DoD scuttled the A-10 why?

[Swampman]

http://youtu.be/1rGcn2XGr48

What a bunch of dumbasses.

[Mindflayer]

Drones, drones, drones, man!

The A-10 is one of my favorite aircraft of all time. It's beautiful.

[grumpyMSG]

The answer is a simple one, because the fighter mafia wants F35s. In a sense it is very similar to the A7 before it, it had twice the range with twice the payload compared to the F16 and it was a more accurate attack aircraft using dumb bombs. It however was a subsonic bird and the fighter mafia wants supersonic sh!+. The fact that once you started hanging bombs on F16s they were no longer supersonic didn't matter. They could drop their bombs and "poof" become fighters. The A7 could hold it's own in a low level fight with a couple of sidewinders and an M61 20MM cannon. Compare the capabilities of the A7 and A6 to the Navy's Hornets and you will find they were better than them too. Like your youtube video stated, it has been on the General's hit list since before the Gulf War in 1990-91. Prior to the start of shooting, there was much anticipation/ worry about the survivability of a plane the size of a small airliner flying 400 knots or less at low level in what was considered to be the most heavily defended airspace short of the Russia. They proved the detractors wrong then and have continued to prove them wrong every time someone tries to declare them obsolete.

I think I could come up with a viable solution for them. Transfer all the A10s to the Air National Guard. flight hours would be reduced, probably doubling the remaining service life of the aircraft. To increase the utility of them, develop a water bomber package for fighting forest fires to replace the 1960s era S2 tracker/ trader aircraft used in that role. I figure with a 16,000 pound payload and A10 could operate from smaller strips closer to fires just like it's combat role and carry 1800 gallons or so of fire retardant and operate at altitudes it was designed to operate. It could return to the strip for either refilling or changing out the externally mounted tank system and send it back up quickly. In that role it wouldn't replace the larger capacity of the C130 systems but supplement it like the Tracker/ Traders do now.

[OakRidgeStars]

I heard that someone in the Middle Eastern theater was offended so President McBombyPants pulled the plug.

[Reverenddel]

GRUMPYMSG! THAT IS BRILLIANT, BROTHA!

I love the "Warthog", but that alone is a good idea for a "multi-use" stateside aircraft!

Still remember putting my thumb in one of the barrels, with room to spare, thinking "Oh yeah, something's gonna get mess way the hell up when this thing spins."

[CalebDor]

As a former 11B infantry man I can tell you that this plane was our best friend. When we had to deal with enemy armor or heavily fortified positions we called for A-10's. A few minutes later you would hear that scream in the air and the bad guys position would be reduced to rubble shortly thereafter. That plane was the slowest, god awful ugliest thing with wings I have ever seen and even though I'm retired I weep at this news. The A-10 saved a lot of lives, mine included.

God Bless each of you.

[bryanrheem]

A-10 is a beautiful thing! I built many a model plane when I was a kid.

[Swampman]

Wonder when they go on sale as surplus?

[jcgorla]

But could we get our hands on the GAU-8?! Imagine submitting for a tax stamp on that.


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