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

DA SWO said:
In Afghanistan maybe, not so safe in Syria.
I like the guy in the Super T taking pics of the A-10's.
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Right. Or many of the "low intensity conflicts" that we are going to see. I like the idea of having a FAC in the backseat.
 
TLDR20 said:
Right. Or many of the "low intensity conflicts" that we are going to see. I like the idea of having a FAC in the backseat.
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I do like the back seat crew member for a lot of reasons. I do have to say, that my back seat rides were, sometimes, for the obvious purpose to see vomit squeeze itself out around my face mask. If the usual acrobatics did not work, no notice high G loadings nearly got me; but I was able to keep all my cookies:sneaky:. After a while, they let me alone, and we did the usual stuff. One thing that did get to me was in a T-38 doing touch and go's, and some approaches . One low approach went inverted, once lined up. For the most part I would have my head in the gauges, this one had me looking at nothing but concrete. I have no idea how far we were AGL.
 
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CDG said:
The OV-10s have been doing fine so far.
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What have they actually accomplished? We have Dash-8s in Iraq, they aren't flying near ISIS AA guns and they don't make a difference tactically.
 
Etype said:
What have they actually accomplished? We have Dash-8s in Iraq, they aren't flying near ISIS AA guns and they don't make a difference tactically.
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I assume the units that are using them have good reason to do so, or else they would have stopped. I can't speak to anything specific though.
 
Our guys are taking SAFIRE, not AK-level stuff either, in Iraq and Syria; there's more than people realize. One saving grace is none of it is radar controlled. A Super Tucano wouldn't last or be forced into a performance envelope that would degrade its capabilities.

Afghanistan and Iraq pre-ISIS? We really missed the boat there.

I firmly believe the -29 can play a role, but it should be a Guard and Reserve aircraft. We have a great precedent with A-10's and pilots who are switched on to CAS. The Guard's deployment cycles would also be a good fit for medium-length engagements and fine for long-term roles like Afghanistan given the proper force structure.

The closest thing we have to a one size fits all platform is the F-16 and it has limitations with some models optimized for SEAD/ DEAD and others for CAS. I think even the air-to-air side has some differences depending on the model and we're absolutely kidding ourselves if we think pilots can do it all. Even in a multirole aircraft there has to be a certain "division of labor" where missions are concerned.
 
Bottom line these slower CAS platforms can't get to the TANK and back in time to make it worth how much $$$ they save.:blkeye:

If you give me 4 of them, Some AF smart guy at an AF acronym spits them out to a different tasking!:-o

Math doesn't work!:wall:

I'll take 2 x A-10's....check please!!!!:thumbsup:
 
A-10's over Charlotte, Air Force not amused.

Air Force grounds pilots after buzzing Panthers

The Panthers were practicing Monday when the A-10 "Warthog" attack jets swooped low, alarming some inside and outside the stadium.

It's unclear whether the pilots of the A-10C Thunderbolt IIs, based at Moody Air Force Base in south Georgia, will face consequences for their actions.

"As professional airmen we take aviation safety very seriously," Air Force Col. Thomas Kunkel said in a statement to The Associated Press.
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Freefalling said:
Our guys are taking SAFIRE, not AK-level stuff either, in Iraq and Syria; there's more than people realize...
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Do you mean like ZPUs, ZUs, SAMs? Does ISIS even have SAMs? Have they used Stingers?

Etype said:
Agreed, ISIS would chew OV-10s and A-1s up.
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I don't know if I'd put the A1 in the same category as an OV-10 or A29 in terms of vulnerability. It was an attack aircraft that could go 300+ mph and carry a shitload of ordnance. They faced some pretty heavy stuff over there.
 
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Red Flag 1 said:
I don't see the big deal. Now if they dropped some ordinance, I can see the grounds keepers getting bent out of shape. Hell, they should have gotten a standing ovation; but that's just me.
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Looks like they busted the Bravo and the TFR.
 
Ocoka One said:
I don't know if I'd put the A1 in the same category as an OV-10 or A29 in terms of vulnerability. It was an attack aircraft that could go 300+ mph and carry a shitload of ordnance. They faced some pretty heavy stuff over there.
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The Skyraider was built to have the ability to loiter and drop a lot of ordinance, they were able to absorb tons of damage on Ground Support missions. They knew they would take a lot of hits, OV-10 and A29 are not built as attack aircraft in contested air space.
 
Ocoka One said:
Do you mean like ZPUs, ZUs, SAMs? Does ISIS even have SAMs? Have they used Stingers?



I don't know if I'd put the A1 in the same category as an OV-10 or A29 in terms of vulnerability. It was an attack aircraft that could go 300+ mph and carry a shitload of ordnance. They faced some pretty heavy stuff over there.
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I think an A-29 is just as fast.

We also lost 191 A-1s in Vietnam.
 
Etype said:
I think an A-29 is just as fast.

We also lost 191 A-1s in Vietnam.
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Yes sir, you're probably right about speed. Not to belabor the point because it's not central to the thread, but those 191 A-1s were lost over an 8 year period (64-72). To put A-1 losses in perspective, during that same time frame the Navy and Marine Corps lost 363 A-4 Skyhawks...and most of the Marine Scooters were doing CAS.
 
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