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Legendary A-10 'Warthog' sends ISIS fleeing even as it faces Pentagon cuts
FOX NEWS ^

Posted on 01/21/2015 12:39:22 PM PST by McGruff

With a roaring engine, 30-mm. cannon and nose painted like a toothsome, snarling beast, the A-10 Thunderbolt sends ISIS fighters scattering like cockroaches on the Iraqi desert plains, but the legendary fighter plane pilots call the "Warthog" may be fighting for its own life.

The venerable plane, first built for destroying Soviet tanks, has been on the chopping block since the sequester of 2011 mandated steep cuts in the Pentagon budget. Although the planes haven't been built in more than 30 years, the Defense Department believes it can save maintenance costs by phasing them out. Air Force brass believes newer, faster aircraft like the F-16, F-15E, and, eventually, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter can do a better job of the Warthog’s mission of providing close air support to soldiers on the ground. But supporters say Islamic State fighters are finding out the hard way what they have said all along.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: a10; cas; gwot; usaf
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To: McGruff

That aircraft is one big piece of whoop-ass! I’ve seen it in action in Iraq and was glad it was on our side!

Give me a A-10 any day over a F-22...then again...I’m a ground troop MP...22’s don’t do anything for me...


21 posted on 01/21/2015 12:57:24 PM PST by BCW (ARMIS EXPOSCERE PACEM)
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To: McGruff

Always loved,”The Hog”.
Glory boys with angle wings get a lot of press but these guys are a whole different breed!!


22 posted on 01/21/2015 12:58:31 PM PST by CGASMIA68
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To: Blood of Tyrants
The Air Force hates the A-10 because it is not a sexy, expensive, go-fast, stealth fighter.

Respectfully, you are mistaken.

See my post #20.

Given the massive budget "bill" the Air Force and the rest of the DoD is forced to "pay" so we can keep the ObamaCare subsidies, EBT cards, and Social Security Disability dollars flowing, the only way to save Billions is by cutting entire line fleets. Thus, the A-10 and KC-10 are targeted for termination.

23 posted on 01/21/2015 12:59:36 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: McGruff

24 posted on 01/21/2015 1:00:23 PM PST by JPG (The GOPe will always find a way to surrender)
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To: SkyPilot

The amount is paltry compared to the actual size of the budget.


25 posted on 01/21/2015 1:01:31 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Good Muslims, like good Nazis or good liberals, are terrible human beings.)
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To: sparklite2
the titanium underbelly of the warthogs rendered the hand held missiles ineffective.

Uh ...No. Perhaps kryptonite missiles might work if the pilot were a chap named "Clark Kent?"

26 posted on 01/21/2015 1:02:16 PM PST by Kenny Bunk (Gay Muslim guy from Mombasa as POTUS? Sure! What could possibly go wrong?)
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To: taxcontrol
I love the warthog but believe it is time for the next version of this aircraft. Something with a more modular main weapon

A phased plasma cannon in the mega-watt range.

27 posted on 01/21/2015 1:03:45 PM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Life and death are but temporary states. But Freedom endures forever.)
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To: Resolute Conservative

Did anyone tell the Caribou?


28 posted on 01/21/2015 1:03:49 PM PST by DPMD
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To: McGruff

The A-10. A beautiful cannon with a jet built around it. It is an awesome tool for the job needed. it would be a crying shame to retire this aircraft.


29 posted on 01/21/2015 1:04:14 PM PST by vpintheak (Keep calm and Rain Steel!)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Barry is more apt to fire some more upper staff than allow anything that might help our military.


30 posted on 01/21/2015 1:04:22 PM PST by Resolute Conservative
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To: SkyPilot

God help us is right.

31 posted on 01/21/2015 1:06:18 PM PST by McGruff (We have met the enemy and they are our own party.)
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To: Resolute Conservative
The Army is barred from operating fixed wing aircraft since 1947.

Which law is that?
If you're talking about the Key West Agreement, that's not law.

Moreover, the Air force in its entirety is not authorized by the Constitution.

32 posted on 01/21/2015 1:06:24 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: nikos1121

Plenty of footage to choose from, here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=a-10+warthog


33 posted on 01/21/2015 1:08:13 PM PST by Carriage Hill ( Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug.)
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To: PGR88
Using the F-35 for such tasks, as planned, on groups like ISIS is like using a cheap, replica-/prop-samurai sword to cut wood.

FTFY.

34 posted on 01/21/2015 1:08:33 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: vpintheak

Getting rid of the A-10 is like getting rid of a wrench because the design is outdated.


35 posted on 01/21/2015 1:08:44 PM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: SkyPilot

The Air Force indeed hates it. What they love is electronics, stealth, and above all -procurement-. They have a very poor record for providing quality ground support and have become big believers that they ARE the main effort. Supporting the Army is a distraction from what they believe war is.


36 posted on 01/21/2015 1:08:46 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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To: Pearls Before Swine

There is simply no viable replacement for the function the A-10 performs so well. It is a version of cavalry that happens to fly, rather like a flying tank, throwing out huge amounts of projectiles at very high muzzle velocity, and capable of disabling or even destroying a terrestrial armored vehicle. To say nothing about what would happen to a column of supply or personnel carrier vehicles.

Add to that the high degree of mobility, and you have a devastating war machine.

Crank up the production lines and start getting them out there on the front. Shock and Awe still are major psychological and tactical strategies.


37 posted on 01/21/2015 1:10:45 PM PST by alloysteel (Je suis Charlie)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Better than that, give them to the Army and Marines, and start building new ones. Same proven ideas, plus some upgrades. Nothing else can really replace it.


38 posted on 01/21/2015 1:13:04 PM PST by Wildbill22 (They have us surrounded again, the poor bastards- Gen Creighton Williams Abrams)
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To: frithguild

Who ever thought Richard Gatling’s contraption would be so effective when hooked to an electric motor!


39 posted on 01/21/2015 1:14:10 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: SkyPilot

If you were correct, the AF wouldn’t be pushing that dog the F-35, that is less capable than a 16 or 15. The 15SE makes it a total embarrassment.
You cant scream tight budgets as a justification to drop the most effective machine we have while pursuing the “F-35 replaces everything” idea.
Cut the number of F-35 by the number of A-100s we have and pocket the money.

Of course, contractors and congressfools really hate that.


40 posted on 01/21/2015 1:14:58 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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