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Science & Technology
5 Attack Planes That Could Replace the A-10 Warthog
2016-03-17
"The U.S. Air Force seems to have woken up to the fact that it can’t simply retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet.

The Air Force has waged a years-long campaign to scrap its A-10 fleet in a bid to save roughly $4 billion in operating costs. Service leaders have argued that the plane’s close air support mission can be performed by existing platforms, including the B-1 bomber and the highly-anticipated F-35 Joint Strike Fighter."
Either the Super Tucano or the old MV-10 Bronco would be a good choice as an inexpensive attack aircraft with long loiter time, as long as you otherwise have complete air supremacy...
Posted by:Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

#9  MV-10 Bronco? On the modern battlefield they'd be as good as a soup sandwich. Cheaper to operate and to build, sure. Only with the losses, I hope the MV-10 would be reconfigured as a drone.
Posted by: Betty White1068   2016-03-17 21:53  

#8  ...The problem here is this: first, not one of these birds - with the qualified exception of the T50 - is not survivable on anything resembling a modern battlefield or a battlefield where the people you're attacking have HMGs or MANPADS. Second, not one of them can carry anything resembling a GAU-8 or enough air-to-mud to make a difference. These aren't planes that can replace the Hog - they're planes that somebody desperately wants to use for CAS without having to actually pay for a capable, qualified airframe.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2016-03-17 20:05  

#7  The problem is that if somebody put a gun to the Air Force's head and FORCED them to build a new attack plane from the ground up, they would start doing their mission creep sh*t. "Ooh - it should be stealthy!" "Ooh - it should be supersonic!!" "Ooh - and VSTOL!!"

By the time they are done, it will just be another F-35.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia    2016-03-17 18:58  

#6  Forgot about the Harriers - long day.
Posted by: Pappy   2016-03-17 18:29  

#5  That and Harriers, which are being replaced by... (drumroll) the F-35.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2016-03-17 18:26  

#4  Marines use an FA-18 variant as well as Cobra gunships. The difference is that the Misguided Children CAS assets have no problem "getting down in the dirt." The idea is to use speed, terrain and practice as advantages in supporting the ground forces.
Posted by: Pappy   2016-03-17 18:15  

#3  49 pan: "The army needs its own air support just like the marines."

What do the Marines use for CAS?
Why can't the Airforce use that?

Posted by: Chuck   2016-03-17 17:45  

#2  There is no real replacement for it. The super t and others are a third world attempt. They need to do a full up airframe refit build the A10 J model. And be done with it. The real problem is the Air Force does not want to be bothered with CAS. If they are not at 30000 feet they want no part of it. The army needs its own air support just like the marines. The Air Force can not be trusted.
Posted by: 49 pan   2016-03-17 11:21  

#1  Have they really found a replacement for the M2 50 cal?

Somethings are so fundamental that there is no real economical replacement, just flights of fantasy (or envy or some sort of crony-capitalistic pay off in there).
Posted by: Procopius2k   2016-03-17 09:08  

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