Uncomfortable in the sinus area from the muzzle brake blast. Also kicks up crap everywhere if you are on a dirt or similar surface.
Subject: A-10 driver perspective Date: March 6, 2015 at 4:16:21 PM EST FYSA The squadron is doing fine. Everybody is happy to be here and we are doing some good work. The A-10s are holding up well and the technology we have have on the jets now (targeting pods, GPS guided bombs, Laser Guided bombs, Laser guided missiles, tactical data link, satellite comms), and of course the gun, make the A-10 ideal for this conflict. We are killing off as many ISIS as we can, mostly in ones and twos, working with the hand we are dealt. I've never been more convicted in my career that we facing an enemy that needs to be eradicated. With that being said...I've never been more frustrated in my career. After 13 years of the mind-numbing low intensity conflict in Afghanistan, I've never seen the knife more dull. All the hard lessons learned in Vietnam, and fixed during the first Gulf War, have been unlearned again. The level of centralized execution, bureaucracy, and politics is staggering. I basically do not have any decision making authority in my cockpit. It sucks. In most cases, unless a general officer can look at a video picture from a UAV, over a satellite link, I cannot get authority to engage. I've spent many hours, staring through a targeting pod screen in my own cockpit, watching ISIS perpetrate their acts until my eyes bleed, without being able to do anything about it. The institutional fear of making a mistake, that has crept into the central mindset of the military leadership, is endemic. We have not taken the fight to these guys. We haven't targeted their centers of gravity in Raqqa. All the roads between Syria and Iraq are still intact with trucks flowing freely. The other night I watched a couple hundred small tanker trucks lined up at an oilfield in ISIS-held northeast Syria, presumably filling up with with oil traded on the black market, go unfettered. It's not uncommon to wait several hours overhead a suspected target for someone to make a decision to engage or not. It feels like we are simply using the constructs build up in Afghanistan, which was a very limited fight, in the same way here against ISIS, which is a much more sophisticated and numerically greater foe. It's embarrassing. Be assured that the Hawg drivers are doing their best.
Local air show had a A-10 demo. It was a few years ago. Very impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzd_dBpBSQo I usually go every year to the show. But last two years, no American involvement, so I've skipped it. Its boring without American combat aircraft. The show has a VIP option, private tent, BBQ lunch, unlimited drinks, including beer and wine, parking, etc. Its $140 per person. Well worth it.
Thanks and hats off to you. Your being operationally hamstrung is sickening. When are the powers that be realize the urgency of facing this threat! WW2 wasn't won by getting permission to do anything when facing an enemy.
Completely different from Desert Storm, where we were given a target set and decided how to kill it with nobody looking over our shoulders. Pretty sad. Who knows better how to kill bad guys, some staff wienie or, even worse, senior or flag officer, or the guys planning and flying the missions?
My old FF/SOT, Robert Madison, was Fairchild Republic's chief test pilot for the A10. I wonder if I could put a GAU-8 on a Form 4?
Terry, In your opinion is this unconscionable problem a function of the Administration/higher command or the JAG Attorneys, or both equally? Thanks, Scott
the 50 cal puts on a great show when it sends out tracers from a burned out barrel and a call goes out for clean underwear
Scott- I think it is exactly what the Hog driver was grumping about. Nobody willing to make a decision and pushing that decision up the food chain so far, nothing happens. Plus someone unqualified to do it micromanaging the show. There should be a set of rules of engagement and anything the fits inside those rules is fair game. That is why we lost VietNam. The North was ready to quit after Linebacker II when Haiphong Harbor was shut down, there was no AAA and no SAMs, and Hanoi was getting pounded. If we had done that in 1968 when the Viet Cong were licked, the war would have been over.
Compared to the A-10 the other airplane is a toy. Now there might be some missions where it would be ok but close air support isn't one of them.
About 20 years ago I had the privilege of the late Colin Pay showing me his warbird collection at Scone, New South Wales. He had just bought an A-37 out of the jungle of Vietnam (said there were plenty left there). Got in a bit of trouble with Customs as he didn't remove the guns prior to entry to the country - I think he was trying to slide that one by.. One of the great collections in Aust together with half a hanger full of crated NOS Merlins and Allisons.. John
And the always-stylish, perfect-for-any-occasion "Save the A-10" shirts Image Unavailable, Please Login
This aircraft Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has been proposed as a local, permissive environment, CAS aircraft for Special Forces. You put the bombs and missiles from The U.S. Air Force's New AC-130 Gunships Are Really Bomb Trucks and it will be deadly.
Not only is the M2 still in service, but the Army has updated them to no longer need head space and timing done for a quick barrel change. We are also thinking of buying this XM806 .50 Cal LW Machine Gun | Military.com for the light Infantry.
Even 6 .50s could be devastating. I recall that a bunch of P-51s sank a Japanese ship solely by strafing!
This is one deployment/TDY that I'd love to be on: WHITEMAN AFB -- Thunderbolt II jets at Whiteman Air Force Base are expected to deploy to support a North Atlantic Treaty Organizationally, Estonia, in the face of Russian aggression, Sen. Roy Blunt said Wednesday. A-10 from Whiteman Air Force Base Set to Deploy to Estonia | Military.com
I obtained this example from a vet, who flew the Super Tweet with the 8th SOS. This is an original example. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Upcoming shoot-out to see what's the best CAS aircraft ~ A-10 vs. F-35 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/08/27/as-it-fights-for-its-life-the-a-10-will-face-off-against-the-f-35-in-close-air-support-test/