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 ...
The process of re-opening the production line would be as expensive as developing a new plane - the dies, etc. have all been scrapped.
And we CAN improve it on it - better thrust to weight, more PGMs, better all-weather capabilities, etc.
But, truth is, we might need to downgrade - we don’t need super tankbuster as much these days, as we do flying tractors ready to dump PGMs on target when called for. Quantity might be better than quality for most applications right now.
And the IDF.
The air force would rather keep it then let the Army have a fixed wing.
Then Air Force Brass shouldn’t bitch and moan about having it.
Hell yes!
It’s not “sad”. Nothing better has been conceived to replace it.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
And the IDF.
—
Absolutely!
Eventually, the wings will fall off. Until then, keep flying ‘em ... and build a bonafide replacement.
This will go over Obama’s head, but it should make sense to anyone who has ever worn the uniform.
1. The A-10 is a phenomenally effective aircraft for its vital combat mission.
2. The A-10 should remain operational until the Air Force has something at least as good to take over that mission.
As pretty as stealth aircraft are, and as fun as air-to-air combat jets can be, it’s boots on the ground who take and hold territory. We need aircraft that support those troops, and the A-10 is the best for that mission.
Can't??? Bullshit.
Try "aren't allowed to". The politics surrounding defense acquisition are absolutely disgusting.
The Marine Corps has fixed wings that specialize in ground support...give them to the Corps....can the A-10 be launched from a carrier?
That’s what gets rained on the BAD GUY by the A10: Holy HELL.
Yep!
You are right. Fairchild in Hagerstown. Who knows who bought them up? Engine by GE.
Launched from a carrier, yes.
But not recovered aboard.
I thought the name looked familiar. She also brought up the lawsuit that made the military stop forcing American women to wear the religous garb in the ME.
Boeing rebuilt the tooling for making the wings a few years back. And there are PLENTY of low-hours fuselages sitting at AMARG. No need to reopen the entire line, what we have would support a good sized active fleet for the next 50 years.
Heck, I can come up with an idea for one right now.
For instance, replace the gun with a submunition dispenser. being able to drop multiple precision guided munitions (PGM) might be a good replacement for the gun. You could carry a lot of 25 lb. bomblets for the weight of the gun and ammo.
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