Retiring the A-10

[TroglocratsRdumb]

After repeatedly blocking the US Air Force's attempts to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, Congress late last year approved a plan to decommission 21 of the venerable ground-attack aircraft, which is the only US military aircraft purpose-built for close air support.

Those retirements would shrink the Air Force's A-10 fleet to 260 aircraft, and Air Force leaders plan to continue decommissioning A-10s in the years ahead.

Air Force officials have said they want to replace the A-10, affectionately known as the Warthog, with the F-35 as the service's primary close-air-support aircraft.

MSN

comment:
The A-10 can do things that no other plane can do.
But it is a very old plane design.
The first ones flew 50 years ago.
Maybe they will keep them in the A.F. Reserves.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

A-10 ruining a Jihadist's day.

 

[candycorn]

Big mistake. Keep them...add more.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

A-10 vs ISIS on a motorcycle

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

A-10 vs Taliban

 

[johngaltshrugged]

I suspect our decision makers in the DOD aren't exactly the best & brightest

“A-10 will always be better than F-35 in Close Air Support. In all the other missions the JSF wins” F-35 pilot says​

Cost of an A-10 is about $20 million
Cost of an F-15 is about $80 million & it is an inferior option for CAS

"A-10 will always be better than F-35 in Close Air Support. In all the other missions the JSF wins" F-35 pilot says

...and (quite obviously) the F-22 will always be better in Air-to-Air combat. But, in all the other missions the F-35 wins. It's wrong to compare the F-35

theaviationist.com

 

[johngaltshrugged]

A-10 vs ISIS on a motorcycle

The problem with these videos is we never know if they are telling the truth about the target.

I remember the Afghan surrender when they claimed an airstrike took out a car full of jihadis & it turned out to be a family with multiple kids killed.

US airstrike takes out ‘imminent ISIS-K threat’ targeting Kabul airport

Rocket hits neighborhood northwest of Kabul international airport amid US evacuation.

nypost.com

Multiple Afghan relatives, including children, killed in US strike in Kabul: report

US officials said the drone strike wiped out a vehicle carrying multiple suicide bombers that posed an “imminent ISIS-K threat” to the city’s airport.

nypost.com

For all we really know, other than taking the word of the lying govt, these could be innocents killed by mistake(?).
It's not like we haven't wiped out whole weddings by mistake before either

​

US air strike wiped out Afghan wedding party, inquiry finds

Official investigation reveals US military killed 47 civilians, including bride, when missile went off course

www.theguardian.com

Yemenis: Drone Strike 'Turned Wedding into Funeral'

The Obama administration has launched an internal investigation into a drone strike in Yemen that villagers say hit a wedding party, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[jwoodie]

The A-10's mission to destroy tanks is becoming obsolete, and there are cheaper ways to take out passenger cars and motorcycles.

 

[odanny]

A close, ground support plane like that is fine against an enemy like ISIS or the Taliban, who don't have an Air Force. Of course they want to replace it with something that costs 10 times as much and has all the bells and whistles, but that won't necessarily make it better against a terrorist enemy, the A-10 is fine for this.

 

[1srelluc]

The A-10's mission to destroy tanks is becoming obsolete, and there are cheaper ways to take out passenger cars and motorcycles.

There might be cheaper ways sure enough but nothing lifts the spirits of the ground troops than a A-10 CAS strike.....As long they are not taking unacceptable losses from MANPADS I say keep them in service.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

A-10 vs ISIS on a motorcycle

Which way did he go?
Which way did he go?

 

[Mushroom]

It must be remembered that retired does not mean destroyed. These will be sent to Arizona where they will be put in careful storage.

The A-10 has often been rotated in and out of storage at Davis-Monthan. Every time I seemed to go to that base I would see A-10s about a decade ago I would see Warthogs being flown that still had some of the storage paint covering parts of them. And one advantage of doing that is that in the end that extends their lifespan as they have fewer flight hours on the airframes.

I have no problem with mothballing excess aircraft, ships, or other equipment when numbers required are lower. Just so long as they are stored and maintained so that they can be returned to service at a future date. Just so long as we never again get an administration like a previous one that cuts through our reserve stockpiles with a chainsaw like a previous one did.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

The A-10's mission to destroy tanks is becoming obsolete, and there are cheaper ways to take out passenger cars and motorcycles.

Surely you've heard of the Highway to death otherwise known as hwy 80.

 

[Vrenn]

Surely you've heard of the Highway to death otherwise known as hwy 80.

Yes. But it could have been done just as good with almost any aircraft. The problem is, the very narrow mission that the A-10 can do better than say the F-16, F-15 or F-35, the AC-130J does it better with less of a threat.

The AC doesn't drop down on the deck. He flies anywhere from 20k to 35K and can fight there. Shoulder fired weapons are useless. And the AC can select his targets and do precision strikes. And he can stay for hours on end. In case you didn't know it, the opening shots for Desert Storm was an AC-130 taking out a placement so that spec ops could take that position quickly over a valley. The Enemy didn't hear a thing until their world went to crap fast.

The A-10 no longer has a mission.

 

[frigidweirdo]

A close, ground support plane like that is fine against an enemy like ISIS or the Taliban, who don't have an Air Force. Of course they want to replace it with something that costs 10 times as much and has all the bells and whistles, but that won't necessarily make it better against a terrorist enemy, the A-10 is fine for this.

The future of warfare isn't even planes or tanks. It's hacking, it's manipulating the other country.

 

[Mushroom]

The future of warfare isn't even planes or tanks. It's hacking, it's manipulating the other country.

Oh yes, as that has been so effective in Ukraine. And Syria. And anywhere else there is fighting going on.

 

[para bellum]

In case you didn't know it, the opening shots for Desert Storm was an AC-130 taking out a placement so that spec ops could take that position quickly over a valley.

Were you even alive in 1991? The first shots in Desert Storm came from F-117's flying out of King Khalid Air Base in KSA, and Tomahawk cruise missiles from USN ships in the Persian Gulf.

And AC-130's are great, but they won't fly under a cloud deck and neither will F-35's, so your troops on the ground are SOL if they need CAS and it's not a sunny day...

 

[Mushroom]

Were you even alive in 1991? The first shots in Desert Storm came from F-117's flying out of King Khalid Air Base in KSA, and Tomahawk cruise missiles from USN ships in the Persian Gulf.

And AC-130's are great, but they won't fly under a cloud deck and neither will F-35's, so your troops on the ground are SOL if they need CAS and it's not a sunny day...

To be technical, it was from Apache gunships that slipped in right before the attack to take out some SAM sites in key locations. But that along with some Air Force and Navy fighters doing "Wild Weasel" operations was only to distract and clear the way for the F-117s to do the actual attack.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Yes. But it could have been done just as good with almost any aircraft. The problem is, the very narrow mission that the A-10 can do better than say the F-16, F-15 or F-35, the AC-130J does it better with less of a threat.

The AC doesn't drop down on the deck. He flies anywhere from 20k to 35K and can fight there. Shoulder fired weapons are useless. And the AC can select his targets and do precision strikes. And he can stay for hours on end. In case you didn't know it, the opening shots for Desert Storm was an AC-130 taking out a placement so that spec ops could take that position quickly over a valley. The Enemy didn't hear a thing until their world went to crap fast.

The A-10 no longer has a mission.

Not as cheaply as the A-10.
And the A-10 is extremely effective in covering our troops on the ground and we have a lot of A-10's as in 281 of them. While we only have 47 AC-130 Gunships.

 

[para bellum]

To be technical, it was from Apache gunships that slipped in right before the attack to take out some SAM sites in key locations. But that along with some Air Force and Navy fighters doing "Wild Weasel" operations was only to distract and clear the way for the F-117s to do the actual attack.

My bad. Yes, there were 2 air defense radars that were taken out by the Apaches about 1/2 hour before the F-117 hit the C2 site at Nukhayb Air Base.

I have a soft spot for the Hogs.