Hold my beerThe thread is a bit specific, limited to a 10 fans/enemies, and we stay mostly on topic.
So, sorta not like INGO.
Hold my beerThe thread is a bit specific, limited to a 10 fans/enemies, and we stay mostly on topic.
So, sorta not like INGO.
I don't have a clear picture of how much AA the Russian armor formations in Ukraine are rolling with, but it seems to be enough that the Ukrainians aren't doing a whole lot of CAS. They seem to be doing most of their armor busting with arty and infantry weapons.The problem with the gun is that you have to get so close/ low to the target to destroy it. Against forces that do not have manpads and other short range or defense systems, you could get away with this. If the Taliban and the Iraqi guerillas had been equipped with Manpads the A-10 would have been pushed off. Remember, We helped the Taliban screw the Russian helicopters with Stngers, and then spent yours scrambling to get all the stingers back so they wouldn’t do it to us in the next war.
An army that’s employing MBT’s, infantry fighting vehicles, trucks, and all the rest are also likely equipped with short range air defense, which forces the A-10 And any other low slow aircraft, to stand way back and use smart missiles … which are also used by every other fast-moving aircraft.
Even during the first Gulf War the A-10 was generally restricted from flying below 10,000 feet because of the anti-aircraft threat. One of my fellow ROTC graduates flew the A-10 during that war, and he seemed to fly mostly night missions with two Maverick missiles. That meant he got two shots and he was done for the night. The A-10 of the era had very little in the way of electronics, just the Maverick system. The pilots had to use the seeker head of the Maverick to find targets (tanks) on the ground, and as soon as they launch the missile, they went blind, so then they switch to the other missile to hunt for more targets, and when that one was gone, they went home. They could use dumb bombs in daytime, but they were not the most accurate. He got into some closer range stuff at Khafji, but that was about it. The number one tank killer aircraft of the Gulf War was the F111, a supersonic strike aircraft, because it had superior targeting system, ECM … and with PGMs and speed could stand off from ground fire.
The A-10 has been considerably upgraded since the first Gulf War but the PGM systems added also exist on the fast movers, and it’s still all about letting the A-10 stand back away from the ground fire threat.
For those situations where the ground fire/manpad threat is low, and a slow, moving long loiter aircraft with a gun and bombs is useful, the A-10 Is over engineered, with its relatively inefficient jet engines, more armor than is required, and a relatively short loiter time. Hence the armed Air Tractor as a purposebuilt CAS aircraft.
USSOCOM selects Air Tractor-based light combat aircraft for Armed Overwatch - AeroTime
The AT-802U Sky Warden has been selected by the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) for its Armed Overwatch program. The initial $170 million contract will see the delivery of up to 75 aircraft, which will begin in 2023. The aircraft are intended to be used for counter-insurgency...www.aerotime.aero
It depends.The certainly want CAS, but they think other platforms can do it better than the A-10.
This. The Key West agreement should likely have been modified years ago.If the AF doesn’t want the A10 or CAS, just hand the planes, pilots and ground crews over the the Army and let them continue on. The AF can go back to their global nuke hauling
The Army wouldn't take them. They are smarter than that.If the AF doesn’t want the A10 or CAS, just hand the planes, pilots and ground crews over the the Army and let them continue on. The AF can go back to their global nuke hauling
The SparcVark was retired in 1998, the Growler didn't fly operationally until 2009; so the Prowlers were the backup plan and they could not keep up with the AF strike packages. We had to plan daisy chains of them along the strike route and getting them from the Navy in numbers time and place was like pulling hens teeth. The AF still has the same planning issues getting Growlers. (also, the Phantom, Mud Hen and Viper drivers would be very surprised that they could not go super with bombs on board...maybe not Mach 2)By the way the EF-111 was replaced with EF-18 Navy aircraft that are flown by both Navy and USAF crews, as well as the F-16CJ Vipers, backed up by RC-135 Rivet Joint.
You don’t actually need a supersonic EW aircraft to escort a strike package, because once you start hanging bombs and missiles on fourth generation aircraft, you eliminate their ability to go supersonic. The EF-18 and F-16CJ can obviously keep up with their strike brethern,
And when you do want to send supersonic aircraft on
a SEAD mission, we do have one. it will be the… wait for it … the F-35. its current electronic warfare suite and weapons loadout is already capable of doing some SEAD/DEAD, but two years ago the Navy awarded Lockheed a contract to modify F-35A (Air Force) and F-35C (Navy) to perform the full SEAD/DEAD mission.
The F-35 doesn’t have full supersonic cruise like the F-22, but it can fly Mach 1.3 operationally, and has been tested up to at least 1.6. However, neither the Air Force more than maybe have found much use for extended supersonic flight for combat aircraft, and the F-35 will get far more protection from its stealth and EW suite than it will high speed.
. This retiring of the A-10 “Warthog” is predicated on the fantastical disproven idea that the A-10, which to this day is the most cost-effective plane in the Air Force’s inventory, can be replaced by the F-35.
That was proposed at one time.If the AF doesn’t want the A10 or CAS, just hand the planes, pilots and ground crews over the the Army and let them continue on. The AF can go back to their global nuke hauling
I'll say it again.Much like in real life, the Hawg was hard to kill programmatically (retire the fleet) as well.
In 1990, the fast mover drivers running Big Blue tried to retire the Hawg. Then Saddam rolled into Kuwait and the A-10 showed what it could do.
Early 2001: Air Force Chief of Staff Jumper declares “CAS is dead” after a 500 pounder got dropped on the TACP. We know what happened later in 2001.
20 years ago the Hawg got a glass cockpit and added JDAMs to the 30mm and Maverick missiles.