America’s Toughest, Ugliest Warplane Is Going Back Into Battle

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
Good :)

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Teegate

Administrator
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Sep 17, 2002
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Well ....... things may not be so set in stone.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in February that the A-10 had "been devastating" ISIS and that the next budget would extend its operational life by deferring the plane's retirement until 2022, at which point it would be replaced by the F-35.
But Holmes' announcement shows that the Air Force is now considering alternative replacement options.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/09/politics/a-10-warthog-replacement/index.html
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
There is nothing like the sound of the A-10 Warthog doing their bombing runs at Warren Grove.
I went there a few times prior to 2001 when you could actually drive pretty close to the practice targets and sit in your truck and watch the show.
Braaaaaaaap !
God Bless America !
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
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I can't understand why they would stop using them.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,603
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I have not seen or heard them at Warren Grove for a while. Either I am missing them or maybe many are being used right now overseas.
 

rc911

Explorer
Apr 23, 2015
105
90
Cream Ridge, NJ
While camping with my family in the 90's at the Bass River State Forest, the A-10's approaching Warren Grove was always a thrill. They would nearly skim the treetops at the campground before they let loose with the 30 cal. Gatlin guns. What an awesome (and intimidating) sound.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
Probably sucking dirt and sand into a jet is a problem. I guess a smaller gun is in the pod on the belly of those test planes.

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rc911

Explorer
Apr 23, 2015
105
90
Cream Ridge, NJ
I think the A-10 is the coolest warplane in our arsenal. My 97 year old mother lives in apartment A-10 at her retirement community. Most of the residents have some sort of identification on their electric scooters. Perhaps a small stuffed animal, a vanity license saying granny or something like it. My mother is the only one in the community with the enclosed picture taped to her scooter without otherwise identifying her ownership or apartment number. She loves it.
 

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h2ochild

Scout
Nov 24, 2010
83
57
68
Bass River Township
From what I'm reading. Turbo props use less fuel and are more efficient in short flights. They cost less to produce than jet engines. And the big advantage; smaller airstrips required for takeoff and landing.
 

Boyd

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Staff member
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Jul 31, 2004
9,506
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
My guess is the prop is for preliminary tests to be retrofitted with a jet engine if their prototype is given a green light to go to the next level of development.

Apparently they are going with a turboprop after all: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...wo-turboprops-as-potential-a-10-replacements/

In the first phase, the Air Force tested four aircraft at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Three were turboprop aircraft already in the inventory of some US allies in some form: AirTractor and L3's AT-802L Longsword; Sierra Nevada and Embraer's A-29 Super Tucano; and Textron and AirLand LLC's Beechcraft AT-6B Wolverine. The fourth, the only jet aircraft in the group, was Textron and AirLand's Scorpion. Now, the Air Force has begun a second phase and has cut the field to two: the Beechcraft AT-6B Wolverine and the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano
 
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