Go Warthogs, go Warthogs!
I got the contract.
I’m working on them in my shed.
Could use a hand if anyone has a good set of wrenches and could use a few extra bucks.
BbbRRRrrrrRrrrrTTTTTTT
No other plane is so loved by the infantry.
AC-130 is a close 2nd.
Are those valid opinions?
Just asking, because I am not familiar with the benefits those who I have talked with seem to believe they have.
$48 million is peanuts for the Pentagon though I’m sure there are staffers there who wish we were spending $480 billion on a plane to replace the A-10.
Watched a program recently on this rebirth of the A-10. Lots of new stuff going in it including new colors. The pilots will be getting a new type of helmet with built-in control functions...not sure what you call that type of helmet.
Glad to see this. When I mentioned it to the ex-Army son-in-law that did three tours in Afghanistan, he was ecstatic.
I think this is a follow-on contract, there was one for a $240 million a few months back.
My favorite as a kid.
That and the SR-71.
I understand that the $s discussed in the article are peanuts in the DOD budget and not even major for an aircraft upgrade.
But what I don’t understand is why they can’t just retool and produce more of the same thing. If it works it works.
715 were produced from ‘75-’84, we could surely produce 25-50/year as ongoing replacements and retire some of the older craft.
There was a 2 seater designed with some ECM abilities that was never really put to use that could be advantageous as well...but why mess with a good thing.
It Works ,
Keep it Flying!
48 mil is cheap for the proven value the aircraft provides. Over the years, all of the upgrades to the B-52 have kept it as a viable asset. It is on track to outlast its follow-on, the B-1.
August 2019. "Air Force awards new A-10 wing replacement contract" The Air Force awarded a new contract to Boeing Company, St. Louis, Missouri, to replace up to 112 wing assemblies for the A-10 Thunderbolt II. An indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with a $999,000,000 ceiling, and also provides for up to 15 wing kits. Work will be performed at multiple subcontractor locations in the United States and one subcontractor location in South Korea and is expected to be complete by August 23, 2030.Now CPI Aerostructures Inc. wins a contract worth as much as $48 million to re-wing the A-10.The Air Force currently has a fleet of 281 A-10s and recently announced the completion of wing replacements for 173 A-10 aircraft, by Boeing, from an earlier contract award.
A-10 Program Office officials said the contract terms to re-wing “up to” 109 aircraft, plus three spares, allows the Air Force flexibility, depending on how many aircraft are needed for the future.
The Company also announced that it has received initial purchase orders under the IDIQ contract valued at approximately $6 million for the production of 4 shipsets of assemblies and associated program start-up costs.
I guess it adds up. Looks like about $1.25 million per "shipset" (I guess a "shipset" is a set of new wings for one A10 aircraft).
Give them to the United States Border Patrol.
Many times I have seen A-10s doing touch and goes and simply flying in patterns at a local airport, LNS (Lancaster, PA). It is amazing watching those big ugly things doing tight turns and streaking across the skies. I assume they are being flown to keep the pilots certified and well practiced. Not sure where they’re based out of, but they are impressive machines. Some others watching have asked what the Hell they are and I have just said that they’re Warthogs, and I am damned glad they are on our side.
A very small fraction of what just developing a replacement would cost.
Say, did that congressionally called for demo of the F-35 vs. A-10 CAS capability ever happen?