A-10 may get combat drop tank

Arent they making A-10 unmanned?

I worked for a business development guy who was chasing the work on thr ground stations.

reply to post by spartacus699


Tell that to the few hundred ground pounders that the A-10 has saved over the last few months alone. Oh wait, it's not fast, it's not sexy so it has to suck right?

reply to post by IamSirDrinksalot


Not that I've heard. They're making some F-16s unmanned, and there was talk about eventually doing it to the A-10, but in an operational role, but as far as I know that's been shelved.

They are testing the A-10 later this year it's apart of this DARPA's Persistent Close Air Support program. But what I really wanted to say I was a Ground pounder and I can tell you that this aircraft beats anything out there for the job it does and it does it well every time I been in a fire fight I tell you now that Apaches, F-16 or what ever you r throw at the enemy they keep coming out but you have that unique sound of the A-10 come screaming in and they scatter the plane scares the # out of anyone that an't on your team, and I know that when I see or hear it the enemy are going to not fight as hard, or shoot as often, I would say it's a dis appointment that they want to use a JSF to do it's job I would rather see a UAV with features like the A-10 do the job, and give it one scary sound so they know what it is. Trust me when you hear one scream and let the gun lose you would just be like what the. So ass it stands I love the A-10.

reply to post by spartacus699


a-10 a dino? then what would the b-52 be? and we all know how feared and effective the b-52 has been over the years let alone the number of ground kills the warthog has racked up over its decades of service.it is the best at what it does and not one other fighter plane comes close to the havoc that they can bring to armored vehicles,and the staying power of the aircraft is legendary(titanium bathtub) it even has air to air kills (two helicopters i believe?)something it was not designed to do and they were gun kills at that.

CAS can be a deciding factor in battles especially in the modern age where communications are of a much more advanced level then the early days of ww2 for example,hell the russians under-estimated Hans Rudel in ww2 and that mad man took out over 500 tanks personally with a stuka,he even sank a battleship and the a-10 is a far more capable attack aircraft then the stuka was

www.militaryfactory.com... interesting link on the old girl

www.businessinsider.com...

When you're hunkered down behind a sliver of cover taking heavy fire, there is no more reassuring sound than the twin engines of the A-10 Thunderbolt screaming in from the distance. That's what you think anyway, until you hear the 30mm Gatling gun that can pound out 3,500 rounds per minute at the guys trying to kill you. Then you know the most reassuring sound you'll ever hear. The A-10 is an old plane, that continues to provide massive air support to ground troops with that cannon and missiles that can take out a main battle tank in a single shot. Sometimes old is good. Read more: www.businessinsider.com...

not to mention its designed to work basicly broken in the event of catastrophic damage
en.wikipedia.org...

Durability The A-10 is exceptionally tough. Its strong airframe can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23 mm. The aircraft has triple redundancy in its flight systems, with mechanical systems to back up double-redundant hydraulic systems. This permits pilots to fly and land when hydraulic power or part of a wing is lost. Flight without hydraulic power uses the manual reversion flight control system; this engages automatically for pitch and yaw control, and under pilot control (manual reversion switch) for roll control. In manual reversion mode, the A-10 is sufficiently controllable under favorable conditions to return to base and land, though control forces are much higher than normal. The aircraft is designed to fly with one engine, one tail, one elevator, and half of one wing missing.[41]

only other plane ive heard of that's flown on one wing was an Israeli f-16

www.aircraftresourcecenter.com...

Originally posted by RalagaNarHallas
only other plane ive heard of that's flown on one wing was an Israeli f-16

F-15 actually. The fuselage acts as a wing, due to the shape, which is the only reason they could do it.

As for the A-10 taking a licking and still ticking, here's a list of battle damage from Desert Storm.
www.2951clss-gulfwar.com...

Some A-10 battle damage pics

I fell in love with this aircraft when I first saw it on the ground at an airshow and my dad telling me that the reason why the front nose gear is to one side because of the shear size of that gun sticking out its nose. Love seeing them fly too even if they are a tad slow

I'd rather have that about my head than say a strike eagle or hornet

reply to post by ThePeaceMaker


I used to have two or three shells that came straight from the gun. We said something to one of the crew chiefs one day, he said "I'll be right back." Popped open the gun panel, cranked a wrench, and walked over with a fired shell for each of us. Sadly I lost them with everything else.

One of my favourite memories was the opportunity to stand on the deck of an observation tower on a small hill and watch the A-10's make firing passes at the outstretched chutes. We were about as high as the planes at the end of the runs. That sound is something you'll never forget. Also got to see a few dive bombing exercises with A-10's and F-16's, but at a much larger distance.

Some good pics (not mine) at link: azaerophoto.com...

Originally posted by Astr0
Just as the Afghan war draws down... how bloody weird is this?

Not to worry Astr0,
Obama will put them to good use in Syria.
Just saying...