USAF F-35A to replace A-10

[jedi]

F-35 looking more like white elephant - Yahoo! News

The F-35A does not look has heavy armored (ie. to protect the pilot) as the A-10.
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Has DoD forgotten what the main mission of the A-10 was/is and thus decided to buy a One 4 All type of plane with the F-35?

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[IncendiaryGunner]

It is too bad the F-22 is "too expensive"...

The F-35 is not truly a fifth generation fighter.

Mr Secretary - Why Does the Pentagon Say the JSF is a 5th Generation Fighter . . Really?

 

[Disposable Heart]

I had an aunt in the airforce that said when they work on the engines for the A-10s, they have to put a prop under the tail to keep it from falling backwards!

The article says it's replacing the A-10 AND the F-16. Maybe not necessarily forgetting the role of the A-10, but adding technology and using more sophisticated weaponry to combine roles of fighter and ground support aircraft. Might not have a big honking rotary cannon on the front, but might have some pretty high tech weapons and is "stealth" to boot!

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

Another curious article for the fly boys...

Gates: Intelligence underestimated Chinese stealth progress - News - Stripes

 

[jedi]

I had an aunt in the airforce that said when they work on the engines for the A-10s, they have to put a prop under the tail to keep it from falling backwards!

The article says it's replacing the A-10 AND the F-16. Maybe not necessarily forgetting the role of the A-10, but adding technology and using more sophisticated weaponry to combine roles of fighter and ground support aircraft. Might not have a big honking rotary cannon on the front, but might have some pretty high tech weapons and is "stealth" to boot!

True but my concern is the A-10's primary mission is close air support meaning it's low to the ground taking on all sorts of targets from tanks to bunkers to foot soliders to AA guns etc... Keeping that in mind the A-10 was designed like a tank with wings to take a beating and continue to tick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Campbell_(pilot)

Since the "CAS" planes before it (A-10) just did not cut it (too fragile). Looking at the F-35 it does not look like it can take much of a beating. Stealth is pointless when your ground target can see you and fire back at you.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

Yes, but from my understanding most of those situations can be done from much higher elevations now.

Not that I am a fan of the F-35A...

We all know the Raptor owns it...

 

[Hawkeye]

If I recall correctly, the AF top brass wanted to get rid of the A-10 in the defense draw-down following Gulf War II (1991). They wanted to give the role/mission of the A-10 over to the F-16. You need to remember that the AF 4-Stars like the Air Superiority/Strategic Air Command missions but don't like Close Air Support. Not sexy for a fighter pilot ot go low and slow down in the mud and bomb/straff tanks and infantry to support the Army.

Maybe the Army should have its own CAS like the Marines and let the AF go off and play fighter games. I think it would take a change in the law to allow the Army to "own" fixed wing ground-attack aricraft, but maybe the ground troops would be better supoported?

 

[grimor]

The f-35 will not fill the same role as the A-10. I just don't see the f-35 being a very effective CAS platform. I'd actually be all for a new generation A-10. Just upgrade everything you can on it, keep the same size and form.

 

[nawainwright]

I'm sensing a GROUP BUY of "obsolete" Warthogs. Sign me up for one, I've always loved the look and idea of that particular jet. Growing up in the 80's everyone thought fighter jets were cool (thanks Top Gun), but I was the one who was like "PSH, sissy fighter jets, give me something I can blow up a freaking TANK with."

Seems like they want to make a "jack of all trades plane" , maybe they never heard the saying "a jack of all trades is a master of none". I don't like it.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

In reality, they want a plane that fits the budget.

 

[jedi]

I'm sensing a GROUP BUY of "obsolete" Warthogs. Sign me up for one, I've always loved the look and idea of that particular jet. Growing up in the 80's everyone thought fighter jets were cool (thanks Top Gun), but I was the one who was like "PSH, sissy fighter jets, give me something I can blow up a freaking TANK with."

Seems like they want to make a "jack of all trades plane" , maybe they never heard the saying "a jack of all trades is a master of none". I don't like it.

I'm with you on this one. Growning up in the 80s I did not care for the fighter jet toy planes. I liked the A-10 and how it could rain destructions from above on a tank.

BTW as for your avatar. Sorry you I can tell you are not a "god". Otherwise it would have said. "You SHALL buy me this gun."


(Think ghostbusters when the "evil god" ask Ray if he is a god & he says no and almost gets zepped off the bldg.

 

[jeremy]

As someone whose tails has been on the line and had to have the flyboys bail it out a time or two...

Who was the freaking moron that says this is even a decent trade out for what the old A-10 can do?!

There is only like 2 aircraft in our inventory that carry more hate on them than the A-10...

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

Who was the freaking moron that says this is even a decent trade out for what the old A-10 can do?!

True, but...

You know the person who made the decision was balancing books, and the person who made that statement was putting on a PR face.

 

[jontheturboguy]

The a-10 although crude and rude should stay no matter what. If any thing, upgrade the armor (that even possible?), avionics system, and give it larger engines with more thrust but still sub sonic.

Years ago when the 35 and 22 where being barely born (think late 90s) all the guys in the drafting room were already commenting the 35 was an over priced pos.

 

[jeremy]

True, but...

You know the person who made the decision was balancing books, and the person who made that statement was putting on a PR face.

If they are so worried at balancing the books it has got to be far cheaper to keep the A-10's in service than replace them then...
It is about the lowest tech craft in the world...

 

[Tactical Dave]

They are putting a lot of the A-10's though a re-wing/zero life process...... They replace the wings and do a log of structural maintenance to them and it pretty much makes them new airplanes.......... they will be around for a while.......

Ft. Wayne Air Guard just replaced their F-16's with A-10's.........


They could re-engine the A-10's with say maybe a GE CF34-10 if my brain is working right and do avionics upgrads and all that but there is one problem........ cost.

When it comes to armor and avionics though.... don't fix what works and is not broken.

The a-10 although crude and rude should stay no matter what. If any thing, upgrade the armor (that even possible?), avionics system, and give it larger engines with more thrust but still sub sonic.

Years ago when the 35 and 22 where being barely born (think late 90s) all the guys in the drafting room were already commenting the 35 was an over priced pos.

I remember building a YF-22 plastic model in the early 90's........ as a rule you hear about stuff being designed years and years after work is allready being done. If I remember right they released a long time ago that work on the 22 began in the late 80's.... could be wrong, just what I remember hearing.

 

[jedi]

A-10 from my reading are slated to begin retiring by 2026.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

Speaking of their armor, even this one made it back to base:

 

[Tactical Dave]

A-10 from my reading are slated to begin retiring by 2026.

And the B-52 was supposed to retire how many times?

Speaking of their armor, even this one made it back to base:

As a rule any place you do not see rivets is not structural. Repairing that damage the right way would be new skin and a few structural peices haha. The big whole you see is a fairly easy fix.... but rather rough air flow there haha.

The impressive ones on those birds is when there is half a wing missing a huge holes in them. I know one they pulled the acess pannels around the cockpit and it started to rain led.

 

[jeremy]

When i was a Stinger I used to have pics of A-10's coming back to Strips in Saudi and Kuwait from the first Gulf. I had a couple that were just messed up, and still managed to return to home...