| Tango01 | 10 Nov 2015 9:42 p.m. PST |
"The Air Force is considering delaying the retirement of the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft for several years, a top Air Force commander said Tuesday — a move that Congress and troops would embrace. The Air Force has been trying for years to retire the A-10 — which provides troops on the ground with close air support — in favor of the newer F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but new demands have caused leaders to rethink that plan, said Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command. "We have to retire the airplanes, but I think moving it to the right and starting it a bit later and maybe keeping around the airplane a bit longer is something that's being considered based on things as they are today and what we see in the future," Carlisle told reporters at the Defense Writers Group breakfast…"
Any surpirse here… they do not have a suitable replacement for the A-10 in today's wars.! Amicalement
Armand |
| hocklermp5 | 11 Nov 2015 12:22 a.m. PST |
They keep having to deploy them here and there around the World because there is nothing remotely as good to send in its place. The USAF high command is starting to look silly bleating about dumping the A-10 fleet because it is obsolete and then announcing still another trouble spot they are sending A-10s to deal with it. The "Hawk's" comment about "starting it (retirement) a bit latter and keeping the airplane around a bit longer is something that's being considered based on things as they are today and what we see in the future…", coming from the CO Air Combat Command, aside from stating the obvious, is admission that the nonsense floated that the F-35 can do what A-10s do is nonsense. |
Random Die Roll  | 11 Nov 2015 5:46 a.m. PST |
Early on the mantra was adopted---"F-35 the one aircraft for everything"---almost as if the joke about it is the best hammer because all my problems are nails Each aircraft performs one function that it is best at…stick with that |
| cosmicbank | 11 Nov 2015 6:58 a.m. PST |
The F-35 will stop being flown before the A-10. The A-10 will be put in reserve or given to a Friendly power, or they will be put in that BIG warehouse the Government keeps stuff in until they need it. Then they will be dusted off and flown again. The F-35 is that cool toy that breaks and can.t be fixed, while the A-10 is a rubber ball. |
| Landorl | 11 Nov 2015 7:43 a.m. PST |
The F-35 costs like 9-10 times one A-10, and the A-10 does the job better than the F-35 will. The only benefit of the F-35 is stealth. It wouldn't surprise me if other countries are already close to discovering a way to defeat current stealth technologies… |
| StarCruiser | 11 Nov 2015 8:02 a.m. PST |
There already ARE ways to defeat current stealth tech… Check out what happened over Serbia in 1999: link Stealth is really a pointless boondoggle… |
| hocklermp5 | 11 Nov 2015 8:41 a.m. PST |
StarCruiser is right. If a relatively unsophisticated country like Serbia can find a way to defeat stealth wealthier more sophisticated countries are no doubt working overtime on means and methods to defeat it as well as how to make weapons systems stealthier. The killer for the F-35 is Time. By the date when this system is truly operational so much time will have passed its stealth properties will be anything but state-of-the-art. |
| jpattern2 | 11 Nov 2015 8:48 a.m. PST |
We have to retire the airplanes, but I think moving it to the right and starting it a bit later and maybe keeping around the airplane a bit longer is something that's being considered based on things as they are today and what we see in the future. That's a lot of words there, General, to say basically, "No, we're not retiring them yet, we still need them." But I guess that's too straight-forward for the official line from the higher-ups. I'm surprised he didn't add, ". . . like such as in South Africa," like 2007 Miss Teen South Carolina: YouTube link |
| Mako11 | 11 Nov 2015 2:08 p.m. PST |
Not surprised at all by the news. Glad to see some sanity prevails. |
| StarCruiser | 11 Nov 2015 5:51 p.m. PST |
What's really sad – I have occasionally heard rumors that some ancient WW2 era microwave radar sets can "see" so-called stealth aircraft… 70 year old radar sets…really? The DeHaviland Mosquito was almost invisible to most radar back then. Hey! Why don't we build of those?! |
| Lion in the Stars | 11 Nov 2015 8:57 p.m. PST |
Yeah, most stealth aircraft are visible to certain long-wavelength radars. The F117 isn't exactly stealthy from directly below, the entire bird is one flat plate and makes a wonderful radar reflector. My guess is that the Army told the USAF that if the USAF doesn't want the Warthog the Army will happily take over the entire program. Training pipeline, ground service equipment, spare parts, all of it. And the USAF said, "hell NO, the Army cannot have armed fixed-wing aircraft!" |
equips his Israeli recon unit.
