R.I.P A-10 Warthog

[clublights]

Good plane. However reliability rate these past few years is terrible. Really bad. They are an old plane that has been ridden hard.

I say open up the assembly lines and make new ones.

I thought the C model rebuild/ rewings were supposed to help with this ?

[Sharpienads]

However, Welsh said the A-10 finds itself on the chopping block because “it’s a single-mission airplane, essentially,” and would struggle in more contested airspaces.

This is the real issue. Nobody loves the A-10 more than me (ok, maybe some people do, but I like it a lot), but times are changing. With more sophisticated surface-to-air threats being widely proliferated, it won't matter how well the A-10 is at CAS if it can't even get to the battlefield without being shot down.

[lowspeed_highdrag]

I've had a love affair with the Hog since I was a little boy and got to see the destruction it caused in Desert Storm on TV. What a terrible idea! There is no better CAS than the A10.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Good plane. However reliability rate these past few years is terrible. Really bad. They are an old plane that has been ridden hard.

I say open up the assembly lines and make new ones.

Have you heard any rumors about bringing the old OV10 bronco back?

[Sharpienads]

Have you heard any rumors about bringing the old OV10 bronco back?

I haven't heard anything of the sort.

[ChunkyMonkey]

I haven't heard anything of the sort.

It's mentioned in few defense articles.. At least as a contender
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-ne...uld-be-horizon

[Sharpienads]

It's mentioned in few defense articles.. At least as a contender
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-ne...uld-be-horizon

Huh, well that's interesting. But that article is from 2009. There has been a pretty big shift in long-term thinking since then (such as fighting an enemy like Russia as opposed to a COIN fight). But I'm just a lowly worker. The AF doesn't ask for my input on stuff before they make big decisions.

[nynco]

I really do like the A-10. It was and is a great tool for the guys on the ground. I just wish they could get the Osprey to work right. If they did, it might make a decent replacement for the A-10. This seems like another one of those pentagon decisions that favors expensive toys over things that work. It always pissed me off how the troops on the ground for years were stuck with old tech like the TA50 stuff while we wasted money hand over fist on boondoggles.

[earplug]

Drones with Hellfires would fill a small part of the A-10 role.
The tank is dead, we don't really need a dedicated tank killer.

[clublights]

Drones with Hellfires would fill a small part of the A-10 role.
The tank is dead, we don't really need a dedicated tank killer.

That's the thing tho ..

a drone currently... can carry what 2-4 hellfire's?

an a-10 carries a crap load more and still has that 30mm to tear shit up . not just tanks .. anything you want dead the a-10 will deliver.