An A-10 Thunderbolt II undergoes pre-flight inspections at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. on March 23, 2006. The retirement of the A-10 is being pushed back to 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by/Airman 1st Class Jesse Shipps)
Scott Beauchamp, Task & Purpose: An Infantryman’s Defense Of The A-10
The A-10 Warthog is battle tested and soldier approved, this infantryman says.
I admit it, as a former infantryman, I’m a partial to the A-10 Thunderbolt II. I don’t mind that it’s ugly. I don’t mind that it entered service all the way back in the mid 1970s, making it older than me. I don’t mind that it’s slow, basically a flying 30 mm cannon sheathed in a 1,200-pound titanium “bathtub.” In fact, these are exactly the things that endear the A-10 to grunts like me. It’s our plane. It was made for us and us alone.
The Warthog was, is, and will be for the foreseeable future the premier close-ground support plane. And all the things that I mentioned above — its simplicity and weight — are what make it so effective at its job. The titanium armor encasing the plane makes it impervious to high-explosive and armor-piercing projectiles up to 23 mm. It can even take a few hits from 57 mm rounds. Parts of the cockpit interior is covered with a nylon spall to protect the pilot from fragmentation. In other words, this is a plane meant to fly low and slow, mix it up in close quarters with ground targets that can return fire, and get its hands a little bit dirty. The A-10 is notorious for being able to take damage and keep flying. It’s battle tested and soldier approved.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: He makes a good defense based on experience .... but the powers that be in the Pentagon do not care.
The US military air wing would look and function incredibly different if it weren't controlled by the Air Force.
ReplyDeleteThe Army wants and needs aircraft, pilots, and tactics that work primarily in support of ground forces and the movement of the big force. The idea of wars being fought and won solely from the air would disappear overnight, and after more than half a century of watching that strategy fail it would be good riddance.