A-10 Adapts To Survive US Finally Tests The New Super A-10 Warthog

I definitely have 2 favorite aircraft the FA-18 Hornet and the A-10 Warthog. the A-10's close-in-air support made it a favorite among troops, it's stories of its ability to survive ack ack and make it home are legendary. Considering we got 362 of them in Poland right now we might be getting more stories soon

In a media source mashup just a little information on the A-10, sounds as if it may survive into the 2030s, that alone is fairly impressive. Im, sure there are better detailed and technical takes on how the A-10 was almost canceled, post them here Im really finding StrategyPage always has a fairly recent take on most subjects. They bring up a good point in this article. A-10 for Ukraine, WBW they were designed as Russian tank busters. They are cheaper to make and maintain sound perfect for the Ukrainian theater, easier to fly, etc.

www.strategypage.com...

Warplanes: A-10 Adapts To Survive


September 6, 2022: The A-10 ground attack aircraft was designed to destroy Russian tanks in Europe for a war that never happened. The Soviet Union self-destructed in 1991, but that was the year the A-10 first saw combat, destroying Russian made tanks in Kuwait and Iraq. There were 132 A-10s in that war, they were available 95 percent of the time and flew 8,100 sorties. Four A-10s were shot down by SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) and eleven were hit by anti-aircraft artillery. The A-10 proved to be as rugged as it was designed to be with those hit by ground fire making it back to base. Several were so badly damaged they never flew again. In that operation A-10s scored their first air-to-air victories, downing two Iraqi helicopters. A-10s used 90 percent of the Maverick guided missiles expended in that conflict and when it was all over the air force decided it needed the A-10 and gave up plans to replace it with a ground attack version of the F-16. This was a remarkable comeback for an aircraft that first flew in 1972 and entered service in 1977. Only 716 were produced between 1972 and 1984, but 39 percent (282) are still in service as the much-upgraded A-10C. The air force kept trying to set a retirement date for the A-10 but new uses were constantly found and, even before Russian invaded Ukraine in 2022, the air force had decided to indefinitely put off retiring the A-10. This was partially because there was no viable replacement and the A-10 had a remarkable ability to keep reinventing itself to remain useful. For example, the A-10 had become a key component of CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) for pilots down in hostile territory. Some designs, like the B-52 heavy bomber, are irreplaceable and the A-10 has become another one of them.

a reply to: putnam6

didn't watch the videos yet, do they still go bruppppppp. brupppppp, brupppppp when the fire their cannons

a reply to: putnam6

The problem with the A-10 is, and always will be the fans of the A-10. Several A-10 pilots have said they wouldn’t survive in Ukraine, because they need a permissive environment to operate in. The A-10 was designed to fight before truly effective mobile SAMs and long range AAMs existed. Now that IADS is everywhere, and you have VLRAAMs coming into service, they would be hammered in any near peer fight, until air dominance was established.

While I can't agree with your first choice, I do agree with you about the A-10.
I think that the F/A-18 "Super Hornet" wouldn't exist except for the A-12 fiasco. The first F/A-18 I ever saw made a great big splash after a cat shot. Thankfully no one was hurt.

I think that the F/A-18 was a good fit with the make-up of a carrier air wing in the late 80's, early 90's, but, the Super Hornet just doesn't do the job on it's own.

The A-10 fills it's role nicely for an aircraft designed in the 70's. It's problem is that it isn't pretty enough for the Air Force and it's not made by Boeing. I never worked on an A-10, but I have worked on the S-3 Viking that has the same engine the TF-34. It's good reliable and easy to maintain.

The biggest thing that is held against the A-10 is it's ability to survive in a high threat environment.

a reply to: putnam6

Thanks for the update, thought for sure The A-10 would be mothballed by now. Hate to see them get destroyed in Ukraine.

Really surprised the A-10 got any upgrades. I wish they'd build new airframes, but we've discussed this here before when word came that it's time to retire it.

Yes, the A-10 is my top 3... I have a thing for the A-7. .

Thanks again for posting.

a reply to: Bigburgh

Just don't walk too close to the front of an A-7 when the engine is turning. It will give you a yank.

Delivering peace at 3900 rpm .
If you hear it , you are perfectly OK

a reply to: JIMC5499

Seen the videos, and yes I think that sucks.

Thankfully this never happened at the 112th Tactical Fighter Group.

originally posted by: BernnieJGato
a reply to: putnam6

didn't watch the videos yet, do they still go bruppppppp. brupppppp, brupppppp when the fire their cannons

Yep, our troops used to talk about how comforting that sound was.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

The problem with the A-10 is, and always will be the fans of the A-10. Several A-10 pilots have said they wouldn’t survive in Ukraine, because they need a permissive environment to operate in. The A-10 was designed to fight before truly effective mobile SAMs and long range AAMs existed. Now that IADS is everywhere, and you have VLRAAMs coming into service, they would be hammered in any near peer fight, until air dominance was established.

Of course mate the A-10 is a purely offensive Aircraft , it is the epitome of an " Attack Aircraft " .

An armored fuselage built around a 30mm gatling cannon , it's Hell on Wings but it is like you said extremely vulnerable to all Anti-Aircraft systems.

But in my opinion the A-10 is extremely useful on the Battlefield this has been proven throughout the Iraq , Afghanistan and Syrian Conflicts . A good commander will always have use for a Flying 30mm 7 barrel cannon , Just like the C130 Spooky that cannon can put ordinance on target quickly and accurately with out the need of GPS or Lasers .

originally posted by: JIMC5499
While I can't agree with your first choice, I do agree with you about the A-10.
I think that the F/A-18 "Super Hornet" wouldn't exist except for the A-12 fiasco. The first F/A-18 I ever saw made a great big splash after a cat shot. Thankfully no one was hurt.

I think that the F/A-18 was a good fit with the make-up of a carrier air wing in the late 80's, early 90's, but, the Super Hornet just doesn't do the job on it's own.

The A-10 fills it's role nicely for an aircraft designed in the 70's. It's problem is that it isn't pretty enough for the Air Force and it's not made by Boeing. I never worked on an A-10, but I have worked on the S-3 Viking that has the same engine the TF-34. It's good reliable and easy to maintain.

The biggest thing that is held against the A-10 is it's ability to survive in a high threat environment.

Make no mistake not suggesting these are the best, I just like military aircraft, and these two I read some wild stories about them both, mostly good and some bad as both have had extensive combat duties. I don't have any personal hands-on experience or knowledge though and completely defer to our vets on which is best and why.

I don't know but don't a few other fighters have their own issues to deal with, I know the F-35 has been discussed here before.

migflug.com... 2%80%93-Air-to-air-losses-%E2%80%93-Losses-to-ground-fire.png

my 2 personal choices would be a10 and English electric lightning.. though had a friend (ex pilot) at St Dunstan's (blind veterans) who'd regal us with tornado stories, then it would be the scot aviation bulldog, my fil has one as an ex raf v bomber engineer/now come pilot.

but the a10 is right up competing for top spot from my youth seeing them over the base I worked at in the uk when the radar network went down and it all went into panic mode and up the bikini states.. the a10s were always first on the scene and the noise was as unique as a merlin going over, in fact I would put the 2 together for special noise..

thanks for triggering some fond memories..

originally posted by: nickyw
my 2 personal choices would be a10 and English electric lightning.. though had a friend (ex pilot) at St Dunstan's (blind veterans) who'd regal us with tornado stories, then it would be the scot aviation bulldog, my fil has one as an ex raf v bomber engineer/now come pilot.

but the a10 is right up competing for top spot from my youth seeing them over the base I worked at in the uk when the radar network went down and it all went into panic mode and up the bikini states.. the a10s were always first on the scene and the noise was as unique as a merlin going over, in fact I would put the 2 together for special noise..

thanks for triggering some fond memories..

Hell, I enjoy hearing all the stories thank you for your service BTW. An old-school supersonic fighter, nothing wrong with that.




thank you for your service BTW

originally posted by: asabuvsobelow

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

The problem with the A-10 is, and always will be the fans of the A-10. Several A-10 pilots have said they wouldn’t survive in Ukraine, because they need a permissive environment to operate in. The A-10 was designed to fight before truly effective mobile SAMs and long range AAMs existed. Now that IADS is everywhere, and you have VLRAAMs coming into service, they would be hammered in any near peer fight, until air dominance was established.

Of course mate the A-10 is a purely offensive Aircraft , it is the epitome of an " Attack Aircraft " .

An armored fuselage built around a 30mm gatling cannon , it's Hell on Wings but it is like you said extremely vulnerable to all Anti-Aircraft systems.

But in my opinion the A-10 is extremely useful on the Battlefield this has been proven throughout the Iraq , Afghanistan and Syrian Conflicts . A good commander will always have use for a Flying 30mm 7 barrel cannon , Just like the C130 Spooky that cannon can put ordinance on target quickly and accurately with out the need of GPS or Lasers .

All three of those have one thing in common. They're all essentially completely permissive environments. The biggest threat is a guy with a rifle, or an extremely rare MANPADS. The A-10 is a beast on the battlefield, but it has to have an almost completely permissive environment, or a very large escort package to bring the threat down. It's the same for any 4th Gen platform, no matter how good they are or were. The big difference is that the A-10 was built on the minimalist approach, so it could take a lot of damage and come home. So it doesn't have the electrical and computer hardware that other 4th Gen platforms, like the F-15 and F-16 do, so upgrades are a lot harder to do.

Thought I saw a reference on this thread to an F-18 being deep-sixed off the catapult...is the vid related

a reply to: putnam6

There was an F-18 blown off the deck of the Truman in summer of 2022, and recovered in August of 2022. The aircraft shown being recovered in that video was lost in 2020 during routine operations in the Philippine Sea after losing power just after takeoff.

i love warthogs too and i cant wait to hear more brrrt

Oh it can not survive in a near near peer environment... How about a helicopter transport or gunship, tank, APC, or anything else in a near peer environment...... yet they are used every day in a war zone.

You think you are safe in a ditch or at night when drones with IR are actually becoming more accepted(?) hope no one we know has to find out the hard way..

Near peer warfare is some serious stuff as we will find out if we ever go to war with China.. Maybe we can infect them with Woke and trans power and win the war ?? Oh wait ??

a reply to: 727Sky

Attack helicopters won’t be used anywhere close to the front lines, and won’t really be used until after at least air superiority is active achieved except for hot and run missions and pop up targets. Neither will gunships. Gunships are vulnerable even in non near peer situations as we saw in Desert Storm with SPIRIT03. That was the seventh gunship brought down.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

There was an F-18 blown off the deck of the Truman in summer of 2022, and recovered in August of 2022. The aircraft shown being recovered in that video was lost in 2020 during routine operations in the Philippine Sea after losing power just after takeoff.

Thanks, I know the video is about the incident on the USS Harry Truman but they referred to one they had lost 30 years earlier in a similar situation.