Persistence, Coupled with Performance Pays Off – the A-10 “Warthog”
April 21st, 2007 by xformed
The A-10 Thunderbolt II has long been the red-headed step child in the Air Force Inventory. Maybe military mythology, but back in the early 70s, I heard the plane being referred to as being shoved down the throats of the USAF by Congressmen, with interests in keeping jobs in their districts. Later, I heard the USAF was scrapping it and the Army enthusiastically stepped up, wanting to take them over. The “Mission Envy” entered the argument and the USAF informed the Army that offensive fixed wing stuff was the domain of the blue suiters and the Army couldn’t have them.
So, here’s the good news: The USAF finally gets it (geez…what slow learners they are!).
Well, after years of a fighter mafia dominance that kicked the A-10 to the curb, Air Force officials finally woke up and realized all anyone cares about these days is putting warheads on foreheads, not shooting down MiGs from 10 miles away. So the blue-suiters have finally given the Hog its due and funneled some much-needed money to the workhorse CAS platform. And now they’re accelerating the Warthog renaissance.
More news at Defense Industry Daily on the details of the A-1oC Precision Engagement Program. I like that sound of that. Too bad Capt Lex is retiring and won’t get the pleasure of precision engagement with the GAU-8.
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 21st, 2007 at 10:33 am and is filed under Air Force, Army, History, Military, Military History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
May 2nd, 2014 at 3:21 am
The US Air Force tried to kill the A-10 every year that it was in production. And they have tried to kill it at least a dozen times since then. All Air Forces hate close air srpoput. It’s a mission that’s a service to the Army. It holds a mirror up to them and reflects back onto them that they cannot win wars by themselves. They still need infantry; those rodents and reptiles with their foul language and trenches and bunkers and 70 ton tanks they like to hide inside, instead of facing the enemy like “real” men…..The A-10 has always been hated by the USAF. It’s too simple, too reliable, too lethal, too survivable, and far, far too affordable. Worse still, it’s ugly. Despite this, the US army has managed to persuade the DoD to keep the A-10 for decades despite the adamant opposition of the USAF. I don’t see that changing, especially with the pro-infantry anti-bureaucrat Congress in ultimate control of the budget. Unless the USAF can enlist the US Army’s srpoput this proposal will go nowhere. The US Army has too many officers who have experienced the A-10’s srpoput and are aware than the F-35 would never come close to matching it.. In any case, very little money would be saved; the A-10 is very inexpensive and the bases from which it operates could not be closed without Congressional approval.