A-10 In the News...

[Chilly]

I agree Eddie. I hope I did not come off that way; I don't claim to be an expert on that. Armchair experts annoy me as well. My basis for the Hawg is based on its statistics and role, not how it is exactly employed because as you stated, that's not really available information. The F-35 very likely has its place; we don't know. My problem lies where people want to get rid of a good platform for what conflicts we are in, that has a low operating cost, without offering sufficient reasons why and going so far as to suppress a very good documentary about it for political reasons (Hawg/Grunts In The Sky).

[Eddie]

Not at all. I get where you're coming from.

Personally I find the argument quite meaningless from the outset. Sooner or later the A-10 airframe fatigue life and component life will run out and they will have to be retired. Also doing from a background in an airforce that hasn't had multiple specialised types for decades, having so many different types to support is not sustainable in the long term, even for the US.

It's a shame, as from a purely tactical point of view the A-10 is invaluable and can't be directly replaced by anything but another jet designed in he same way. But in the real world there are bigger considerations. It's also worth that the F-35 isn't designed to directly replace any gen 4 aircraft, it's meant to operate in a fundamentally different way. The trouble of course is that in a COIN environment we don't need to operate in a different way.

[Chilly]

Yup. I believe that the A-10 Wing Replacement Program should go through however, this will solve a significant problem of the airframe lifetime issues.

[Tex]

US Air Force wants new plane to replace A-10

http://www.defenseone.com/technology...20Bird%20Brief

DCS: Coke Machine...

[Snoopy]

http://www.defenseone.com/technology...20Bird%20Brief

DCS: Coke Machine...

I'll believe it when I see it

[InFlames]

Warthogs get new toys to play with

http://www.popularmechanics.com/mili...uided-rockets/

[Eddie]

They've had them for a while now. We will never get them however, of that I'm quite sure.

[Tex]

A-10s from the 127th Wing and CCT from the 352nd Special Operations Wing land A-10s on an Estonian highway.

https://www.facebook.com/HQUSAFE/vid...4248510767020/

[Crowebar]

Good Vid Tex, thanks. I noticed that the aircraft has speed brakes 40% deployed (as per the DCS Manual) until touchdown, at which point they fully deploy. As this happens as soon as the wheels touch the ground it leads to the question, is this automatic in the real jet?

[Baxter]

Interesting article with a lot of good pics from the 74th

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...n-a-10-warthog