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The A-10 Warthog has a new maritime role in targeting boats in the war in Iran that could extend the life of the aircraft, which the U.S. Air Force had been attempting to retire for years. Despite the Air Force trying to phase out the A-10, Congress has resisted its efforts and blocked attempts to reduce the number of these aircraft. A-10s have been used in the U.S. military campaign against Iran, as the Pentagon sees a need for an aircraft that can loiter and deliver accurate fire against small boats and coastal threats. During a Pentagon briefing last month,...

When Air Force Times reporter Michael Scanlon wrote that the A-10 Warthog had been pulled into maritime interdiction missions in the Strait of Hormuz, it landed like a jolt. This was not the airplane most people expected to hear about in a sea fight. But according to Scanlon, that is exactly what happened. During a Pentagon briefing, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said the A-10 was now operating along the southern flank of Operation Epic Fury, targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fast-attack watercraft in the Strait of Hormuz. That detail matters because it confirms something the host of the...

#A10Warthog #MilitaryAnalysis #MilitaryTechnology The geopolitical tension in the Middle East has just reached a boiling point as Iran's asymmetric strategy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz spectacularly backfires. Attempting to trigger a global energy crisis, the IRGC deployed Maham-class sea mines, kamikaze drones, and fast-attack boat swarms to choke the world’s most vital oil transit route. But the United States and its allies were ready. In a devastating two-phased military campaign dubbed "Operation Epic Fury," the U.S. Navy and Air Force completely dismantled the Iranian blockade. The response was brutal: GBU-72 bunker-buster bombs obliterated underground missile silos, while legendary A-10...

There is a particular species of institutional error that only becomes visible in hindsight, and only then at considerable cost. It is not the error of building the wrong weapon. It is the error of discarding the right one because it does not fit the threat you expect to fight. The US Air Force spent the better part of a decade trying to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, requesting $57M in its fiscal year 2026 budget submission to decommission the remaining 162 aircraft, two years ahead of its own previously stated schedule. Congress blocked the effort, mandating a minimum fleet...

The United States has intensified operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, launching low-altitude airstrikes against Iranian vessels and deploying Apache helicopters to intercept incoming drones. At the center of the campaign is a new addition: the A-10 Thunderbolt II. America’s top general, Dan Caine, confirmed that the heavily armed A-10s—better known as the “Warthog”—have officially entered the conflict and are now flying combat missions along Iran’s southern flank. Built for close combat and designed to destroy ground targets with brutal efficiency, the aircraft are now being used to hunt Iranian fast-attack boats in the narrow, strategically vital waterway. “The...

A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft are among the growing number of U.S. military aircraft types that have now refueled from privately owned tankers. A KC-135 from private aerospace firm Metrea refueling Warthogs during an exercise last year also marked the first time a contractor-operated tanker had ever linked up with U.S. Air Force tactical jets. The Air Force, specifically, has been increasingly making use of private aerial refueling services in the past year, which will help it reduce the burdens on its own tanker fleets. A US Air Force A-10 Warthog ground attack jet receives fuel from a KC-135 tanker...

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force will request a total of $188.1 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, part of a budget submission that asks lawmakers to greenlight the retirement of 250 aircraft, officials revealed today. In a Friday briefing with reporters ahead of the budget release, Kristyn Jones, who is performing the duties of the Air Force Undersecretary, said that the service’s budget would grow by about 1.6% compared to the FY24 request of $185.1 billion, an increase of $3 billion. For the Department of the Air Force (DAF), which includes the Space Force, the DAF’s topline would grow...

The US Air Force has been trying for years to retire its aging fleet of A-10 Warthog planes. During a Thursday hearing, the service secretary said the aircraft "doesn't scare China." "It still has some limited utility, but we have to get on with things," Frank Kendall told Congress. The US Air Force has long butted heads with Congress over plans for the retirement of its aging A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft — flying cannons also known as Warthogs, and on Thursday, service leadership stressed to legislators that it's time to move on because the warplane is less useful than...

The Crazy Process of Landing US Massive A-10 in the Middle of Highway Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel for a feature on the A-10 aircraft and several other important jets in the US Air Force.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Wednesday that some of America's aging A-10 Thunderbolt combat jets could potentially be given to Ukraine as part of continued efforts to help that country repel Russian forces. "That's largely up to Ukraine," Kendall said. "Older U.S. systems are a possibility. ... We will be open to discussions with them about what their requirements are and how we might be able to satisfy them." "I'm not aware of any current plan or even a discussion of a current plan to field or provide A-10s to the Ukrainians," Kendall said at the time. The A-10,...

Lyra describes Javelin missiles bouncing off Russian tanks, NATO replacing good weapons with fragile junk (follow the money) and other things that nazi soldiers are not allowed to complain about...

Will no one rid us of this troublesome A-10 ‘Warthog’? The United States Air Force (USAF) has spent almost two-thirds of its existence as an independent service trying to get rid of the A-10, one of its most well-known aircraft. But has the Air Force finally given up? It is odd to think that a fifty-year-old aircraft might have more job security now than at any time in its long history, but it does seem that the Warthog now has a relatively secure space in the USAF fleet.

Despite multiple efforts to push the iconic A-10 Warthog's retirement date further into the future, the U.S. Air Force is now slated to shelve dozens of the Cold War-era ground-attack planes in the upcoming fiscal year, according to the service's budget request.

Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore blasted the Democratic National Committee (DNC) over what he described as its "disgusting" rule changes, saying they might pave the way for billionaire Michael Bloomberg to land a spot on the next presidential debate stage. On Friday, the DNC announced its requirements for the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas, increasing the polling threshold in addition to allowing any candidate who has earned delegates in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries -- but it also eliminated the donor threshold that was previously set for its Democratic candidates. That means Bloomberg, who has been self-funding his campaign,...

Project 401, "Son of Ares" Some speculate this testbed aircraft might be a more modern, low-cost, stealthy option for a ground-attack platform similar to the A-10. No one knows the reason for the extreme dihedral of the wings, a feature not made clear by the photo at left, maybe some freepers can do some meaningful speculation. The video at link shows this feature in quite some detail. .. Sometimes called "Son of Ares", this aircraft is built around the GAU-12 25 x 137 mm (see photo at right), so this round is not nearly the monster carried by the Warthog....

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- While all members of Davis-Monthan AFB have maintained our mission of sustaining attack airpower, a select group of Airmen have been preparing for an additional mission; demonstrating the capabilities of the A-10C Thunderbolt II. The A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team will perform demos for the first time in seven years for the 2018 air show season. The A-10 will be one of three single-ship aerial demonstration teams in Air Combat Command. “It’s humbling to be selected as the team to bring back the A-10 demo,” said Master Sgt. Derek Allen, A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration...

The new JT15D-5 turbofan-powered "401 Jet" of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif is a small, stealthy, single-engine jet variation on the very novel, 30 year-old "Ares" light attack jet. Never having entered production, Ares was actually an acronym, standing for Agile Responsive Effective Support: Experts note that the X401 would have piloted and drone versions, leading to speculation that the pair could work together synergistically in a "loyal wingman" arrangement, possibly with some form of laser or directed energy weapon occupying the weapons bay, partially visible in the landing flare photo below. A 6-minute YouTube vid explains...

Known as the 'flying gun', the A-10 Warthog plane was a hero during Operating Desert Storm – but has since been deemed vulnerable and costly to operate. Now, a Minnesota-based startup has unveiled designs for a new attack plane called the 'Machete' that consists of a new metal foam developed in conjunction with the US Department of Energy. The metal foam is lightweight and strong - and is capable of stopping bullets and other projectiles in much less space than traditional armor, while the plane boasts the same 30mm cannon as the Warthog it could replace.

Alex LockieJanuary 11, 2017 USAF In another positive sign for the beloved A-10, Air Force maintainers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona have outfitted the Warthog with an upgrade for combat search and rescue missions (CSAR). Dubbed the lightweight airborne recovery system, the upgrade helps A-10 pilots "communicate more effectively with individuals on the ground such as downed pilots, pararescuemen and joint terminal attack controllers," according to an Air Force statement. Of all the fixed-wing aircraft in the US Air Force's inventory, no plane carries out CSAR missions like the A-10. CSAR missions jump off with little warning and...

At the height of the Cold War, the world's two superpowers created a new pair of battlefield aircraft, similar in both power and purpose. One was the U.S.'s revered A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known affectionately as the Warthog. Its Soviet cousin, originally revealed in 1981, was the Sukhoi Su-25 Grach. While the Soviet call sign "Grach" means "rook," the USSR's adversary NATO gave the Su-25 a much less imposing designation: the "Frogfoot." The A-10 has become a legend—an iconic aircraft that can change the course of a battle with a strafing blast of its 30mm GAU-8 cannon, and fights on...