A-10 Warthog replacement

And they were built by Fairchild Aircraft Company in Hagerstown , Md; When the LAST Warthog rolled off the assembly lines, the plant was closed.

Any A-10 replacement would be a shadow of the A-10. The AF brass never wanted it, not fast or sexy enough for them. Should have changed the law and let the Army have them and their budget, but AF has too many lobbyists. Never received an engine upgrade like nearly every other AF single and two seat plane has thru their lives. After getting night vision attack capability the A-10s biggest deficiency was it was a single engine airplane, 1/2 on each side.

I thought one of the big pluses fr the A 10 was survivability. None of those replacements look like they have much of it.

What makes the A-10 so great is not just the aircraft but the Guy pulling the trigger.
He is trained in close air support and that is his only job and he does it very well.
The pointy nose guys have several jobs to do and are not that great in ground support communications with the Grunts. A-10 Guys speak Grunt same as the gunship guys
A retired AF Col. told me one of his worst days was having his last flight in the A-10. He had flown severa; types in the USAF but his favorite was the A-10

Give them to the Ukraine!!! Why let them rust away in the desert?

BearBiologist said:

Give them to the Ukraine!!! Why let them rust away in the desert?

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Yea you could do that and the Uks could let it rust away in their Sh!thole country.
They don't know how to fly, maintain, or support it so it could become target practice for the Russkies

Wyandot Jim said:

Yea you could do that and the Uks could let it rust away in their Sh!thole country.
They don't know how to fly, maintain, or support it so it could become target practice for the Russkies

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One of numerous articles on the subject, unless all of them a lying (?)

Not going to happen. The Pilot Guy still needs a lot of folks for support to fly the plane. Maybe the ground support guys can find a simulator arm and work on.

As we reported last month, the Air Force floated the idea of donating its fleet of A-10s to Ukraine but Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's Defense Minister, dismissed the idea, saying its air force would much rather have F-16s.

Congress hasn't formally offered them and the Ukrainian brass says it doesn't want them but a Ukrainian unit, with help from some retired USAF Warthog pilots, has been secretly training pilots on simulators to fly A-10s in the hopes they will be donated by the U.S. government, according to an exclusive story in Time Magazine.

If it ain't broke. don't fix it. Case in point, B-52.

Trying to re-invent the Spad - A-1 Skyraider

There is no replacement for the A-10. It is perfect for it's role. I watched them with my own eyes back when I was wearing ODG and it is an amazing sight. Just like 5.56, the mil likes to kick tires and blow horns but the status quo remains.

Never could understand why the Air Farce brass has been so eager to ground their red-headed, but super talented A-10 step-child.
And now to try to replace it with much less capable airplanes ?
Is this latest move a combination of Diversity, Insanity and Stupidity ?
Sure seems like it.

It's all about the Benjamins

Just read an article on Google News about the A-10C and how it has been upgraded recently. Might still be of use somewhere with all the hotspots around the world getting active.

bykerhd said:

Never could understand why the Air Farce brass has been so eager to ground their red-headed, but super talented A-10 step-child.
And now to try to replace it with much less capable airplanes ?
Is this latest move a combination of Diversity, Insanity and Stupidity ?
Sure seems like it.

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No. Most of the top brass were either fighter or heavy bomber pilots. Anything outside those threatens their egos.

They aren't real keen of helos except for support operations or as taxis. Remember, it wasn't the Air Force that first stuck guns on helos.

Well, I believe when the Air Force was carved out of the Army as a new branch of the military, the "deal" was that AF was prevented from developing helicopters for offensive purposes, and the Army was prevented from doing the same with fixed wing aircraft.

Give that old, worn out A-10 to the Marines. They have been doing great things with worn out hand-me-down equipment forever.

Marines on the ground love it when they have USMC pilots flying CAS.
(think screaming F4 coming to the rescue!)