A10 & U2 to be retired?

Hi all,

Just been reading an article over on the BBC site about Chuck Hagel announcing US military cuts & savings etc...

It mentions that it will recommend retiring the A-10 (one of my favourite planes!) and the U2 Spyplane, however the plans require approval from congress.

My question is what can replace the A-10? does the US military have something else that can provide the close air support the A-10 does?

With the U2, im assuming the role it performs can be taken on by satellites?

Such a shame to see two of my favourite aircraft potentially being retired, but times change huh?

anyways, heres the article

www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by ukmicky1980


They keep talking about getting rid of the A10 but it never happens. Probably because nothing has been better at its job and I predict the military brass will tell Hagle to take a hike with the a10 talk.

Long live the a10. Long live its 30mm cannon!

reply to post by BASSPLYR


its an awesome piece of kit isn't it?

reading the wiki page for the A-10, it does mention that the F-35 is a possible replacement for close air support, not sure how feasible it is for that role though, im no expert, Zaphod will hopefully be along soon to shed some light on it!

reply to post by ukmicky1980


My opinion is that the f35 will fail out on the playground when it gets too dirty or it will give out the second it gets kicked in the shins. The f35 looks great but its like that bully on the playground that's all puffed up. The a10 is the gruff no duff street fighter. Built to take a licking and keep on ticking. He f35 is not robust enough for close ground support. If planes like the f35 are such a great choice for that toll then how come the a10 is still preferred over the f16 fir protecting troops.

I would guess the A-10 will be replaced by mixture of both the F-35 and a drone version of it they have been working on.

The A-10, as of now isn't going away. They have tried to get rid of it several times and Congress keeps asking what will replace it until the F-35 is ready.

The leadership claims everything up to heavy bombers can do CAS with PGMs, but the reality is nothing has the punch or loiter time of a Warthog. And I've seen first hand the lies the leadership will peddle to get their way, but this time they are getting called on it.

The U-2 has been a fun game. For several years now the AF has shifted costs from the U-2 to the Global Hawk to make the RQ-4 appear more expensive to operate. They tried to send the Block 30 straight to the Boneyard from the factory but were told not only no but hell no. After years of this, suddenly the U-2 (after recent upgrades) is on the chopping block.

reply to post by ukmicky1980


Nothing can replace the A10 or the old harrier in there speciallized role's but since they seem hell bent on replacing manned aircraft with drone technology it was bound to happen, and there in the states and here in the UK most politicians have not got a clue when it comes to military flexability (which they translate as money saving) and speciallised role response.
Sad, the A10 is old but in the hand's of a Good pilot there is absolutely no better ground attack aircraft, even with the new Attack choppers the A10 pack's more of a punch with that beast of a chain gun.

So build a new plane around a new gun again you'll eventually HAVE to if you want to tangle with China.

reply to post by Zaphod58


As of this afternoon it is slated to go away. As as a big chunk of the army. Stupid, at a time we are facing real possibility of problems with Russia and China. China especially spending inordinate amount on defense and both China and Russia beginning to pass us technologically.

They did same thing few years ago, it much cheaper to keep the trained forces we have. They are idiots. Course it is political, they don't want us to have a military they can't control. We have seen that in the last two years. Do you really think all those generals and top officials got fired for cause lol.

Too bad bout a10, nothing they have on books comes close to replacing it for what it does. If it ain't broke why fix it. They are cheap to produce now, especially in comparison to newer untested aircraft like f35 that still has so many problems and is way over budget. They would rather produce drones to fly over us.

The Bot

reply to post by dlbott


Nothing is slated to do anything yet. That is just the proposal Hagel wants. It still has to go through Congress. The formal proposal won't be unveiled until March 4th.

ukmicky1980
Hi all,



It mentions that it will recommend retiring the A-10 (one of my favourite planes!) and the U2 Spyplane, however the plans require approval from congress.

My question is what can replace the A-10? does the US military have something else that can provide the close air support the A-10 does?



www.bbc.co.uk...

There is nothing to replace the A-10 - nothing at all for close ground support other then helicopters.

reply to post by ukmicky1980


Chuck Hagel as SOD is about as useful as John Kerry as SOS. They are idiots, shame on the Senate for confirming them....

reply to post by Zaphod58


Well i just watched again from three different media outlets and it is done. Only congress can save it now and consensus there by early accounts is to let it die and put their money in plugging the holes in the f35. At least the air force has a general in charge that is not paying a dime for an aircraft until problems are fixed and it gets on budget. Good for him. Was a nice sixty minutes piece on f35. Suggest watching it. Kind of crazy the mistakes they make on a billion dollar aircraft lol.

He is right, nothing can replace the a ten or the harrier and definitely not no drone. The apache is great but no better friend to a grunt than to see a warthog rolling in and raining fire. It is something to see. Can't believe they would even consider retiring it without an already in production replacement.

Guess they think all the conflicts are going to be with terrorist from now on, not.

Like I said they don't want a strong think for itself military. Wonder why..... Coming to a neighborhood near you, a friendly armed drone.

The Bot

reply to post by dlbott

A huge chunk of work at Hill Air Force Base may be in jeopardy if Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s proposed five-year Pentagon budget becomes a reality.

The budget calls for the retirement of older weapons systems within the Air Force, which include the A-10 attack aircraft and the U-2 spy plane.

m.standard.net...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel unveiled most of the major budget details in a briefing today at the Pentagon. The formal budget rollout comes March 4.

breakingdefense.com...

Nothing is a "done deal". Not even close.

Only a couple of years ago the company I worked for were bidding to produce a ground station to fly the A-10 unmanned!

F-35 is the replacement for Harrier and A-10 (and others).

When you look at the US debt, the state of the country, the fact that aside from one missile both Russia and China are miles behind and not posing a threat to mainland US - the country needs to do something.

A-10 is awesome, but its designed to roll over the Russian Armour advancing across Europe, its been recognised as having an edge as a CAS platform in Iraq and Afghanistan, but perhaps the US are not planning another engangement like this for a number of years, by which time F35 will be in.

Look at UK, they retired Harrier long before the F35 replacement.

All A-10s to the boneyard and if something kicks off that 'needs' them, then they could make a squadron from there.

If I were on the ground, I would rather a squadren of loitering reapers (or replacement) with hellfire and SDB. The Cannon of the A-10 may be unique, but it only draws a line in the sand.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Is setting the U2 up on the chopping block a form of political gerrymandering to get funding else where or is there an operational platform that is doing the U2's job already (and I don't mean the RQ-4)?

reply to post by Sammamishman


It's all political BS and games for when they retire.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Politics and greed....the American way.

I'd like to see an AC-22 Osprey type gunship with two GAU 30mm weapons. That, in my mind, would begin an attempt to replace the venerable A-10 Thunderbolt II, er, warthog. I believe they would have to increase the loitering ability somewhat to develop such an animal.

Just one man's opinion.

reply to post by Sammamishman


Not to say there aren't hints of something but most of this is politics as usual for the JCS.