so what will replace the A-10?

>>63912483 (OP)
Drones

>>63912483 (OP)
An AR-15 derivative

>>63912491
/thread

>>63912483 (OP)
Which aircraft will now provide CAS to ground forces of the US?

>>63912520
F-16, F-35, F-15, drones, and the odd gunship.

>>63912524
That's essentially the entire combat air fleet of the US, is the era of specialized CAS fixed wing coming to an end.

>>63912483 (OP)
>cancel e-7
this is the more tarded part of this
e-3s are older than dirt, are gigantic maintenance queens, and their radars are not up to modern standards

>>63912530
>as if it has been alive in the last 10 years
specialized anything has been dying for a long time now

>>63912530
For the US, it is. Russia will keep using the su-25 forever, and various poor countries will continue to use COIN shitbirds.

>>63912536
Which is kinda dumb but I can also see why they do it

>>63912524
>F-16
>F-15
>drones
>gunship

nothing non stealth is getting anywhere near china

>>63912483 (OP)
I wish we had a stealth capable a10 replacement with a shitload of ATGMs and or smaller, more compact missiles for drones instead of a bunch of multi-roles, since the loiter time would be useful. But I guess r&d is going all in on 6th Gen stuff. Oh well, a man can dream.

>>63912544
F-35 can carry 8 GBU-53/B internally

>>63912530
Yeah and they do CAS better than the A-10

>>63912483 (OP)
Don't need a direct replacement.

>>63912544
>stealth capable a10 replacement
The best stealth is being far away. All stealth is defeated by proximity.

>>63912560
8 isn't enough

>>63912520
A-10 cause army will throw a hissy fit and demand the A-10 remain in service. Or they'll resurrect the USAAF.

>>63912483 (OP)
Fuck the A-10, cancelling the E-7, a 737-based replacement for the E-3 AWACS, is a bigger mistake.
> the E-3 is based on the 707
> spare parts are gtting hard to find
> qualified pilots are harder to find
Contrast with 737
> design dates back to 60s
> still building them
> modern airframe
> modern engines
> has an absurd amount of available spare parts
> 737 has a fuck ton of qualified commercial pilots
They want to replace the E-3 AWACS (a wide body jet) with the E-2 Sentry (a narrow body turboprop).
Think: replace that trans pacific LAX-SYD route flown by a 787 with a Dash-8 turbo prop.
> pant on head retarded

>>63912483 (OP)
Anything and everything? Attack helis, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, UAVs, etc. Fucking everything does what it does better.

>>63912593
Prop planes are more efficient. Loiter time is paramount to mission success.

>>63912581
It's more SDB-IIs than the A-10 can carry mavericks you retard.

>>63912638
Range
E-2 Sentry range: 1,682 mi
E-3 range: 4,600 mi
E-7 range: 4,000 mi
Even more important, number of operators on board
> E-3: 14 consoles
> E-7: 10 consoles, space for 2 more
> E-2: 3 (1 combat information center officer, 1 air control officer, 1 radar operator)

>>63912587
Didn't the US Army have one of those Osprey adjacent gunship program in the pipeline

>>63912670
More cooks in the kitchen isn't a recipe for success.

The Strike Eagle already replaced it.

>>63912569
>all stealth is defeated by proximity
The rule of cool trumps all else

>>63912534
Get this: they're still retiring the E-3s. Their plan is to replace the whole lot with fucking E-2s.

>>63912754
It is when you're trying to disseminate tactical data to god knows how many pilots at once.

What's the QTD on E-7 canceling?
A-10s makes sense post drone and AA missile. Unless it can find an effective defensive capability that other jets can't do.

>>63912811
QRD

>>63912811
The QRD is that Hegseth thinks
>plane bad, satelites good. >>63912812

>>63912876
Sounds about as retarded as when Khrushev decided to shitcan all ground artillery thinking missiles BTFOs it at every front

>>63912744
>Osprey gunship
Christ was killing marines not enough?

>>63913057
It wasn't exactly Osprey but a tilt rotor aircraft platform for attack and transport. Probably by the same company

>>63912483 (OP)
>so what will replace the A-10?
Ok, so I have TWO ideas for this concept.
The first is the AA1010 Wartwarthoghog, it will have four engines, two guns, and two pilots. Not as many missiles, but that's ok, since they have two cannons!

My second idea is the B20 Gigahog, which is the A10 Warthog but as 2x scale. That's it, with a 74mm GAU-16 cannon and all.
We WILL need to genetically engineer a gigantic pilot though to fly the plane, so I feel that it's the less feasible alternative.

>>63912520
Anything that can carry APKWS, which is superior to BRRRRRRT.

>>63915895
I see your idea but I suggest we toss it over to the Germans and see what they can do

>>63915980
COOOOOBRAAAAAAA!

>>63912483 (OP)

>>63912483 (OP)
>>63912520
>>63912587

I don't get it

>Air Force doesn't want a CAS-exclusive aircraft
>Army wants a CAS-exclusive aircraft
>Air Force also doesn't want the Army operating any fixed wing like the Marines do

Why not develop a UCAV that takes the armaments of the A-10 and installs them on a lighter fixed-wing drone that's designed to operate from temporary runways, and hand CAS responsibilities off to the Army?

>>63912491
You've heard of the aerial gavin
well now you're going to find out that the A, in AR, stands for Aircraft

>brought to you by the south park movie trailer narrator voice

>>63916009
The Air Force doesn't want a CAS-exclusive craft because it's less budget effective and the proliferation of MANPADS and other air defense systems alongside PGMs have moved CAS tactics towards the operational norms of other craft. You can look up CAS sortie rates by aircraft type, the majority was carried out by multiroles and a not insignificant percentage was carried out by strategic bombers. The USAF doesn't want the Army flying fixed-wing because it'd mean having to compete with the Army for personnel and funding, something it already has to do with the Navy and Marines.

The A-10 can't survive in anywhere but the most permissive airspace, at which point you may as well just use a hellfire-armed drone.

>>63915980
I like that Uhu thing. Have an F-35Z

>>63916009
The A-10's relevant weapons are all kinds of guided bombs and ATGMs, the gun is a meme.

If you absolutely have to have a big-ass gun, get a single barrel 30mm or 35mm from Rheinmetall.

>>63913057
The bird hungers...

>>63912483 (OP)
Ah, the fully retired niche (immediately obsolete) capacity of the A-10, introduced 1977.

Reminder that all of NAVAIR is working of a shitty design introduced 9 months later. And the USAF moans about their cuck sled getting retired. While we are in peak naval threat for the last 90 years. Neat

Could the Ukies use them for Shaheed hunting, or not worth the logistics?

>>63916128
Do you want to hunt air targets in something without a radar?

>>63916148
You add a targeting pod with a UAV detecting radar.

>>63916128
They probably couldn’t afford them.
>But we could just GIVE
No. I’d rather see them in museums than that. Fuck ‘em.

>>63912524
>>63912486
Brainlet opinions.
The fact is A-10 had a role and it's not served by any other aircraft, which is why the A-10 existed in the first place.
>BUT F-16!
Did not replace the A-10.
>BUT F-35!
If the F-15E didn't replace the A-10, why would the F-35?
>F-15
See previous.
>drones
Name any drones that can be anti-ground missile trucks.
>gunships
Helicopters didn't replace the A-10 either, and in fact predate the A-10.
>BUT A-10'S CAN'T OPERATE ANYMORE, AA IS TOO GOOD!
Uh huh, tell that to Iran and Russia right now.
The A-10 is an aging platform but the solution is not to force square pegs in round holes but instead just make an A-10 2.0 of some variety.

>>63916175
I just remembered 'gunship' has two meanings.
But funnily enough, that doesn't matter, because Spooky's were around before 1972 as well so the exact same point applies.

>>63916175
>The fact is A-10 had a role
>had
>the past tense of the word has
>doesn't see why this might be relevant
>calls other people brainlets

Low and slow is no longer required to be accurate with A2G munitions, and instead puts you at an unacceptable risk. Iran getting hit with precision strikes that hit select fucking apartments inside a building by Jew jets demonstrates this all too well, and I'm so fucking tired of contrarians acting as though things that were cool are good instead of letting them retire in peace.

>>63912530
>is the era of specialized CAS fixed wing coming to an end
If it weren't for the US fighting a 20 year long war against goat farmers and their children, the A-10 would be remembered as an obscure cold war curiosity. If the US had never retired the skyraider, GWOT veterans and retarded congressmen would swear by piston engine weapons platforms

>>63916209
Roles in military don't go away, dumbshit. Weapons can be obsolete but roles never change.
>BUT WHAT ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE CAVALRY
We have cavalry. Technology just invented new kinds. The role never left.

>>63916225
And you're the retard arguing that we should still be fielding armored dudes on horses instead of spending the money on tanks. The A-10 is an obsolete weapon platform.

CAS is now a role that can be handled by multi-role, notice it's in the name, aircraft because technology has evolved past requiring someone to try and put cannon rounds into dudes on the ground, which funnily enough was largely still done by F-16s and then retarded grunts not much dumber then yourself called them A-10s cause dey got da guns.

>>63912593

Surveillance is moving to Elon's satellite constellations. Forward battle management -- going away? Hope the links to the puppet masters back in the States stay up.

>>63916232
>And you're the retard arguing that we should still be fielding armored dudes on horses instead of spending the money on tanks
Except I'm not. You're arguing that an entire tactic is obsolete because "just throw a long range missile at them". Which was a strategy tried by Russia in the recent Ukraine war, and it didn't work out too good.
>THROW DRONES AT THEM!
Tried by Russia and Iran. Didn't work out too good.
>CAS is now a role that can be handled by multi-role, notice it's in the name
We've had mutliroles since WW2, arguably since WW1. This is the "BUT WHAT ABOUT HELICOPTERS AND GUNSHIPS" argument. The fact that missiles can be flung from long range changes nothing, and in fact has been proven to be ineffective time and time again. The enemy moves out of the way.

>>63916009

There are a set of agreements between the Army and Air Force when the USAAF became an independent branch. One of which was no Army fixed wing manned ground attack aircraft. That's why the Army flies whirlybirds and there's always a battle in DC when COIN puddle jumpers come up.

>>63916243
> You're arguing that an entire tactic is obsolete
is he? to me it seems like he's arguing that there's no reason to keep the A-10 around since multirole jets and drones do it's role better/safer

>>63916243
>because "just throw a long range missile at them"
>retard arguing for A-10s doesn't even know what a fucking SDB is

Cool. I'm done preaching to the willfully ignorant.

>>63916175
>why would the F-35?
F-35A is the intended successor

advances in bomb design and precision mean that the SDB is actually more precise than the rotary cannon on the A-10
small enough to hit a point target, and it can internally carry 8 of them
it does still have a cannon for buzzing infantry if its needed, its just a distant priority now that it can adequately provide CAS

the A-10 has also not been capable of hunting tanks with its cannon since the 70s, it was only given a low-possibility of M-killing a T-64 even from the side and a non-existent chance from the front, K-killing was unlikely from any angle except from the side and flying so low you were in danger of hitting dirt
most of its tank kills in the gulf war came from its maverick missiles and the F-35 has another big advantage since it can carry more missiles than the A-10

and the elephant in the room, stealth
the F-35 is stealthier than the A-10 even with external weapon pylons fully filled up
the F-35 is just less likely to be spotted in the first place
the A-10s counter-measures were designed around 23mm cannons not SAMs, F-35 stealth matters more than the A-10s durability against such threats

>>63916243
What weapon do you think is unique to the A-10, you fucking retard? The A-10 got all of it's kills during Desert Storm with fucking Mavericks, not it's gun, and then had to be pulled back from any airspace that was defended and it's jobs passed to F-15 and F-16s who weren't suffering unsustainable losses.

Ah, what could have been...

>>63916259
>the A-10 has also not been capable of hunting tanks with its cannon since the 70s, it was only given a low-possibility of M-killing a T-64 even from the side and a non-existent chance from the front, K-killing was unlikely from any angle
Finally, someone else who's read the book

>>63912587
Maybe this time they'll actually get them? The fact drones are proliferating actually makes a platform that can eat a hundred of them a sortie with gunfire more viable than it would be two decades ago.

>>63916260

> The aircraft was used in subsequent operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Operation Deliberate Force and later in Operation Allied Force; and it has seen deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. While the A-10 could be equipped with a variety of rockets, missiles and bombs, a lot of the destruction was wrought from the aircraft’s rotary cannon.

>>63913057
cherry picking

>>63912530
The A-10 was shit even when it was developed and only exists because of a clique of retards that think missile bad, gun good
That it ended up scoring most of its tanks kills with missiles instead of the big meme gun just makes it funnier

>>63916398

> I'm only going to count MBT kills because that's how autism works. Please be patient with me.

>>63912483 (OP)
Nothing, because that big juicy convoy is always going to exist on the battlespace. Doing exactly what an attack helicopter would do from longer distance, quicker and with more capability. Relentless gun runs after expending all ordnance.

>>63916225
>Roles in military don't go away
Dying to a MANPAD the moment your fat ass shows up is not a role, also your ass is expensive.
Just lob a guided cluster munition with whatever airworthy frame you have and it'll be 10 times more effective than the A-10s

>>63916444
>You can't just count tank kills for a plane that's been built to kill tanks
Should we count friendly kills instead?

The reason the A-10 is beloved is the GAU/8
It is a huge morale booster for the troops on the ground when it is used despite the numerous cases of friendly fire.
Never underestimate its ability to cause brown pants where it goes.

If troops were to get a vehicle or platform that carried said weapon and supported them they'd be more willing to see the A-10 go.

>>63916706
Yeah, getting torn to bits by friendly depleted uranium shells fired from the most inaccurate gun every put on a plane is a giant boost to morale

>>63912483 (OP)
A-10A2, we made the barrels smoothbore for APFSDS and canister (ie, embiggened ratshot). Also the cockpit is so heavily tinted now the pilots can't even fly it

>>63916223
>If the US had never retired the skyraider
I mean yeah, that was a mistake too!

>>63916706

>>63916128
>he still thinks the US will sell Ukraine any equipment

>>63912534
Boeing isn't freaking out so they probably expect congress to force them through

>>63916807
Boeing isn't freaking out cause they got the 6th gen order.

>>63912754
The extra bodies aren't cooks, they're more like waiters who find the dishes and serve them up.

>>63912876
>Hegseth
It can't just be him pushing this shit. He's not smart or broadly educated enough to have his own strong opinions on something he's not frequently exposed to information and strong opinions about, like different means of airborne battle management. I find it pretty hard to believe it's not that cringelord fake video gamer.

>>63916259
>Zero mention of value of dedicated CAS tactics SMEs or cross training
>Zero mention of battlefield awareness and visibility
The A10 is a piece of shit in AD2025, but the concept of having no dedicated CAS or ground attack aircraft, pilots or organisations and instead using strike fighters and strike bombers for CAS is a really bad one for a lot of well understood reasons. The real reason, unspoken but which everyone knows, is that the Air Force is run by ex-fighter pilots who look down on anything that isn't a fighter jet and want the air force to be all fighter jets (but no one else is allowed to touch fixed wing if they get their say).

>>63912876
>Hegseth thinks
proofs???

>>63916879
>for a lot of well understood reasons
>doesn't list them
>unsubstantiated claims about how it's all muh conspiracy by fighter pilots
are you going to make an argument or are you just going to make shit up?

>>63916869
He gets his ideas from shitposts on /k/

2012 called it wants its retarded faggot reddit thread back

>>63916869
You don't need to be smart or educated to have strong opinions on things.

>>63916888
He does have a semi point mister trips in that the last time they tried to retire the A-10 it was a bunch of fighter jocks claiming F-35 could do shit it really couldn't to a bunch of fags including Senators who had flown ground attack aircraft during Vietnam.

>>63912483 (OP)
F-15EX, probably

>>63916444
>I'm only going to count MBT kills
20mm is perfectly sufficient for BMPs and BTRs, so the only reason you'd want a 30mm is for killing MBTs. If the 30mm can't even kill MBTs then what's the point of having it over the 20mm?

>>63916935
>20mm is perfectly sufficient for BMPs and BTRs
20mm HE sure isn't. That's what all jets use, since their guns are meant for killing other jets, or infantry.

>>63916259
>most of its tank kills in the gulf war came from its maverick missiles
And even then the F-111 ate the A-10's lunch.

>>63916737
Also ain't a morale booster for the pilots

>>63916879
>using strike fighters and strike bombers for CAS is a really bad one
No it isn't

>>63916905
Wrong
It was the whole USAF saying F35s are what we need now for battlefield CAS because strafing runs are not survivable in any other than insurgent warfare and A10s are useless for anything else
A10fags then flooded the airwaves with propaganda about how infantry in GWOT love the BRRRT (which is irrelevant to the above scenario) and stealth isn't real
This persuaded Congressmen to keep the A10 because they are spineless and are only out to get votes so they can continue sucking the government teat

>>63916957
>That's what all jets use
What is this, the Cold War?
The F35 uses 25mm
The Eurofighter uses 27mm
The Rafale uses 30mm
The J10 uses 23mm
The Su35 uses 30mm

Which definition of "all jets" did you mean?

>>63916888
>unsubstantiated claims about how it's all muh conspiracy by fighter pilots
Gee, I wonder what kind of person could be behind this very sincere post that doesn't insult the intelligence of anyone reading it? Absolutely not going to waste my time conversing with you, because despite making up only 5.3% of the Air Force officer population, fighter pilots....

>>63916997
>Which definition of "all jets" did you mean?
I said HE, which was the salient part of the point being made. Thanks for the list of different calibers, though. That's pretty cool.

>>63916997
>No it isn't
Yes it is. Have you ever tried to talk a fighter or bomber pilot larping as someone competent at CAS onto a target during a tic? It is literally impossible to describe to a retard like you the difference in displayed competence and evident interest between people whose job is to be good at CAS (Army attack aviation, A10 pilots, Special Operations Wings) and people who have 10 other roles they care about, spend far more time training in and will go on as staff officers to devote procurement, research and training resources towards than CAS (ie fighter and strat bomber pilots).

The Army never gave a shit about keeping the A10 in service because of the airframe, it was because of the expertise. The Air Force has never wanted to do tactical CAS and has never given a shit about being good at it. That's why they haven't spent a nickle on R&D for CAS weapons or airframes in more than 50 years, while spending trillions with a t on air superiority and strike weapons and airframes in the same period. Of course there's no viable technological solutions to persistent and low loitering CAS from the air force to replace the A10, despite flying fucking drones existing for decades now - they're determined not to find one.

What a fucking joke of a post. The anti-A10 posting has jumped the shark all the way to outright parroting of air force dogma of CAS being a mission not a specialisation.

>>63917070
*conventional CAS weapons and airframes
Obviously special people had the pull to force very modest AC130 investment during GWOT.

>>63917079
>AC130 for modern battlefield CAS

>>63917082
Yes, I'm saying that it's not, but that SF did get some money spent on it (the only air force money spent on CAS R&D in the last 50 odd years).

Anyway, thanks for that insightful pearl of wisdom. Now shut your fucking cock holster.

>>63917090
>the only air force money spent on CAS R&D in the last 50 odd years
>what is Maverick
>what is SDB
suck start a GAU-8, nigger

Its a jet that shits out missiles. I know people like the BRRRRRRRR but 99% of its job is be a missile truck. Id like to see an unmanned CAS drone replace it.

If the army were needing something with relative long loiter, reasonable payload and lots of guns why didn't they demand something along the lines of pic related?

>>63916243
Holy shit you might be the most retarded person on this board. You can barely read the post you're replying to and you expect people to take this shit seriously?
>Drones didn't work for Russia and Iran
And curiously they've worked for Ukraine and Mossad famously well. That's not even how poisoning the well works, you colossal fucking faggot. I'm not even entirely sure you have a conception of what a missile is from reading this post.
>The enemy moves out of the way
If you aren't retarded you're underage.

>>63917070
Nice LARP retard. Care to explain how they got the feature set on the left integrated in F-35 for less than a nickel?

>>63917106
Get out of here you lying worm. Neither of those fit the bill. The US airforce has introduced dozens of new cruise missiles, glide bombs and air to air missiles in those 50 years, but not one air to surface anti-armor missile or weapon primarily intended for, even well suited to, CAS. Meanwhile the Navy and Army have done multiple upgrade programs to Hellfire, Maverick and FFARs, plus new CAS weapons like DAGR, APKWS and JAGM. The. Airforce. Doesn't. Care. About. CAS. And. They. Don't. Want. To. Do. It.
>what is Maverick
From 1972 (53 years ago). The more modern versions were Navy projects.
>what is SDB
A semi-standoff general purpose glide bomb intended and designed to be used as a strike weapon from well beyond the range where the aircraft or pilot could see the target area, to, for example, ensure that the weapon was aimed at enemy positions on friendly ones. Basically no ability to independently engage moving targets or armor. A strike weapon: not a CAS weapon. Stormbreaker can at least engage armor, but it's still a standoff weapon intended for interdiction and strike, not close support to troops in contact

>>63917186
>Care to explain how they got the feature set on the left integrated in F-35 for less than a nickel?
By getting the fucking Navy and Marines to pay for it while they daydreamed about BFM or someshit, you mouthbreathing cretin.

>>63916009
>Army wants a CAS-exclusive aircraft
The Army can eat shit

>>63917196
>CAS means you have to see the target area
>In the digital age
You're literally Spreyposting but for air to ground. Shut the fuck up. By your logic artillery is incapable of the close support it has been providing for decades with, sit down for this one, modern munitions and info tech.

>>63917201
>Nothing to say
I accept your concession, faggot. Stay silent about shit you don't know.

>>63917196
Oh yes, the A-10 is quite famous for being able to discern friend from foe at visual distance. Maybe you should actually read a book about this kind of stuff before ranting on /k/ about it?

>>63917162
Because they can't demand anything of the airforce, who can simply continue to ignore them any time they try to bring up shit that ex-fast jet pilots don't generally care about, like being able to see a firefight and understand who is where in it and where/when would actually be useful to attack before you release ordnance on it and zoom away back to the driver who will take you to the hotel where you're staying.

>>63917196
>The US airforce has introduced dozens of new cruise missiles, glide bombs and air to air missiles
because that's literally their primary role. who the fuck else is going to do deep strike? the fucking Army?
>The more modern versions were Navy projects
the Maverick D and related descendants were USAF projects you lying scumbag
>still a standoff weapon intended for interdiction and strike, not close support to troops in contact
I've seen more honest niggers

>>63917217
oh I know what this is
take your meds, helmettard

>>63917186
the disingenuous faggot will claim that all dual-use weapons are "strike" and not "CAS" despite those weapons being used often for CAS in the past e.g. JDAMs

>>63917203
>By your logic artillery is incapable of the close support it has been providing for decades with, sit down for this one, modern munitions and info tech.
You are very deep in the dunning kruger when it comes to offensive fire support. Do you have any fucking idea how artillery provides that close support? An observer adjusts the fire onto the target. A JTAC can't do that for fast air because they don't carry the ordnance to reengage indefinitely until they're on, and don't release from identical positions and directions each time.
>>63917209
Why are you introducing things that A10s did during interdiction missions thirty-five years ago into a conversation about close support missions supporting troops in contact who have radios that can talk to them?

>>63917239
>Why are you introducing things that A10s did during interdiction missions thirty-five years
>t. guy who thinks fast air CAS is stuck using technologies thirty-five years ago

>>63917239
>they don't carry the ordnance to reengage indefinitely until they're on
honey, there's this brand new thing called "precision guided munitions", look it up

>>63917239
Sounds like your retarded definition of what is and isn't CAS is falling apart on contact with reality. Kill yourself already.

>>63917248
80 years. 80 years since 1945. He thinks direct eyesight and low&slow are real.

>>63917267
Real CAS does manly strafing runs like it's still WW2, none of that pussy ass guided ammunition shit

>>63917286
yep
if a JTAC doesn't have to walk the shells on target, it's not CAS

>>63917217
Just toss some smoke and point a laser, let the wso figure out the rest!

>>63917261
>Sounds like your retarded definition of what is and isn't CAS is falling apart on contact with reality. Kill yourself already.
Roaming around forward of what you think is the FEBA looking for armor to kill on sight isn't CAS by any definition you dumb triple nigger.
>>63917248
>no, don't call out my obvious sleight of hand, even though it never happened in 20 years of GWOT since people had radios that could talk to A10s there
>>63917236
>because that's literally their primary role. who the fuck else is going to do deep strike? the fucking Army?
First, the navy, who has always done it better anyway. Second, if their primary role is deep strike, not operating fixed wing aircraft across the full spectrum of operations that support America's national interest and the former precludes the latter, then give fixed wing aviation in support of troops the fuck back to the Army instead of hoarding it.
>The more modern versions were Navy projects
>the Maverick D and related descendants were USAF projects you lying scumbag
C and E were USMC
F L were USN
D is USAF and you were right, but it's from 1983 so that's nearly 45 years ago so baarely nudge the number
G (89) is just the USAF designation for a franken E F
>>63917261
>Sounds like your retarded definition of what is and isn't CAS is falling apart on contact with reality. Kill yourself already.
Roaming around forward of what you think is the FEBA looking for armor to kill on sight isn't CAS by any definition you dumb triple nigger.
>>63917248
>no, don't call out my obvious sleight of hand, even though it never happened in 20 years of GWOT since people had radios that could talk to A10s there

>>63917255
Precision guidance doesn't mean shit if you don't understand the firefight and thus where to precisely put the bomb, you dumb zoomer.
>>63917236
>because that's literally their primary role. who the fuck else is going to do deep strike? the fucking Army?
First, the navy, who has always done it better anyway. Second, if their primary role is deep strike, not operating fixed wing aircraft across the full spectrum of operations that support America's national interest and the former precludes the latter, then give fixed wing aviation in support of troops the fuck back to the Army instead of hoarding it.
>The more modern versions were Navy projects
>the Maverick D and related descendants were USAF projects you lying scumbag
C and E were USMC
F G L were USN
D is USAF and you were right, but it's from 1983 so that's nearly 45 years ago so baarely nudge the number
G (89) is just the USAF designation for a franken E F that they didn't pay a cent to develop
H and K were industry developed and the air force repeatedly tried to kill it by defunding it. The funding to keep it alive came from the Navy and the project only ever ended up happening anyway through, I shit you not, a fucking recycling program that Raytheon begged Congress to make happen.
The USAF underfunded even maintenance of their Maverick fleet so fucking badly that they ran out of working Mavericks when they started GWOT and got forced for the nteenth fucking time to remember that CAS is part of their job as long as they keep hoarding fixed wing.

Anyway I'm done arguing with historylet wannabe fast air fuckers. I won't die in contact next war because of your fantasies about being able to do CAS without seeing the firefight or being in range to raise any of the soldiers on a radio, because I'm too old, so whatever. Enjoy being hopelessly wrong.

>>63917303
>>63917267
>CAS is when I release weapons from so far away that the JTAC and I can't talk on a radio
>CAS is when I try to interdict armor forward of the FEBA
>The further behind or in front of where the fighting is when I blindly release weapons into a situation I don't properly understand, the more CAS it is
>>63917317
If only F35s had a WSO so it was at least someone's job to pretend they were integrating with the ground situation, assuming anyone was ever going to actually enter comms range or check in on a radio anyway.

>>63916690
>>63916398
The M72 LAW was for killing tanks but pretty quickly became obsolete for that purpose, yet it stayed in service and it's well liked anyway.

>>63917412
>>63917443
>September 4, 2006: During a dawn mission, an A-10 supporting Charles Company, 1st Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment accidentally strafed a group of Canadian soldiers huddled around a garbage fire. Canadian Private Mark Anthony Graham, a former Olympian turned soldier, died instantly.
you're retarded, there were multiple other close calls after the blues and royals incident as well.
>b-but muh radios
you're legitimately retarded and spreyposting.

>>63912483 (OP)
F-35 was going to replace everything. It's likely to play out like the space shuttle in reality. Supposed to be cheap and able to do everything, turned out to be extremely expensive and barely capable of getting to low earth orbit after months of scrubbing.

>>63917552
1000+ Spreytard

>>63917524
>yet it stayed in service and it's well liked
mainly as an ersatz bunker-buster

>>63912593
>E-3 AWACS (a wide body jet)
707s are narrow body. Narrow vs Wide body refers to the width of the fuselage, with Wide having two aisles vs one for narrow.

>>63917576
Yes, turns out there's still a lot of other applications for an easy to use and lightweight explosive with long range.
Similarly, a big flying machinecannon had quite a lot of other uses still even if it was starting to not be really enough for all tank armor.

>>63917533
>spreyposting
Amazing that there are any of them left at this point

On account of their senior leaderships' retardation alone, usaf needs to be broken up and absorbed by the army

>>63917209
it's 2025 retard women aren't flying a10s no more

>>63916175
Why do you need a drone that is an antiground missile truck when you can have a truck of antiground missile drones.

>>63916175
A-10's role is seal clubbing T-72 spam with missiles, it can be easily replaced especially now that those T-72s are wrecks in Ukraine.

>>63912491

>>63917599
>a big flying machinecannon had quite a lot of other uses still even if it was starting to not be really enough for all tank armor
the problem is that the A-10 takes up space from survivable strike assets
as I've said before, there's nothing wrong with keeping say 50 to even 100 airframes (the size of smaller entire air forces) dedicated to counter-insurgency in lower-threat environments
fold in the AC-130s into the COIN air wing as well
but there's no reason to keep 200 A-10s which totally have no place at the front line of any modern battlefield no matter what mission they're doing

It's crazy how some people still think the A10 should be kept around. The money used for them is better spent on other things.

>>63917707
It's unironically the power of memes, people that have no fucking idea about modern planes just hear the hecking BRRRRRRRRRT and think its so awesome that the A-10 should be kept around

>>63917682
>fold in the AC-130s into the COIN air wing as well

They're old, expensive, and don't have the modern electronics, so they're being replaced by literal armed cropdusters which do it cheaper while being easier to operate out of random fucking airfields in the middle of nowhere because they're both equally survivable in the face of any AA threat, read: not at all.

>>63912483 (OP)
AT-6 Wolverine and A-29 Super Tucano. Also Spec Ops will use OA-1Ks as well.

>Why multiple types?
No clue, personally, we should have just stuck with A-29s, in my opinion, but the USAF wants AT-6s instead because they have more spares for them, as opposed to a relatively small fleet of A-29s which might just silently be retired pretty soon. Also the gov repeatedly told Spec Ops not to order OA-1Ks or to order very few of them, but leadership doesn't give two shits of a fuck and they are ordering something like 70 of them anyway.

The A-10 is long in the tooth and is due to be retired, just like the original F-15s and F-14s (which were long overdue for retirement by 2006). Every aircraft has a date of expiry for when they are useful and the time has come for the A-10.

>>63918178
Fantastic shot of the Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake.

>>63912543
How's China gonna protect their radars & EW transmitters though? They need those to see what's coming and they're both massive beacons for targeting. If you're gonna say switch the gear on and off or switch freq, that stuff doesn't work against even the most rudimentary AI.

>>63912530
To be fair, the A-10 was already marginal at its mission in the 80s. The USAF probably would have been better sticking with the A-7

>>63916706
I would bet most average grunts on the ground can't tell the difference between fire from the GAU8 and a M61 if there was a way to make a blind test.
All they want to see is lots of dust and smoke kicked up that makes *Insert relevant middle east country* Ahmed with his rusty old AK stop shooting at them for a minute.

>>63912483 (OP)
resurrected F-111

>>63918250
The CCP are touting an aircraft called the CIOMP, which is an unmanned airship that flies at 60,000 feet and can detect F-22s and F-35s from miles away.

I call their claims bullshit as there are no pictures of this CIOMP airship.

>>63917070
>The Air Force has never wanted to do tactical CAS and has never given a shit about being good at it.
Because it's a fundamentally less important mission that you should prioritize less than air interdiction.

It's the same cult of the Sturmovik that eventually the VVS realized they needed to stop listening to groundpounders about the feelz of seeing aircraft circling overhead - where they were more vulnerable to AAA, friendly fire, and German fighter sweeps.

>>63917443
>Precision guidance doesn't mean shit if you don't understand the firefight and thus where to precisely put the bomb, you dumb zoomer.
So, in your infinitely retarded scenario, what exactly do you think the JTAC's job is?

>>63918280
What's even funnier is soon you're not even going to need a JTAC to do that, the a big selling point of the Army's new scope is that it can put a GPS pin into the battlespace management system with the press of a button which means Gomer Pyle can designate a stationary target and his squad leadership can forward it up an automated kill chain until it gets delegated to either artillery or air power.

>>63917070
The answer to this is to have specialized squadrons that have a focus on certain mission types (CAS, SEAD, etc.) despite using a common airframe. With enough cross-training, of course, that other squadrons can muddle through it (this is where automation can help).

>>63917412
By your logic, the Army shouldn't have ATACMS/PRSM or maybe even GMLRS-ER.

>>63918277
Detecting when F22s and F35 take off is trivial, they can have passive sensors near assumed areas to detect that. An airship that can follow that detection with actual radar targeting is very scifi, but not breaking laws of physics.
Thing is that, airship would be a massive target and the first thing to go down.

>>63912483 (OP)
Drones + jets/rockets/arty

>>63912811
The increasing range of air to air missiles rendering such platforms more vulnerable.

>>63916175
You can use spotter drones to identify and designate targets and have any old precision fire blow them away. The Russians learmed to do this in the mid 2010s. No reason to have a combination sensor & weapons platform crewed by an expensive trained jet pilot circling around w8ing to be shot.

>>63918280
>the JTAC's job is
to talk the aircraft into strafing runs, because he doesn't believe that imaging equipment such as >>63918178 exists to detect enemy tanks with, or that SDB2s can blow up a platoon of tanks in a single pass or that a flight of F-35s can even automatically coordinate their salvoes so that each SDB from each fighter is allocated to a separate tank so no tank is accidentally struck twice by different aircraft

>>63916175
>Name any drones that can be anti-ground missile trucks.
https://baykartech.com/en/uav/bayraktar-akinci
pls buy

>>63918528
>Turkshit
These things have yet to prove themselves in combat and Turkey keeps losing TB2s and the like in exercises. Not even the Anka-3 Stealth UAV is safe (one of the prototypes crashed during an exercise last week, though the government refuses to acknowledge such). They might eventually be proven to be very good eventually, but for now, I have my doubts.
>>63918409
Just the controllable airship at 60,000 feet part seems very BS to me. I would believe it if it was a weather balloon or something of that nature. Otherwise, yeah, I agree with you.

The Chinese state that it can avoid heat-seeking missiles because the lifting gas is at 4 C at operating altitude, which again, I find fairly believable.

>>63912483 (OP)
Controversial Opinion: Keep them in service as AI drones.

>>63912520
A-10's are only useful against insurgents with no AA. There's a reason it was pulled from front line service during the gulf war, it's shit.

>>63912593
doesn't america has spookdrones with radars like RQ-180 or global hawk?

imagine a globalhawk with a radar array on each side. one side scans, the other side datalinks.

>>63918626
Why not just send an AWAKs drone into the stratosphere? Only a couple nations could ever shoot it down so you'd know who relatively quickly.

>>63918552
Air balloons have to be controlled from ground, which kinda limits how well they can do this AWACS task

>>63918626
drones are best for missions where you don't want to lose crews
powerful radar arrays are incredibly fucking expensive
most people would be more comfortable knowing that if the drone control system is fucked for whatever reason, there are pilots onboard to take control of this incredibly fucking expensive flying radar

so... it's been proposed, but not taken up *yet*

>>63918714
>powerful radar arrays
Do you know how these systems work?

>>63918576

> There's a reason it was pulled from front line service during the gulf war

From Feb 25-28 there was a sandstorm along the whole front. That's why M2's got so many TOW kills, even the helicopters were grounded.

>>63918670
Yeah, but this is supposed to be remotely piloted and somehow able to push through the winds at high altitude.

>>63918725
I know it's not your basic bitch fucking AN/APG-81
on the fucking thing

>>63916338
>while anon could be equiped with any knowledge he wants most of the time he spends sucking cock and spreyposting with fanfics.

>>63916338
>wrought from
yikes

>>63918757

Again, a very nice idea to control the airspace, but why wouldn't these would be massively easy 1st targets to destroy? Is that their only task, to be the canary in the coalmine type of system?

>>63916223
I find it hard to believe there isn't at least one Ukrainian pilot who'd love to fly down a tree line in an A-10 with guns blazing. :^)

>>63918753
Incredible cope. Were they grounded just for that period? Were they grounded more or less than the other aircrafts?

>>63918827
Don't ask me, just seems retarded.

>>63918895
It's not dumb if you can saturate the airspace with these signal repeaters, as in float actual weatherballoons that can signal the drones to hit their targets. We've seen these weapons before.

>>63918939
I mean, yeah, but it is just a pure AEW platform that relays this to command, rather than directly to UAVs.

>>63918962
End result is not the only thing that matters. Performance of very low cost effort to deliver both materiel and moral damage to Tu95s and Tu160s had to hurt. Those two A50 awacs though? Chefs kiss.

>>63917509
>If only F35s had a WSO so it was at least someone's job to pretend they were integrating with the ground situation
Oh we're again pretending that CAS doctrine doesn't require the JTAC to handhold the pilot the entire time because not even A-10 drivers are trusted not to be fucking retards and misidentify friendlies as foes.
Adding an extra man in the loop is not gonna resolve anything.

>>63912876
more importantly: satellites = yuge contracts for his buddies in the admin

also behold the future of CAS, you may not like it, but this is what peak perfomance looks like

>>63912483 (OP)
the more important question is since it's not even supersonic, can we buy them as surplus?

>>63912483 (OP)
multirole fighters with standoff weapons

>>63915895
I had a bad day, you made me laugh, now I'm feeling fine.
There is a place in heaven for you

>>63912530
Good. The A-10 had only stuck around because our recent enemies don’t have AA.

>>63918857
No one wants do that because it’s suicide

>>63916175
A10 couldn't even out perform the fucking F-111 in Iraq which was largely uncontested airspace. Shit optics, meme weapon better at splashing friendlies then the enemy, and shit payload. Dude but BRRRRRRTT.

>>63916243
>slavs are bad at war so their weapons aren’t worth shit
*Yawn*

>>63919247
LM and Boeing a lot of money on that.

>>63912483 (OP)
The oddities of the A-10 make a lot of sense when you start thinking of it as the ultimate Vietnam ground-attack plane, designed in response to the traumatic losses when fighters or even interceptors were pressed into service for ground attack missions and shot down by AA or even basic AAA.
So the question becomes will we ever have to deal with another Vietnam?

>>63919217
None of our future enemies will have any AA that matters either, unless the military is split in a civil war.

>>63916243
>We've had mutliroles since WW2
Yes, as it turns out, the best CAS platform is often last year's fighter over a shitbox like an A-10 or Il-2

>>63916232
>is now
it was in the 70s, even. May have been more competitive if GAU-8 R&D hadn't delayed its introduction.

>>63916088
2 kinds of CAS... the gun is for groups of IFV/APC combos and jeeps and basically not tanks and not infantry. The bombs and missiles do that and fortifications too. You use the gun per case to spread the ability to drop anything at all.

>>63918626
Why not use a large drone net for AWAKS duty? They could all range ping like a hivemind.

>>63918250
Doesnt work againt HARM either. That nigga remembers where you wuz.

>>63918566
Why?

>>63916174
A-10 was built to kill Russians. Someone else doing the fighting is a bargain.

>>63916175
>>BUT F-16!
>Did not replace the A-10.

It certainly can do those missions and has for years, but the Air Force was forced to keep A-10 which hasn't a unique role other than where it never fought, in Europe killing Commies in the Fulda Gap for which it's long obsolete.

What do you people imagine unique about A-10s? They were flak and SAM bait even in Desert Storm where I worked on F-16s next door at KKMC. Manned aircraft require CSAR which is a major disadvantage as losses to simple SHORAD in Southeast Asia demonstrated. Being a slow flak sponge is fine against disarmed opponents but drones are better against them, too.

Humans tire and need to shit while drone loiter time is vastly longer.

>>63916755
Negative, Skyraider was worn out before it was retired and is inferior to A-10 in all respects. The twin high-mounted engines and redundant flight controls are major upgrades as is the A-10 design for easy cannibalization which is vital to buffer Supply during extended operations.

>>63919117
Make this VTOL, so it can hover over a village at treetop level and gun people down as they flee like its the future war scenes from the Terminator series.
>why?
Because its fucking cool and it makes my dick hard.

>>63912483 (OP)
Just need to slap a tail gunner on it so it can brrrt both coming and going.

>>63916957
Ordinary Soviet rifle grenades destroy those roof plates.

>>63916957
HE isn't what all USAF F-16s use. SAPHEI replaced HEI long ago,

>>63917162
Because Bronco is not more than a very good COIN/FAC bird and that job can be done by drones which have longer loiter times and do not put aircrew at risk thus don't require extremely dangerous CSAR operations (which risk many other Airmen to rescue downed aircrew). The bloody disaster depicted in Bat 21 was far from the only loss in Southeast Asia CSAR against primitive enemy systems.

They were fun to work on and did yeoman service in USAFE as their main FAC (thanks to all the radios including FM relay capability for ground troops) but those functions no longer need a shitload of heavy comm/nav equipment.

>>63918158
The cropdusters are not replacing A-10. They're special ops toys for pooting about in Africa etc.

>>63918257
>The USAF probably would have been better sticking with the A-7

Those were quite worn out and many had structural cracks, the bane of old airframes. Not bad to work on though. I got to assault a junk SLUF in AMARC with a pick axe for ABDR class then do expedient repair of the damage.

>>63912811
The A-10 makes sense because they can't just keep flying them without building entirely new productions. It's also been generally nothing but an AT and short range AA missile hauler for the better part of 50 years. With limited capacity, limited range, limited defence.
F-35 can and should replace the warthog and is.
Why do you think they want what, 1100 of the things. F-16+a-10+f-18 replacement and exceeding all of them

>>63912811
Hegseth is a retard with a pickled liver who thinks he's hot shit because he was a SOCOM PAO or whatever.

>>63920159
>with a pickled liver
Eh?

>>63918470
they are more likely to use AGMs than SDBs against tanks

>>63920210
He was, or is, an alcoholic.

>>63920235
they built the SDB II specifically to kill tanks
(and then they named it specifically to drive the point home that THIS IS THE NEW TANK KILLER)

its advantage is that it has 2-4x the range (depending on flight profile) over the Maverick missile

>>63912483 (OP)
The SDB was the end of the A-10, small light bombs accurate enough to take out armour allowing planes with less payload capacity to kill more vehicles.

>>63912520
PGMs dropped from any plane.
The "close" in close air support means the enemy is close not the aircraft.

>>63912483 (OP)
The equivalent cost of Dr.1s and Po-2s.

*Duh* you moron.

>>63920238
So was Winston Churchill. He frequently drank throughout the day, starting with a whiskey and soda in the morning, and consuming champagne, brandy, and whisky at meals and throughout the evening.

>>63920296
NAYRT but much as I respect Churchill for being a great orator and politician, his grasp on operational detail was less than desirable

>>63920296
The guy that squandered and destroyed the British Empire?

>>63916088
>the gun is a meme.
The psychological factor alone makes it worth it.

>>63920296
Churchill wasnt very efficient at running anything, he had a great team though

>>63920306
>>63920341
>>63920374
Pure slander.

"Oooh well he wasn't THAT great."

>>63920403
>architect of Gallipoli
>muh soft underbelly
He's better than FDR, but that isn't saying much. And at least FDR didn't have a colossal fuckup attached to his name in each world war, just a series of fuckups in the second one.

>>63920417
>And at least FDR didn't have a colossal fuckup attached to his name in each world war
He is named after a heroin dealer. Where do you think the "D" comes from?

>>63920403
this is indeed slander >>63920341 because things were well out of hand by the time Churchill got the reins, and besides, Treasury and Foreign Policy were both in the hands of voters (as they are today)
this is what nobody likes to think about WW2: we blame Chamberlain for Chamberlainism but if you'd told the average voter "we need to buy guns" in 1932 (it took 7 years for the British to rearm) he'd have strangled you himself, just as Europeans thought it was utterly unthinkable in 2015 to prepare for war in 2022

no, Churchill's failings include that he didn't really comprehend Chain Home, didn't understand Crete and Singapore was indefensible, and didn't understand what a great victory El Alamein was. based on his shaky grasp of operational specifics he was apt to over/underestimate victory and defeat alike.

>>63920417
the "soft underbelly" succeeded in wiping out the Luftwaffe, and successfully blooded the still quite raw American troops
would you have preferred them to dick around in 1943 doing nothing, then have the fuckups at Anzio happen in Normandy, all while under Stuka attack?

>>63920362
>yea, we risked our hundred million dollar airframe and pilot's life on a gun run
>killing the enemy? that's heckin immoral, we just wanted to put some fear into 'em
>just dropping a 250lb bomb on them clearly wouldn't have solved the problem

>>63920417
>>63920421

Gallipoli was on the level of '3 days to Kiev' or '48 hours after a unsupported airdrop on Pyongyang and it will be over' *

*One of the Clinton era attack plans before they decided to attack Serbia instead actually proposed that a unsupported surprise division scale air drop on Pyongyang would be all that was needed and that all resistance would end within 48 hours. It was rejected out of hand as it was assumed by Clintons advisors that the military wouldn't comply, however i'd like to see the alternate reality where they tried it.

>>63920417
>he's better than FDR
Put some respect on his name for Evilmaxxing the Global American Empire into existence.

>>63920007
The Ilyushin Il-102 had that but the Soviets went with the SU-25 anyway

>>63912491
Lmao

>>63920460
>>63920007
>Ilyushin
A 8mm titanium skin lined with kevlar spall liners, a forward twin 57mm, a shitload of ammo and it is good to go.

>>63920491
The opening right under the Il-28s tail is a window that had a camera if anyone is wondering, the picture is of one that was modified for observation.

>>63920448
Thomas Woodrow Wilson’s initials ain’t F, D, or R.

>>63912491
>ar15 derivative
>look inside
>actually ar18

>>63912483 (OP)
Hats off to OP. We haven't had an a10 spergout thread in a fair while.

Just going to again throw my idea in the ring about this topic: Seahog
>rip out the cannon
>unfuck the forward land gear gear
>install MAD probe in nose
>mount sonar pods on hardmounts
>tail hook
There you go, finally an S3 replacement.

they'll spend 20 billion developing some new meme replacement which winds up sucking so they will cancel and then start the real project

>>63921760
>Seahog
>finally an S3 replacement.
:)
>rip out the cannon
:(

>>63920362
>The psychological
is a meme.
Know where they are? JDAM the fuckers.
Lase their position and GBU them.
If they have a convoy of Toyota Hilux' going, any 20mm or 25mm or whatever gun you happen to have on the plane will fuck their shit up.

>>63922872
that's what the IDF have been doing
hasn't gotten them a great reputation

>>63922787
What use is that cannon in a naval environment. MAD is so much more useful

I suggest a replacement with a 25mm auto-gyrojet. You heard me!
And it needs to retain the long loiter time and ability to move low and slow.
It also requires to ability to mount guided missiles and guided bombs, and it should be stealthier than the current A-10 with better ammo capacity than the Tucano.

Yeah, this is more a wishlist than a suggestion but dammit, we are going to need dedicated attackers.

>>63922915
>What use
Turning speed boats into submersibles and turning seamen into paint.

>>63922915
>What use is that cannon
memes

>>63912593
The 737 from 1960's is vastly different than the 737 that is being build today.
Back then there were only small diameter turbojets, the huge turbofans on the MAX required shift in center of gravity because the engines do not fit under the wing, but had to move forward.
They compensated that in flight control software, badly, which resulted in 2 crashes.
The E-7's build for other countries were still based on the older 737 design with smaller engines and without that fatal flaw, but that production line is closed now.
The USAF doesn't want deathtrap E-7's based on the new MAX production line, and Boeing won't open another production line for a handful of E-7 orders.
Also Boeing is catastrophically fucking up everything. The KC-46 is basically a KC-767 other countries bought years ago, but somehow the USAF and Boeing managed to be 13 years late and 7 billion over budget.
For a fucking tanker based on an ancient plane they build 2 decades ago for japan already.
Even if they ordered E-7's they likely would never get any. Or they would arrive in 2045 and cost like they're made of gold.
Forgot starliner already? Or the 787 fiasco?
Anything ordered from Boeing that isn't already in production in the same EXACT configuration, assume it's not really happening.
Boeing has lost the organisational ability to design new planes, even if that new plane is a slight variant of a 1960's POS with 3 new parts screwed on somehow.

Also FUCK YOU janny, semiconductors used in AESA radars are OBVIOUSLY weapons technology without any political angle WHATSOEVER you profundly mentally retarded piece of shit, go dilate your axewound.

>>63917025
The USAF does basic filtering for competency only when you ENTER it and aren't part of it.
EVERYONE wants fighter, nobody "wants" to fly a boring bomber. Flying big multiengine planes is boring, tedious, and not very fun.
Flying fighters is fun.
But only the best graduates get fighters.
So all the competent USAF people = fighter pilots.
Lateron, this selection softens and weakens, but the people who make it to general and into leadership need skill to do it.
The most skilled people are obviously mostly fighter pilots ...

>>63920341
He also started WW2.
Before he declared war on germany, all germany did was invade russia and dab on the frenchies a bit.
Really nothing anyone should get bend out of shape over.

>>63919909
I’m not interested in giving anything for free to subhuman Slavoids. Use your own gear in your own retard war, trash.

>>63918250
Ground stations detect jets much earlier than the jets detect the ground stations. The ground station also will have protection from gun turrets to shoot down missiles which the jets won't have access to defend themselves from the AA missiles flying their way.

>>63912483 (OP)
Nothing, Donnie, head mutt and Jewish vassal, is too busy giving money to occupied Palestine.

>>63915895
God bless anon

>>63912483 (OP)
This ugly POS

>>63920430
>>63922872
Psychological also means friendly morale.

>>63924764
Chamberlain was the one who declared war.

>>63912483 (OP)
friendly fire incidents will now be perpetrated by the AI piloting drones rather than the a10's shaky gun and lack of sensors.

>>63916009
>Why not develop a UCAV that takes the armaments of the A-10 and installs them on a lighter fixed-wing drone that's designed to operate from temporary runways
That already exists (in a prototype anyways)

>>63920362
The sound of buzzing drones is scarier.
The enemy doesn't even hear the BRRRT because they're already dead by the time it reaches them.

>>63916706

The A-10 has way overstayed its proper service life. It is obsolete, and it persists only because of our irrational fixation on big guns, same reason people can't let go of battleships.

I'm with the other anons though that killing our next-gen AWACs seems fucking retarded. Right next to binning the JLTV after working to retire the Humvee.

>>63912483 (OP)
F-15EX of course

>>63924699
you're fucking retarded.

>>63912543
>nothing non stealth is getting anywhere near china
You don't need stealth if the enemy has no radar. And the first thing the stealth aircraft hit are radar sites.

>>63925862
>F-1SEX
ftfy

>>63916163
military systems are not using modern computers. they aren't plug and play. you can't slap a pod on a pylon hook up the USB to download drivers. adding that kind of capability is complex and expensive.

>>63916104
i think the USAF wants to retire the hog, but the congress critter of the district that builds them has spent his entire career keeping the program funded.

>>63920362
if we're talking about guns for psychological effect, i say we bring picrel out of retirement.

>>63925585
>F35: 25mm
>F16, F16, F18, F22: 20mm
Get that weak ass shit outta my fuckin' face, faggot bitch.
We need to go BIGGER!

Ultra high altitude (think U2) long loitering drone with shitloads of guided bombs of whatever variant floats your boat. Would be nice to have some that can be laser designated by the guys on the ground. Spam these over the battlefield and let each platoon have a 'budget' they can independently fire at will.

>>63916398
But gun is good, against drones. Which are much more likely to be encountered on the battlefield than tanks.

>>63926168
If the Zumwalt's gun actually worked, it would had made a serviceable replacement to the Iowas' barrages. Sure, you don't get to swing around car-sized shells, but a hundred 120mm shots hitting a target at 400 RPM is just as good.

>>63912520
A-1K Skyraider II.

>>63926804
The Zumwalt's gun actually worked
The problem is that it was now outranged by common antiship missiles due to the fast tech proliferation of the 00s, so it was binned

>>63926802
You're not gonna shoot down drones with your meme BRRRT gun

>>63912536
Specialty airframes are loss multipliers. Everything should be versatile which can.

>>63912541
>dumb
the advantages of specialisation are, except for very edge cases, incremental
especially when it comes to aircraft where since WW1 the winning formula has apparently been
>stick the biggest engine on it you can afford for maximum speed with maximum payload
>fill payload with either fucktons of guns or fucktons of bombs, depending on role

>>63927127
>incremental

>>63925058
>Psychological also means friendly morale.
Which means that losing an A-10 is a severe psychological blow.
>>63926802
That would be like using a Tippmann 9mm gatling gun to hunt mosquitos.
An attack helicopter with a lower rate of fire will be a more stable platform and won't blast the surrounding area with HE shells.

The gun is good!
The missile is evil!

>>63916798
>tfw A-10 being retired and Iranian F-14s got wiped by Israel so we will never get to see Cobra Rattlers vs GI Joe Skystrikers IRL

>>63912483 (OP)
Are you talking about replacing the A-10 as a military asset in a tactical discussion?
Or are you talking about replacing the A-10 as federal welfare dollars to the bases that currently manage A-10 aircraft?

>>63927419

>>63927792
>federal welfare dollars to the bases
they could just as easily be managing F-35s which in fact was the Air Force's argument

>>63927419
But Zardoz what if we invent a plane that has a minigun that shoots missiles?

>>63915895
It go BBRRTTTTTTTTTTTT instead, nice

I've always loved the green color paint

Why doesn't the US paint their planes more?

>>63931555
Europe One is one of my all-time favorite vehicle camos, followed closely by MERDC, the Southeast Asia scheme our planes used in Vietnam, and whatever the Swedes call the camo scheme for their vehicles.

How about a missile mounted GAU/8?
>Reach destination
>Climb
>AOA GAU/8 spray
>Missile impact

Double damage

>>63931555
It's all about cuck glass now

>>63931555
Paint adds several hundred lbs to most aircraft, it is why back in the Golden Age many aircraft were polished Aluminum.

>>63936933
Aircraft weight doesn't matter as much as you think. A drag chute adds much less weight, but try flying with one deployed. It's all about the aerodynamics.

>>63936956
I know that, however back in the early cold war when we were making dozens of jet models they worried about the weight of paint. It is why we had that era in the 1950s where all the jets were buffed metal, it was something they worried about.

If you think about it a B-52 probably has at least a ton or more of paint. If you reduced that weight even by half it would save millions in fuel costs over the life of the aircraft.

make this fly and that would be the successor

>>63912593
It's being replaced with space based global AMTI. The E2 is a backup stopgap.

>>63916869
The space based AMTI+GMTI replacement has been in the works at the Pentagon for almost a decade. It's been in various futurists and strategists' plans since the 1990s or earlier.

>>63936981
what purpose does the paint serve?