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At a COPE THUNDER exercise at Clark AB circa '85, we had A-10 and F-16 playing in various scenarios. One day an A-10 had ingested a high-flying kite as it was recovering at Clark, and in the debriefing we warned the pilots to watch out.
Cracked an F-16 jock from the rear of the room: "Did the kite overtake him from behind?"
Yeah, I heard all of the old slow jokes, especially at Red Flag (Nellis AFB, NV) as a Hog Driver.
"It's so slow, it doesn't have a clock, it has a calendar..." and a variation of the kite strike with birds.
Then I went to the OV-10A, and the A-10's 330 knot speed wasn't so bad.
Of course, after leaving the F-16 (450-500 knots cruise) to do some wind turbine and low-level route surveying in a Cessna 172L (150 hp variant) the OV-10 wasn't so bad. It's all relative.
Have not heard how the Broncos performed in Syria.
Aren't there still DC-3s flying somewhere in the world?
I'm imagining A-10s flying years from now, held together with duct tape.
Well, the C-130 and the U-2 are both in the Half-Century Club, and the B-52 is scheduled to continue service until they reach the 90-year service mark.
Well, the C-130 and the U-2 are both in the Half-Century Club, and the B-52 is scheduled to continue service until they reach the 90-year service mark.
I read somewhere that a "kid" is now piloting a B-52 that both his father and grandfather flew before him.
Interesting subject. Judging from the back and forth, the A-10 maintains an unique capacity that isn't duplicated in other
equipment. What with all the "re-manufacturing" (CH-47's, 40 years later with new delivery numbers!?) From scratch manufacturing is out of the question.
I'll bet the Army is standing at the front of the "We'll take 'em" line when the A-10's are DERMO'ed. What Battalion Commander/ Group leader wouldn't like to have a flight of A-10's under their direct control? Oops, an AF "panties in a knot" attack seems eminent! We can't have the Army flying THOSE! Welcome to the Air Force, Mr. 'Bue
In Afghanistan usually one ran out of targets and then fuel before ammo. The standard A-10 load was, in my discussions with JTACs who come to the range where I now work, a rocket pod or two with WP or HE rockets (7 per pod), a full gun, and two each GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and two GBU-38 or -54 JDAMs.
Yep most recent pictures I've seen of A-10s have variations of this load, often with a single maverick as well. I did see an unusual photo recently A-10 with four GBU-12s and something a lot bigger centerline, I assume a GBU-32.
And on subject of advances in technology and smaller effective weapons, here is an F-15E with 24 SDBs. That is a lot of potential targets and flexibility, up to 60 mile standoff range and targeting everything from concrete bunkers to insurgents digging a hole to SEAD/DEAD. SDB II has a trimode seeker to engage fast moving targets.
Yep most recent pictures I've seen of A-10s have variations of this load, often with a single maverick as well. I did see an unusual photo recently A-10 with four GBU-12s and something a lot bigger centerline, I assume a GBU-32.
That's a GBU-31 JDAM, 2000 lb GPS-guided weapon.
Well the A-10 has 11 weapons stations, when I flew them it only had 7. My wing removed them so the aircraft would have better performance.
They have the unique ability to be able to loiter over the battlefield for extended periods to provide CAS. I don't know of any other weapons system that can match that.
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