A sad day for the soldier/seaman/airman on the ground.... (A-10/CAS Discussion)

Dear United States Air Force,

Can you please donate some ALL of 'em badass A-10s to our armed forces down here? We promise to let you take them out for a spin if you ever find yourselves in these parts.

Signed,
The Philippines.

*I imagine the logistics would be a pain but what the hell... :D
 
:(:(:(

We, oh, so enjoyed watching them practice bombing runs on our little ol' campout in Germany. It's a noise that brought great comfort to us - knowing the US figgered we'd get overrun quickly and they wanted to make sure they had practice obliterating our locale, being of course, the furthest thing from a garden in Paradise... :hmm:

LL
 
This day was coming anyway and people who want to "wake up" and realize that the F-35 can't perform CAS as well as the -10 are too late. The last SLEP/ upgrade for the A-10 to become an A-10C meant the airframe was supposed to go away by 2020. Now that it is sooner people want to protest? If the AF is chopping "single mission" aircraft then all of the heavy bombers should go away using that logic.

Once again, our leaders have demonstrated a stunning lack of intelligence when it comes to modern war. Killing the A-10 wihtout anything close to its capabilities is almost criminal. If they did it for a turboprop CAS platform, I understand. A newer, lost cost jet CAS platform, I understand. To say the F-35 will do the "same" job as an A-10 is dumb, dumb, dumb.

But the demise of the A-10 isn't news and efforts to save it are probably too late.

But hey, JDAMs are JUST as good, right? With those, any platform can perform CAS. :rolleyes:
 
Freefalling said:
This day was coming anyway and people who want to "wake up" and realize that the F-35 can't perform CAS as well as the -10 are too late. The last SLEP/ upgrade for the A-10 to become an A-10C meant the airframe was supposed to go away by 2020. Now that it is sooner people want to protest? If the AF is chopping "single mission" aircraft then all of the heavy bombers should go away using that logic.

Once again, our leaders have demonstrated a stunning lack of intelligence when it comes to modern war. Killing the A-10 wihtout anything close to its capabilities is almost criminal. If they did it for a turboprop CAS platform, I understand. A newer, lost cost jet CAS platform, I understand. To say the F-35 will do the "same" job as an A-10 is dumb, dumb, dumb.

But the demise of the A-10 isn't news and efforts to save it are probably too late.

But hey, JDAMs are JUST as good, right? With those, any platform can perform CAS. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
That's the philosophy (BTW- the B-series aircraft are considered multi-mission)
 
the 35 will never eat tanks and buildings and fortified positions with the accuracy of the A-10.... just my opinion.... and it does not sound nearly as inviting as the low hum, to light roar, to BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, whoosh, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM to light roar to low hum that is the hallmark of the Hog... and it slows down enough that you can actually see the pilot with a huge shit eating grin on his face, waving hi and unleashing the fires of Hell on the bad guy. :thumbsup:
 
I've never heard anything come close to the 'burp' that the A10 makes. F35 filling the role of CAS at the level of the A10 is pipe dream.

I see our military is still fixing what ain't broke...
 
The MQ-9 is being talked about as a platform able to replace the A-10 as well. How that makes any sense escapes me. I'm no field grade though, so WTF do I know?
 
CDG said:
The MQ-9 is being talked about as a platform able to replace the A-10 as well. How that makes any sense escapes me. I'm no field grade though, so WTF do I know?
Click to expand...

I think we're victims of our own success and technology. If you can hang a JDAM from it, then it becomes a CAS platform.

Philisophically, I wonder if fighter pilots will be victims of their own thinking in a generation or two. The more you remove the man from the battle the less you need the man in the battle.
"Here's your new sixth generation aircraft."
"This is a stick and a keyboard."
"Airpower! Oh, we're also taking away your flight pay."
 
Freefalling said:
I think we're victims of our own success and technology. If you can hang a JDAM from it, then it becomes a CAS platform.

Philisophically, I wonder if fighter pilots will be victims of their own thinking in a generation or two. The more you remove the man from the battle the less you need the man in the battle.
"Here's your new sixth generation aircraft."
"This is a stick and a keyboard."
"Airpower! Oh, we're also taking away your flight pay."
Click to expand...

There's a new CAS simulator in the works right now that is being talked about as a replacement for all live controls. JTAC currency would be maintained through nothing but sim controls. It's all part of exactly what you talked about with being victims of success and technology. We are going to spend our way into more and more debt trying to develop all these cool new toys that are never going to be able to replace what a guy on the ground, or in the air, gives you.
 
Marauder06 said:
I thought I was "CPT Killjoy."
Click to expand...

No you are Cpt Faith... an Army Intel Officer, loathed by the men on the ground for never finishing case studies.... Cpt Killjoy is an AF A-10 pilot and beloved by the men on the ground for destroying targets through the use of laserlike CAS... really no comparison, at all.
 
CDG said:
We are going to spend our way into more and more debt trying to develop all these cool new toys that are never going to be able to replace what a guy on the ground, or in the air, gives you.
Click to expand...

...........and most of us here, we're the guys on the ground.

x sf hit it on the head. There is no other platform that can provide the type of cover the troop on the ground needs, (at least fixed wing). That "smile" is not a fallacy. The "danger close" aspect of CAS is lost on the check-writers. I do not see the A-10 "Warthog" going away, upgrades, more bang for the buck possibly, but not going away. The V-22, definitely.

IMHO. Now waiting for the "update" on dodbuzz.
 
RB said:
...........and most of us here, we're the guys on the ground.

x sf hit it on the head. There is no other platform that can provide the type of cover the troop on the ground needs, (at least fixed wing). That "smile" is not a fallacy. The "danger close" aspect of CAS is lost on the check-writers. I do not see the A-10 "Warthog" going away, upgrades, more bang for the buck possibly, but not going away. The V-22, definitely.

IMHO. Now waiting for the "update" on dodbuzz.
Click to expand...

Had to disagree, I see additional CV-22's as it becomes CSAR-X.
A-10, KC-10, and MC-12 are on the chopping block for some reason (I suspect the B-1 is up their too). They are also talking about retiring another 40 C-130's (shudder).

They are going to claim that the high dollar air frames can do the permissive/semi-permissive environment mission, but the low end frames can not do the non-permissive mission, and congress will buy it for many reason (fund raising potential being #1). What really sucks is these frames are great Guard/Reserve Missions, and could go to units fly RPV's.
 
@RB Here you go....



http://www.stripes.com/news/us/gop-senator-blocks-air-force-nominee-over-aircraft-1.243510

A congressional aide said Thursday that Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has placed a hold on the nomination of Deborah Lee James. Ayotte was responding to recent signals from senior Air Force officials that the service could cut its A-10 fleet due to budget cuts.

The aide said Ayotte wants to ensure that the Air Force doesn't prematurely end the aircraft, pointing out that it helped save 60 lives in Afghanistan this past summer.
Click to expand...
 

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