USAF to Retire A-10 Warthog

[Rimjaw]

Anybody into military aviation over here? This might be of interest.

WARPLANES: A-10s Being Sacrificed to Buy a Few F-22s May 28, 2003: Despite its repeated success as a ground attack aircraft, the U.S. Air Force is again planning to get rid of the A-10. The aircraft was built to come in low, take enemy fire, and keep fighting. A-10s have a 30mm cannon that fires armor piercing shells, and also uses Maverick anti-tank missiles and bombs. The A-10 was set for demobilization before the 1991 Gulf War. The Army was asked if it wanted to take the A-10s, but Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the offer was withdrawn. Since the Gulf war, the number of A-10s in service has fallen by half, to about 168. To replace the retired A-10s, the Air Force has trained about a quarter of its F-16 pilots to perform close support missions. But F-16s don't get very close, as the air force won't let them fly below 10,000 feet. The reason is simple; only the A-10 is built to go low, take hits, and keep flying and fighting. A-10 pilots are protected by armor, as are key aircraft components. The air force believes that JDAM and Maverick missiles, used from 10,000 feet, can replace the A-10 and its cannon. But army troops, and A-10 pilots, will tell you that nothing, yet, replaces coming in at under a thousand feet with the cannon firing. You see the battlefield more effectively, and it's great for the morale of the soldiers you are supporting. The army has expressed a willingness to take over the close support mission. This would mean the army would get the A-10s, and build a successor aircraft (which might be a UAV). The army would also take over the AC-130 gunships. The air force has expressed a willingness to do this, as long as it gets to keep the billions of dollars it normally spends on maintaining the A-10s and gunships. It is, after all, about money. Dropping the A-10 makes it easier for the air force to afford the new F-22 (at $260 million each) and the F-35 (at $50 million each.) Another problem would be the culture shock of the air force pilots and ground crews transferring to the army. The air force is really world class when it comes to aircraft maintenance, certainly more so than the army. But that's a minor problem compared to the army trying to pick up the tab for the A-10s, as well as a replacement aircraft. How much is effective close air support worth? Probably too much for either the air force or the army to find room in the budgets for. The air force plans to retire the last of the A-10s by the end of 2004.

Talk about sheer absurdity, if there's any aircraft that should be cancelled its the F/A-22. The Warthog is the unsung hero of Iraqi Freedom, and of the simplest, toughest and most well designed aircraft ever. So much for lessons learned in the Gulf War, Afgan and finally the Iraq War. Of course the USAF fighter-jock community has always had a historic prejudice against close-air support missions (and fighter aircraft as a whole) considering it a "third rate" mission to them. So now the Hog gets sacrificed to finance the Force's high-tech fetish.

[ 05-31-2003, 01:38 PM: Message edited by: Rimjaw ]

[wellard]

I work in avation and let me tell you that this is not going to happen. To usefull. Ask any US cavelry commander which plane he wants to see coming over the horizon to help out.


but let me just say, cause this can not be said enough. Gosh it's ugly [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Rimjaw: May 28, 2003: Despite its repeated success as a ground attack aircraft, the U.S. Air Force is again planning to get rid of the A-10. The aircraft was built to come in low, take enemy fire, and keep fighting. A-10s have a 30mm cannon that fires armor piercing shells,

That's good, If only because the "armour piercing shells" it fired
Did in fact contain depleted uranium,
And of course DU, is a heavy metal (no, Not like iron maiden)
And what happens is:

1. Depleted uranium shell hits something, bits of it get pulverised.

2. People inhale bits of this DU powder and it goes into the environment.

3. People (and animals and stuff) suffer from heavy metal poisoning.


Using a mass spectrometer, DU has been found in the urine of a sample of gulf war veterans.
It may be responsible for some of the symptoms of so-called “gulf war veterans syndrome”

However, I’d bet that any replacement would still probably use the same sort of kinetic penetrators so just don’t breath that air!

It’s all about big fat contracts anyway, Whatever makes the contractors the most money et al.

[johnny]

Maybe someday they'll develope a fighterplane, that launches bananas or cucumbers. Would that be healthy enough for you ?

[Dreamer128]

Originally posted by johnny: Maybe someday they'll develope a fighterplane, that launches bananas or cucumbers. Would that be healthy enough for you ?

Would that be genetically modified bananas, or normal ones? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Attalus]

Actually, the fighter-jock heavy Air Force has tried to cancel/remove from inventory the A-10 many times but never has succeeded. The last time they almost did, but the Army rebelled and proposed transfer of the A-10s, their pilots and support crew to them, if they were willing. Guess what, the AF caved, and that is why we had A-10s around for Gulf War II.

[Ziroc]

Oh, no way... THAT gunship is has been my favorite (and the Blackbird) ever since I was little [img]smile.gif[/img] Built models of both!!

[Sir Taliesin]

There ain't no way they are ever going to do that! Sounds like wishful thinking by some heavy Air Force Brass IMO.

BTW, when the shit hits the fan, I'll breath that good old DU, cause I'd like to live a little longer and make sure the other poor bastard on the recieving end doesn't! No one ever said war was pretty.

[Rimjaw]

Eisenschwarz, I've heard of the military using DU to cut costs since its cheaper than tungsten but it would be unfair to blame it on the Warthog. After all, the F-15, B-2, AC-130, Abrams Tank, Apache and Tomahawk missiles make use of DU as well.

Ziroc, ironically the fighter-jock egos at the Air Force were rumored to be responsible for grounding the SR-71 as well. Check the article here.

[ 06-02-2003, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: Rimjaw ]

[Djinn Raffo]

I remember Wild Weasel from Cobra flew an A-10.