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originally posted by: TDawg61
A couple of these things flew directly over head while I was in a small Michigan town.They were low...and LOUD!I could only imagine how fearsome they'd be with their cannons blazing.
originally posted by: Biigs
I read an extremely long article on this yesterday.
It was madness for them to even consider scrapping the A-10, glad to see they came to their senses. Scrapping one of the most cost and generally effective close air support platforms ever? It may be 30 years old but it costs less than half what it costs to keep an A-10 in the air than it does a pointy fast mover - not to mention the troops love it and the enemy's totally hate it.
It can be upgraded with all sorts of additional weapon systems like air to air missiles and EW.
You hear that buzz of that chain gun [as an enemy], you crap your pants and hide.
originally posted by: Zedski
So what I don't understand is this: the A-10 is arguably one of the most effective and feared air weapons we have. We know it works. Why haven't we made it work better?
Take technology learned from its cousins and create a SuperHog. It's not rocket science, well, it is sort of. But its doable.
Some pie-in-the-sky suggestions. VTOL or vectoring control to allow the aircraft to come down even closer to targets then take off again. Or how about stealth (I'm sure somebody's thought of this) or even composite construction making them lighter and faster. The list goes on. I know, I know. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But if its on the chopping block, what's broke is the confidence. Help this plane out. Take it to the gym. We have the technology.