Posted on 10/28/2016 11:49:34 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
The depot line for the A-10 Thunderbolt is cranking back up as part of an effort to keep the Cold War-era aircraft flying “indefinitely,” a general said.
Depot maintenance for the popular close-air-support aircraft, popularly known as the Warthog, has been “fully reopened,” Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski told Aviation Week on Monday.
“They have re-geared up, we’ve turned on the depot line, we’re building it back up in capacity and supply chain,” Pawlikowski said. “Our command, anyway, is approaching this as another airplane that we are sustaining indefinitely.”
Pawlikowski also told the magazine that Air Force maintainers are gearing up to replace the Warthog’s wings, dipping into a $2 billion Boeing contract originally awarded in 2007, according to Popular Mechanics. The contract was intended to upgrade the A-10 when the plan was to keep the aircraft flying until 2028.
Like any decades-old aircraft, the A-10 has experienced corrosion, which is to be expected, Pawlikowski said. The majority of the maintenance work for the 283-aircraft fleet is conducted at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at defensetech.org ...
Despite the nickname, I have always liked this aircraft.
They need to produce a drone-version of Warthog. Relying on warplanes whose production was ceased a long time ago would not be enough.
Me too...
Overpowered, durable, and hell on wheels for the enemy.
Love it.
Why not build new ones also and just add better tech as it comes available? The thing does a monster job but you know there are improvements that can be made.
keeping the A10 is the second best news I’ve heard today.
The JsF’s heat signature is much worse than the A10. F-16s hit the ground on Iraq doing CAs. It is not a job for JSF class aircraft.
Combined arms tactics require JSF and A10 to
work together
Its bad news imho. It’s old and need retirement. The only reason they’re keeping it is because there’s no close range air support to replace. Personally I think lots of drones could fill this role, not f-35
The army should have never let go
of the A10 to the Air Force. Seems
like the Air Force took it just to decide to get rid of it without consultation with ground forces
mmmm The Army never had the A-10. There was talk when the Air Force first wanted to get rid of them but when congress seriously started considering it the Air Force decided to keep them to stop the Army from having fixed wing combat AC.
Why do they keep threatening this plane? The thing is a flying TANK tank killer. Sure, I realize that it makes life tough in the cocktail lounge when you have to explain that, while you really ARE a pilot, the thing you fly is called “Wart Hog” but Buck Up! Folks have endured worse for their country.
I seem to remember pictures of A-10s with US Army painted on them, and also a story about how the air force did not like the US Army having them. I might be wrong.
The A-10 also needs upgrades, and the Air Force needs to adopt close air support methods and doctrines that pair it with the F-35 so as to put their respective capabilities at the service of US ground forces. Testing and exercises have shown that they make a potent combination.
Personally, I think that since a new A10 only costs a couple million more than a Predator and is far, far, more capable, it would be a Hell of a lot cheaper and also provide a much more effective CAS capability to reopen the production line and build new ones with the upgrades in them from the start. Not a "redesign" that would be an invitation to waste money, just the same plane with upgrades and whatever improvements that are easy to fit in the existing airframe as it already exists.
In addition, this time around the USAF should be kept from deliberately not equipping them for all the missions they could perform in order to make sure they could still justify buying other more expensive aircraft. No matter how you slice it, an F16 with two fat fuel tanks to have loiter time is no where near as effective as an A10 for CAS and the F35 is far worse than the F35.
". . . and the F35 is far worse than the F35."
should read :
"and the F35 is far worse than the F16."
...devastatingly effective
“Sure, I realize that it makes life tough in the cocktail lounge when you have to explain that, while you really ARE a pilot, the thing you fly is called “Wart Hog” but Buck Up! “
Pure bullrap and you have no idea what you are talking about. Do yourself a little favor and educate yourself how the “Hog Drivers” feel about this aircraft. That is their given title, not some idiot yaking in a bar.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18002876-hog-driver
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