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| Home Front: Politix |
| A-10 'Warthog' Sends ISIS Fleeing - Air Force Wants to Scrap |
| 2015-01-21 |
| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #11 Money is the root of all evil. No money in it for the manufacturers who pressure the brass for business. In other words, in a FEW military manufacturing sectors, money is more important than our troops. |
| Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 2015-01-21 23:16 |
| #10 By ditching the A-10, that is. |
| Posted by: gorb 2015-01-21 21:57 |
| #9 Why don't they just use F-35s now? Isn't it one of the roles they've been assigned? Or are they busy preparing the battlespace for the next boondoggle? |
| Posted by: gorb 2015-01-21 21:57 |
| #8 Here's an ignorant, but serious, question. Why can't the Air Force simply give this plane up to another organization? Seems the Marines would love it, but maybe even a dedicated State ANG unit, or even private/contract outfits? They're custom repaired now anyways, so why not get them out of the USAF/DOD procurement racket? |
| Posted by: Ebberese Dribble3663 2015-01-21 21:54 |
| #7 The questions to be asked: 1 How combat effective is the aircraft? 2 Compared to the alternative, what is the cost per sortie? 3 Does it make the enemy shake in it's boots? I'm pretty sure we all know the answers. Fly on you magnificent bastards. |
| Posted by: Past Master of the Obvious 2015-01-21 21:20 |
| #6 To have an AF General throw that word out for criticizing his opinion is disturbing. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-01-21 19:45 |
| #5 Whether the F-35 can assume the CAS mission can be debated by the experts. What CANNOT be debated is the obvious attempt to ditch the A-10 prior to fielding of a replacement platform, F-35 or whatever. Building a fuc*ing tactical capabilities gap is not smart snooker, it's pure politics ! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-01-21 19:00 |
| #4 *Question: Will the STOL/VTOL version F-35 leave a nice heat signiture where the center turbine is? I heard a deal that the Harriers were not only particularly vulnerable, but had a lower survivability rate on account of heat missiles striking the middle of the aircraft. (Yes I know the additional turbine is takeoff/landing not in flight) Second, as CAS, doesn't adding the pylons and weapons negate the stealthyness of the airframe and defeat the purpose? Also, gun runs - F-35 25mm with 120 rounds (wiki) vs. A-10 30mm with 1100 rounds. I just learned that there is a version of the A-10 which is used to fly into hail storms. The F-35 may end up being a decent plane, but to say it will replace the A-10 in CAS is like saying a Volt is going to haul my boat to the lake. Its using a trash bag to replace a broken window. Especially if the 35 has pilot visibility issues and 2-3 seconds of ammo. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-01-21 18:43 |
| #3 Eh... I've already committed treason (according to the liberals) by doubting Obama, calling for smaller government and private healthcare, calling for the resignation of most of the government and a new vote, questioning the wisdom of the so-called illuminated "experts" by bringing up facts instead of propaganda. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2015-01-21 18:26 |
| #2 The plane is not as fast and lacks the graceful lines of other fighter jets. But the Warthog, as pilots call it due to the snout-like nose, is extremely low maintenance, flies low, can practically hover over a battlefield, land almost anywhere and packs a 20-foot-long, 2.5-ton, seven-barrel Gatling gun that can fire more than 1,100 rounds of 30-mm. bullets. And a titanium shell that wraps around the bottom of its cockpit makes it difficult to shoot down. Whoah now, that sounds treasonous. Getting pretty close to a capital T there Darth. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-01-21 18:13 |
| #1 Of course they do. They want more jets for their jet jockies and don't give a damn if it helps the grunts or not. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2015-01-21 17:53 |