"U.S. Ground Troops Overwhelmingly Prefer The A-10" Topic

… Over The F-35

"When American troops lay their lives on the line in combat, they expect that their country will give them the best available support and protection. We can do no less than give them the close air support platform they know they need.

Many Air Force senior officers contend that close air support (CAS) can be done by any platform that can launch a guided weapon at a set of target coordinates.

Combat teaches otherwise…"

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Amicalement
Armand

I prefer the Apache or Cobra. They were more accurate when providing support.

A-10 puts the fear of god in someone,and is a Huge Morale boost.

The A-10 is a lot more survivable though, than helos, and can get there more quickly.

It's ability to attack and survive from "down in the weeds" is legendary.

The F-35 will never be able to compete with that, even with its vast array of sensors, and much more modern tech.

A pity they don't add some of those into the A-10, or another more modern design like it, to really make it an even more effective killer.

The Air Force brass was the same way in Vietnam. They thought a jet fighter bomber could serve any purpose and did not want the older, slow and low aircraft that could pinpoint their ordnance and had lots of loiter time.

The most charitable excuse I can think of is that they look at these "brushfire" wars as a diversion from the main threat of big time war with Russia or China. For those wars they want to keep the emphasis on the most sophisticated jet fighter bombers.

Just my two cents worth.

Tom

Yea, and USAF "Fighter Mafia" has been trying to kill off the A-10 Warthog since its introduction, AND perhaps even before, but like our enemies, they've been unsuccessful.

It would be a pity to see an "own goal".

The US Army grunts, Marines, and other troops on the ground love it, since nothing gets the job done better than the A-10. Even one of the top USAF generals had to grudgingly admit its effectiveness, and that he was all wrong about it, if the TV show I saw on it the other night is accurate.

Speaking as a former army guy, the A-10 was what we wanted! All it carried lots of munitions, could get on target and had a longer hang time. Chopper support were good too, they had their own set of tricks.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I love the A10, they used to fly them over South Shropshire in the late 80s/early 90s along with a lot of other US planes.

Mind you I excavated a set of archaeological trenches next to an small airfield a few years ago, there were a few British Army Apaches based there and they used the trenches a few times to practice attacking. Gives you an idea how intimidating these sort of ground attack aircraft can be.