up against the Warthog. The A10 is basically that huge Gatling style cannon with wings attached, and an armored tub to protect the pilot.
It’s really an infantry support weapon and ought to be given over to the Army and Marine Corp. The Air Force objects because in their provincial stupidity they see that as an encroachment on their fixed wing aircraft monopoly. Disgusting that any service would endanger others over such petty inter-service rivalry.
Isn’t that the truth! But a ‘feared’ flying brick.
My biggest argument towards the F-35 is it is a single engine aircraft, especially for a low and slow ground attack role.
If one engine goes out for whatever reason, it’s down.
The A-10, F-15 and F-22 are superior for that reason only, not to mention the myriad of other problems the F-35 has encountered during it’s production history.
I understand that the F-35 was intended to be a JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) not only for the US, but for many of our allies, but that is a huge role for a single engine aircraft to achieve.
The F-35 will never replace all of the roles the A-10, F-15 and F-22 not to mention the Harrier and the F-16 within one airframe, especially if it is single engine.
An aircraft that expects to be the best in every role, is relegated to be mediocre, at best, in any role, most notably if it is single engine.
I feel the Pentagon must re-evaluate the F-35 before relegating current inventories to the trash heap.
They're actually reasonably quiet as the plane comes up on you, but once it passes over you, they're OMG-LOUD!
There were some stationed at Richards-Gebaur AFB in Belton, MO (just south of KCMO) some years ago (I believe they've been moved to Whiteman AFB.) One day I was riding my Kawasaki 550 down 71 Highway, going towards KC with no traffic on the road, and all of a sudden, I hear all heck break loose! An A-10 buzzed me at about 50', nearly knocking me off the highway!
Mark
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