Another A-10 retirement date

[727Sky]

Every time the Air Force says they want to retire the A-10 Warthog the Army says give it to us !! Never gonna happen unfortunately even though it would be great in supporting our ground troops... Better than a helicopter IMO.

The U.S. Air Force wants to send its remaining 162 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs to the boneyard in 2026, marking the end of this legendary air support jet’s nearly half-century spanning service life. Sending the Warthog out to pasture, the Air Force says, will free up funds for more modern and survivable aircraft that can fly the Close Air Support Mission as well as other high end operations, like the F-15EX and, to a lesser extent, the F-35.

[F2d5thCav]

Yes. They should just turn them over to the army and stop being such nagging pissants about an effective weapons system.

[FCD]

!!Warning!! -  Personal Opinion Ahead (flashing bright red/blue LED's)

There will be "NO" (read: Zero) discussion allowed about retiring the A-10 Warthog until until a viable replacement has been fully approved and is...IN SERVICE!  Absolutely ZERO!  Period! 

That is all.

-------------------------------------------

All this discussion about the A-10 being obsolete, and (x) decades old, and (blah, blah, blah) is nothing more than a smokescreen for a bunch of corrupt politicians to pork barrel another DOD project and dream up some huge, overweight, complex and expensive 'super weapon' which doesn't need to be ANY of those things!  The A-10 was successful because it was a tank.  It was low and slow, and cheap (in the scheme of things).  It was designed for fighting a bunch of back-asswards jihadis in some far away shithole.  An enemy who was carrying rusty ass weapons which barely function and armed with weapons they'd cooked up in their garage with some shit from Home Depot.  It does NOT need to be able to fight some next generation warrior inside some billion dollar stealth spaceship armed with space lasers, invisible super-powers and unlimited capabilities.  It does NOT need to be networked to some mothership, and controlled by some exotic orbiting Battlestar Galactica Death Star staffed with trans-species humanoid LGBTQ+ flag waving retards armed with politically "sensitive" weapons which cost 50 billion dollars each and don't work.  And, this is EXACTLY what it WILL be if this discussion is even allowed to get started.

Just NO!

[sailorsam]

loved the scene in Red Storm Rising where the hogs shoot up a convoy of Russian ships.
(well, Soviet ships.)



   

[F2d5thCav]

There is just a certain 'je ne sais quoi' about 30-mike-mike high explosive projectiles with a depleted uranium core ...

[EndtheMadnessNow]

If not the Army or Marines, transfer to DHS and border patrol.

“If you hear my gun I wasn’t aiming at you.” - Dale Stark, ret. A-10 pilot

In this episode, we sit down with retired Lieutenant Colonel John "Karl" Marks, the A-10 Warthog pilot with the most A-10 flight hours in history (7,500+ hours), for an incredible, 6 hour in-depth conversation. Karl shares his experience flying combat missions from Desert Storm to Afghanistan, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, 18 Air Medals, and 13 combat deployments along the way.



00:00:00 - Introduction to Carl Marks and His A-10 Career
00:02:00 - Receiving 7,500 Hours in the A-10 Warthog
00:04:00 - "Die Commie Die" Story and T-Shirt Origin
00:06:00 - Signed Desk Ornament Giveaway Details
00:09:00 - How the Air Force Preserves Close Air Support Skills
00:14:00 - Future of CAS and Transition to F-35
00:18:00 - Carl’s Childhood Dream of Flying the A-10
00:22:00 - Winning an A-10 Assignment Out of Pilot Training
00:30:00 - Training for Cold War Combat Missions
00:36:00 - Deploying to Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia
00:43:00 - Shifting Tactics from Low-Level to High-Altitude Attacks
00:50:00 - Trust Between Pilots and Ground Controllers
00:56:00 - First Combat Mission in the A-10 Warthog
01:03:00 - Striking Iraqi Forces and Lessons Learned
01:12:00 - Adapting to Threats in Desert Storm
01:20:00 - Changes in Close Air Support Tactics Over Decades
01:30:00 - Differences Between Desert Storm and Afghanistan
01:38:00 - How Precision Guided Weapons Changed CAS
01:48:00 - Lessons from Supporting Special Forces
02:00:00 - Reflections on Leadership and Combat Mindset
02:12:00 - The End of the Cold War and Its Impact
02:20:00 - Career Highlights and Favorite Missions
02:36:00 - Transitioning to a New Era of Air Combat
02:45:00 - Mentorship and Preparing the Next Generation
03:00:00 - Life Lessons Learned from 30 Years of Combat
03:15:00 - Coping with the Stress of War
03:30:00 - Funniest and Wildest Deployment Stories
03:45:00 - Honoring Fallen Friends and Brothers
04:00:00 - Thoughts on the Legacy of the A-10 Warthog
04:18:00 - How Air Combat Continues to Evolve
04:30:00 - Final Reflections on Service and Sacrifice
04:45:00 - Advice to Young Pilots and Future Warriors



Dale Stark 6 minute clip

[rickymouse]

I kind of liked the warthog, they should give it to the army.  I suppose it was not able to be made into a super stealthy fighter jet, and maintenence for it was becoming more expensive than it's worth in battle....or they just want to get more money from the government for the expensive new jets.

Why didn't they donate those to Ukraine instead of all those expensive missile systems that we are now running short on.  They knew they were going to scrap them anyway.  

Although those warthogs might be needed in the future so they may need to put them back into service if they are maintained a little...with the way things seem to be heading, having some arms in stock might be beneficial if we have a world war someday.