| Tango01 | 17 Feb 2015 3:37 p.m. PST |
"Despite what the Pentagon and senior Air Force leaders might say, the A-10 Warthog is far from "single-purpose airplane." But dropping nuclear bombs might be one of the things the low- and slow-flying attackers actually can't do. But the Air Force once briefly considered the idea. In December 1975, Secretary of Defense Bill Clements wanted to know how much it would cost to modify F-15 and F-16 fighter jets so they could carry atomic weapons. Two months later, the Air Force sent back data on what it would take to upgrade those two types of aircraft—or the A-10—with nukes…"
Full article here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| Mako11 | 17 Feb 2015 5:26 p.m. PST |
Well, if you can put nukes on an A-4, I don't see why they can't do that on an A-10, so…… Not that an A-10 armed with nukes makes a lot of sense, in the greater scheme of things. |
| Fatman | 17 Feb 2015 5:31 p.m. PST |
Hell Armand they planned to use A-! Skyraiders to carry Nukes so the A-10 is a definite step up.
warbirdforum.com/toss.htm
I love the fact that that were given a packed lunch. Fatman |
| doug redshirt | 17 Feb 2015 6:21 p.m. PST |
No way it would work. I know from F-16s what it took to launch and survive. And you wouldn't fly to the target at 30,000 feet. More like near ground level altitude with afterburners going when you start your climb for the bomb toss with the bomb to be released at a certain altitude and you do roll over and go full speed the opposite direction and pray. Very little room for error, one mistake will kill you. |
| Halifax49 | 17 Feb 2015 6:55 p.m. PST |
I could have been a nuclear strike plane. |
| ScoutJock | 17 Feb 2015 7:40 p.m. PST |
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| ernieR | 17 Feb 2015 8:55 p.m. PST |
you could deliver a nuke with a pickup truck as long as the driver didn't care about getting back . |
 Legion 4  | 18 Feb 2015 9:17 a.m. PST |
You can or could put a nuc of some size on anything that flies … or drives or even walks … |
| 14Bore | 18 Feb 2015 5:21 p.m. PST |
I'm 30 some years out from a weapons mechanic on A-10's and far from a expert but I remember lots of talks on this and I only remember the answer was no. |
| GROSSMAN | 18 Feb 2015 9:38 p.m. PST |
Wasn't an A-4 faster than an A-10? How would it get away from the blast? |
| Jemima Fawr | 18 Feb 2015 9:44 p.m. PST |
As Doug said; the method was to 'loft' the bomb with as much energy as possible from as far away as possible, then dive back down and scuttle away as fast as you can. There was absolutely no way on earth that the A-10 could ever have done that. |
| Legion 4 | 19 Feb 2015 11:21 a.m. PST |
How would it get away from the blast? Maybe they wouldn't … … and scuttle away as fast as you can. There was absolutely no way on earth that the A-10 could ever have done that. Yes they could … once … I was "fortunate" enough as a young 1LT in the 101, to get a TS and selected as an Atomic Demolitions Missions Officer. Those small back packed nucs could be walked in with an Infantry patrol. Set with a time delay, etc. and then we'd be evac'd by chopper or etc. … If everything went right. We talked among ourselves. If such a mission was conducted … we didn't think we'd make it back … 50/50 at best … Again, about any delivery system can be used … once … |
| Jemima Fawr | 19 Feb 2015 5:36 p.m. PST |
Good point. Yes, they could do it once… :) |
| Fatman | 21 Feb 2015 11:02 a.m. PST |
Jemima
Copied from the link about Skyraiders carrying nukes " Not to worry! You'll honk back on the control stick and loft the MK 7 onto the target while you're still two miles away, meanwhile doubling back the way you came. This is LABS: Low Altitude Bombing System. Back on Forrestal, you reckoned the loft backward from the target to the release point to the pull-up. Then you found an easily recognized landmark to serve as your Initial Point, which today will be Pokrovskiy cathedral in the center of Sevastopol. You've never actually seen the Sevastopol peninsula, but you've spent hours over the spy-plane photographs, and you know the place as well as Pinecastle bombing range in Florida. Next you calculated the time that will elapse between the IP and the pull-up. This value--15.5 seconds--has been set in the Black Box. In the Hell Hole--the avionics bay on the Able Dog's belly, behind the oil-cooler flaps and therefore encrusted with half-burned oil--the ground crew set the desired release angle and G force. Now, before Sevastopol comes into view, you must accomplish the following: On the armament panel, by your right knee, are three red switches. Each is guarded by a metal channel so it can't be moved by accident, and each controls a "store" slung beneath the port wing pylon, centerline pylon, or starboard wing pylon. Toggle the middle one hot. (It wouldn't do to release a fuel tank over Sevastopol and take your MK 7 back to Forrestal. That would ruin the Skipper's day.)
On the left side of the armament panel is the master switch, likewise guarded by a metal channel. Toggle it hot.
Now the Black Box again. Check that the mode selector switch is set to LOFT, and that the knurled knob of the timer reads 15.5.
On the left side of the cockpit, just behind the throttle, is the switch that uncages the LABS gyro. Toggle it. A red bulb glows above the glare shield on the left side of the windshield; a tone sounds in your earphones.
On the right side of the instrument panel is a gyro with two needles. The vertical needle indicates yaw--your compass heading with respect to the target. Keep it centered. You're ready for the goofy loop." If you could do it in an A_1 you could do it in an A-10. However I would prefer not to do it in either! Fatman |
