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Post by Sailor on Mar 24, 2015 14:37:16 GMT -8
Air Force leaders wanting to send the A-10 Thunderbolt to the bone yard already have any number of lawmakers criticizing them from Capitol Hill. Now they’ve got “Lone Wolf McQuade” coming after them. Action star Chuck Norris – an Air Force veteran – on Monday delivered an editorial roundhouse kick to the Air Force, arguing on the World Net Daily website that the “Warthog” – as it is known – still has plenty of fight left in it. In the ongoing campaign against ISIS, Norris writes, “the A-10′s utility is warranted even more now than ever.” “Its firepower capability, speed and accuracy, frequent war use, and the oft-painted teeth on its nose cone have made it one of the military’s most popular aircraft,” Norris wrote. Norris said its “combination of large and varied ordnance load, long loiter time, accurate weapons delivery, austere field capability, and survivability has proven invaluable to the United States and its allies.” Read more: defensetech.org/2015/03/23/chuck-norris-writes-to-save-the-a-10-warthog-from-retirement/#ixzz3VLTlgUTN Defense.org |
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Post by warrior1972 on Mar 24, 2015 15:12:25 GMT -8
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Post by warrior1972 on Mar 24, 2015 15:12:35 GMT -8
He's no expert.
Neither am I.
But I agree with him, and he's right.
We'd just end up building a brand new replacement that would cost twice as much, and be half as good.
It is the ONLY aircraft in the world that can do what it does.
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Post by prospero on Mar 25, 2015 1:26:19 GMT -8
I see them cruising around the sky all the time. Not the prettiest damned things up there but impressive in their own right.
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Post by Sailor on Mar 26, 2015 16:15:39 GMT -8
Shortly after Desert Storm my family and I attended an air show at NAS Oceana where one of the most popular aircraft on display was an A-10. The Major who I assume was the pilot took a bit of umbridge when my son said "Dad, that's the ugliest airplane in the world" but then added a comment about (can't remember his exact words) how good it was. I think the Major forgave him.
I personally agree with you warrior, this has to be the best CAS and tank killing aircraft in the world, though I've heard the Russian Frogfoot isn't bad even though it's guns are puny by comparison.
Prospero, I read somewhere years ago that the A-10 for a time picked up the nickname "Devil's Cross" from someone in the old Eastern Bloc. It does look just a bit like the Eastern Orthodox Crucifix when seen from below.
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Post by prospero on Mar 27, 2015 15:44:26 GMT -8
They fly over me about three hundred feet up on landing approach at least once a month.
Would have been interesting standing on that spot in 1944 watching the B-17 and B-24 bombers directly overhead.
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Post by 101ABN on Mar 28, 2015 7:25:28 GMT -8
The A-10 Warthog...because Chuck Norris can't be everywhere.
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Post by Sailor on Mar 28, 2015 14:05:58 GMT -8
Warrior is quite correct when he wrote that any replacement for the 'Hog would cost twice as much in today's dollars and be less than half as effective.
It occurs to me that the Air Force really doesn't want aircraft that fly low and slow and can take a beating, but then neither does the Navy and by extention the USMC. Before the A-10 the last real CAS aircraft either service had was the 'Spad,' the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. It could fly low, slow and beat the crap out of anything on the ground with 20mm cannon, rockets and bombs. It just wouldn't be as effective against armor as the A-10 mainly because of that badass 30mm gatling gun.
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Post by warrior1972 on Mar 28, 2015 14:30:15 GMT -8
Warrior is quite correct when he wrote that any replacement for the 'Hog would cost twice as much in today's dollars and be less than half as effective. It occurs to me that the Air Force really doesn't want aircraft that fly low and slow and can take a beating, but then neither does the Navy and by extention the USMC. Before the A-10 the last real CAS aircraft either service had was the 'Spad,' the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. It could fly low, slow and beat the crap out of anything on the ground with 20mm cannon, rockets and bombs. It just wouldn't be as effective against armor as the A-10 mainly because of that badass 30mm gatling gun. I've said this for years. Te The A-10 IS the Skyraider's latest, and probably last, reincarnation. And as long as we are fighting the kind of wars that we are fightng, the A-10 isn't optional. It's mandatory. Just ask the ground troops it supports.
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Post by Sailor on Mar 29, 2015 7:11:40 GMT -8
From what I know of the 2, they share the advantages of heavy armament, rugged, manuverability and loiter time. If the 'Hog had a tailhook and folding wings it'd be perfect.    And neither is a small plane. One thing the A-10 has yet to do that the A-1 has is down a MiG in air-to-air combat though IIRC in Iraq at least 1 'Hog nailed a helo with that gawd-aweful gun. Note to the bad guys, don't try to take on either plane in its element, down in the weeds ... you may not survive the encounter. Also IIRC the A-10 is Sidewinder capable. |
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