Article

2015-04-06 Afghanistan

No A-10 Warthog for Afghanistan -- but Here's the Next Best Thing

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by gorb 2015-04-06 00:37|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Only one small problem with the Tuc, it's commonly referred to as the armament and or 'bomb load.'

A-10 Armament

Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling cannon with 1,174 rounds (Capacity 1,350)
Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of: Rockets:
4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× / 7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively)
4× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets)
6× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× 127 mm (5.0 in) Zuni rockets)

Missiles:
2× AIM-9 Sidewinders air-to-air missiles for self-defense
6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles

Bombs:
Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs or
Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
BLU-1, BLU-27/B Rockeye II, Mk20, BL-755[163] and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or
Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or
Joint Direct Attack Munition (A-10C)[164] or
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C)

Other:
SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or
AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or LITENING targeting pods (A-10C) or
2× 600 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loitering time.

Posted by Besoeker 2015-04-06 02:04|| 2015-04-06 02:04|| Front Page Top

#2 A-10 needs it's own RB Category.

Posted by Shipman 2015-04-06 07:37|| 2015-04-06 07:37|| Front Page Top

#3 ...The Super Tucano is absolutely perfect for the Afghans - who, in all honesty, probably won't be doing their own maintenance anyways. Keep in mind that even the Hog (All Glory And Honor Unto Her) is 'austere' only by USAF standards and would be roughly the equivalent of dropping an F-4 onto a USAAF base in 1945.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2015-04-06 07:59|| 2015-04-06 07:59|| Front Page Top

#4 Wonder where the Soro 'piece of the action' is on the Tucano?

Posted by Procopius2k 2015-04-06 09:15|| 2015-04-06 09:15|| Front Page Top

#5 Not a bad little prop plane for air to mud. Definitely can see it being wanted by a lot of smaller countries that don't need or can afford the jets.

Posted by DarthVader 2015-04-06 09:47|| 2015-04-06 09:47|| Front Page Top

#6 Looks like the sainted P51.

Posted by Fred 2015-04-06 10:30|| 2015-04-06 10:30|| Front Page Top

#7 They could do worse.

Posted by OldSpook 2015-04-06 12:39|| 2015-04-06 12:39|| Front Page Top

#8 The Tuc is already being used by a few South American air forces that can't afford jets.

Fred points out the similarities to the P51. Check in Wiki on the fly-off competition of the turbo-prop derivative P51 versus the A10, back when the AF was required to have the competition.

Posted by Steve White 2015-04-06 12:41|| 2015-04-06 12:41|| Front Page Top

#9 Found this.

Posted by gorb 2015-04-06 13:08|| 2015-04-06 13:08|| Front Page Top

#10 But, but, no. :)

Each conflict got different CAS requirements and budgets, this looks win, win.

Posted by Shipman 2015-04-06 14:19|| 2015-04-06 14:19|| Front Page Top

23:45 JosephMendiola
23:39 JosephMendiola
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:23 JosephMendiola
23:21 JosephMendiola
21:28 chris
21:24 Blossom Unains5562
21:19 Blossom Unains5562
21:07 CrazyFool
21:06 JosephMendiola
21:04 JosephMendiola
20:57 Alaska Paul
20:55 bbrewer126
20:27 BigEdLB
20:24 Besoeker
20:20 BigEdLB
19:55 Woodrow Stalin1308
19:55 Procopius2k
19:27 JohnQC
19:24 JohnQC
19:01 KBK
18:32 Procopius2k
18:28 Alaska Paul
18:19 Procopius2k