All of you hog-handlers out there past and present are going to be very pleased by this. You can not argue with success — here you see everyone’s best buddy busting ass off the runway at Bagram to fellicitate the foolish. Everyone appreciates the fellicitations the A-10 can present, but none more than our forces when face-to-face with the Taliban.
You know you are doing good when even the “don’t let down the side” Brits admit it.
The Air Force has figured out that even after you establish overwhelming air-superiority in any conflict, you still need a follow-on punch capable of digging out the dregs, and the A-10’s just the right shovel to dig that grave for our foes. When it comes to close air support, nothing does it better.
Defense Industry Daily details the new program to modernize the best damned close air support weapons system in the world. If you love A-10’s then you will want to bookmark the page since they will update it frequently as contracts are awarded and more news comes out.
All A-10’s are going to get run through the Precision Engagement modification program over the next 4-5 years which will upgrade every package they carry, which is just Oustanding! (My sister used to work at a computerized firing ranged they used for calibration … wonder if they are going to re-open that?)
So now to the rest of the reason I am writing this: I just love A-10’s and I wanted an excuse to post these beautimous pictures in my online journal. Above you see the White Lightning version…. and if you’ve ever seen one fire at night you don’t need to ask why it’s called that.
Last time I checked there were only 379 A10s left. Rumsfeld cancelled the production.
From reading the article Pat, it might be even worse than that:
Lockheed is expected to deliver a total of 356 kits over 5 years, at an estimated cost of $168 million. Lockheed Martin received the production contract in February 2005, with the first production kits delivered to Hill AFB in March 2006.
I have always been partial to bombers my entire life (payloads they can carry and the fact that enemies fly at them while they continue on to their target) but out of all the aircraft I think the A-10 is my favorite. The Warthog seems like the last in-your-face aircraft. The engines have a distinct sound and the A-10 is the last thing the bad guys see/hear, unlike modern fighters firing from afar. I was lucky enough to see an A-10 live-fire demostration while in the Air Force and the “braap” sound the gatling gun makes as it fires several hundred rounds will send shivers down your spine. The photos of damaged A-10’s returning to base reminds you just how well it was designed, not only the flight systems but to protect the pilot.
The other aircraft I would hate to see coming right at me would be the AC-130 “Spectre” gunship. That aircraft just spews bad-ass!
Yes, spookies are just spooky!