http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/12/14/congress-just-saved-the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-a.aspx

There was a recent thread about the A-10 in which CAS was discussed at length. Here are some quotes from the link that I agree with and basically jive with what I posted in the previous A-10 thread:

quote:

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According to the Air Force, while the F-35 isn't a specialized ground support aircraft, it can do an adequate job of providing close-air support, or CAS, to ground troops.

Not all experts agree. Aviation magazine Flight Journal, for example, has its doubts about the F-35's usefulness for CAS missions, noting that the F-35 "hasn't even fired its gun yet."

If it ever does get around to testing that gun, the F-35 will have to immediately head back to base to reload. After all, the GAU-22/A gun on the F-35, used to strafe ground targets, can only carry 182 20mm cannon rounds. Firing at 3,300 rounds per minute, that means that an F-35 will empty its magazine in about 3.3 seconds, and be running on empty.

In contrast to the F-35's limited usefulness in ground support, and limited ammo load, the 1,174 rounds loaded into an A-10's larger GAU-8/A Gatling gun, firing at 3,900 rpm, give nearly 18 seconds of firing time. That's enough to strafe more than a dozen targets before the plane must return to base. When you consider furthermore that the A-10 is a much cheaper plane to fly than the F-35, costing about half the F-35's estimated $32,000 per flight hour, the economic argument in favor of keeping the A-10 only gets stronger.

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The F35 needs to be aborted.

I'm glad the A10 is sticking around for a bit, but honestly, since we tend to have air dominance why not use WWII style fighters for CAS? They can fly lower and slower, allowing the pilots better views of what to attack.

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The F35 needs to be aborted.

I'm glad the A10 is sticking around for a bit, but honestly, since we tend to have air dominance why not use WWII style fighters for CAS? They can fly lower and slower, allowing the pilots better views of what to attack.

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I dream of the day when we'll send in a few A10s on an ISIS convoy and just let it go to town.

Development of manned war planes need to be aborted.

Bigtruckguy, A10s have been flying over Iraq/Syria for a few weeks now. They were late to the party but they made it!

That pic of all those ISIS Toyotas in a row looks like a tank platoon leader's M2 Cal.50 wet dream. That would be great fun for about 10 minutes.

Reminds me of "the highway of death" in desert storm pre attack

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That pic of all those ISIS Toyotas in a row looks like a tank platoon leader's M2 Cal.50 wet dream. That would be great fun for about 10 minutes.

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I am thinking Mk19 myself

Kinda like SGT York in the movie. 'gobble, gobble, gobble..........', shoot the rear one and work your way up the line. Stand off about 1000m and get the whole platoon working their M2's together. Thinking of the way that PL fire command would sound back in the day. What would it sound like currently?

'Platoon......Cal 50, direct front, fire at will.........' How close is this to current TTP?

You forgot "Tophat, Tophat"

Would be great - if Congress ponied up some more $$$ to fund this decision.

quote:

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the GAU-22/A gun on the F-35, used to strafe ground targets, can only carry 182 20mm cannon rounds. Firing at 3,300 rounds per minute, that
means that an F-35 will empty its magazine in about 3.3 seconds, and be
running on empty.


In contrast to the F-35's limited usefulness in ground support, and limited ammo load, the 1,174 rounds loaded into an A-10's larger GAU-8/A
Gatling gun, firing at 3,900 rpm, give nearly 18 seconds of firing
time. That's enough to strafe more than a dozen targets before the plane
must return to base.

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Fool proof logic

I gotta say that I do like the idea of working the "Caliber Fifty" from inside the TCs hatch however...

When I was an ROTC cadet doing my 3 week CTLT with the 1st Cav at Fort Hood, I had the opportunity to "John Wayne" a dismounted M2 on a tripod. That was awesome. Quite literally, that was some of the most fun I've ever had. I was the first "Officer" in our Combat Engineer Company to qualify on the Machine Gun that day. The other Officers were following "The Book" and screwing around with adjusting fire using the T&E mechanism on the tripod. I just emulated what I saw one of the SPC4 M113 drivers do. I practiced good fire control and followed the tracers. That technique worked like a charm on the truck target at 1000m. And, I finished with plenty of ammo left over too. It was funny watching how many guys would hold that trigger down on full-auto and then not have enough ammo left to complete the engagement.

I had the good fortune by having an E6 who was the platoon sergeant for one of the other platoons in my Cav Troop show me the effective way to fire/control a M2 as a TC for my M551. Like just about all the other NCOs I was around then he was a Vietnam veteran and had seen close combat. He was kinda fat, missing several teeth, but ran a decent platoon and was a pretty good man/soldier. I can still hear the words....'LT, unless you are f_ckin' Popeye, you gotta hold the baby up against your chest (Meaning to hold the dual handles with your hands up against your chest) and control where it goes with your f_ckin' legs'......This worked perfectly for me. I was a dead shot from then on for that gunnery cycle and for any other TC mounted M2 for the next 29 years of wearing a uniform. 3 tracers over the target. Bingo. I was lucky and never had to shoot it, or anything else, in anger, but I always knew I could hit it with a Cal 50. Wonderful weapon, timeless.

Score Card:
A-10: 13,254
Toyota Pick-up: 0

A-10s on a CAS run are a Beautiful sight to see!

Then expect CAS and other functions to be "aborted" when non-Americans figure out how to control our unmanned systems.

Glad to see the A10 has been saved once again. Too bad Boyd isn't alive. I guess the Fighter Mafia at the Pentagon is also no longer extant.

Also, remember this, "There is no intelligent life above 1,000 feet."?

1) Great stuff A-10 is about 40 times better than F-16s or F-15s at CAS.
2) F-18 (both Marine & Navy) were almost aseffective as A-10s.
3) AWT was vastly superior to any other aircraft we field.
Don't get me wrong, I love A-10s coming in low. Really makes the enemy get low & (far more often than an F-16) sometimes even kills a couple. However Apaches tear through dudes like a hot knife through butter. Just laze the general area & they do the rest. Only guys who actually requested we back up so they could engage. Love that mentality. Not to mention vastly better target discrimination than any fast mover.

A-10 First flight, May 10, 1972.

Sometime in late 1972 or early in 1973 the first A-10 made it's way across country to Edwards AFB, CA for testing. I was a 2Lt weather weenie at Cannon AFB, NM and the Warthog made a refueling stop at Cannon while I was on duty. The plane was parked just outside Base Ops so I got a good look at it.

When I gave the pilot his weather brief for the last leg to Edwards I held back the urge to say "that thing will never fly". I also got to brief the pilot for the first F-15's flight from St Louis to Edwards when he stopped at Cannon for refueling.

The F-35 is an unstoppable program. It's happening. Period. The Air Force knows this is and is trying to get rid of the A-10 to save money. Congress forces them to keep both with no increased funding.

What a mess.