The A-10 Versus F-35 Fly-Off Is Over
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 5 months ago
While the congressionally mandated close-air support tests between the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and A-10 Warthog wrapped up this week, lawmakers may not be satisfied with the results as questions continue to swirl about how each performed.
“I personally wrote the specific provisions in the [Fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act] mandating a fly-off between the F-35 & A-10,” Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican, tweeted Friday. “It must be carried out per Congressional intent & direction.”
McSally, a former A-10 pilot whose home state includes Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, said she had reached out to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein to “ensure an objective comparison.”
The requirement that the two aircraft go up against each other was included as a provision in the bill amid congressional concerns over plans to retire the A-10 and replace it with the F-35. McSally was one of the architects of the bill’s language.
Her comments follow a Project on Government Oversight report that slams what it calls skewed testing techniques, saying the flights overwhelmingly favored the F-35.
Well of course it did. The effeminate fly boys must have their drones and 5GW electronics and sexy air frames to impress the other effeminate boys. But if you ask me, there is nothing sexier looking than an A-10. Any country that would give up such a magnificent air frame deserves what’s coming.
I had missed it until this article, but there is a very nice video – well worth watching in its entirety – of the distinction between A-10 pilots and everyone else. They are grunts in the sky. But before we get there, watch the devastation that 30mm gun can bring down on the enemy. Fast forward to the 6:24 mark. The caption says it takes a while to call in an air strike.
And now for grunts in the sky.
On July 22, 2018 at 10:50 pm, BRVTVS said:
In spite of my low opinion of Brazilian engineering, I’d even consider the A-29 a better attack aircraft than the F-35.
On July 22, 2018 at 10:58 pm, JoeFour said:
Here’s a link to a good article on the A-10…
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-no-nation-earth-wants-fight-the-10-warthog-war-23122
On July 23, 2018 at 8:20 am, Fred said:
Did the test include shooting at the F-35 with light machine guns to see how it’s armor performed under combat situations? What’s that you say? Oh, I see.
Did they blow 1/3 of one of the F-35’s wings off and keep it in the fight until the ammo ran out then return to base safely? What’s that you say? Oh, I see.
And, does the sound of the F-35’s cannon rain down fear and dread among any who would attempt major ground movements? Do flames shoot out of the barrel visibly to those on the ground?
I can’t seem to find an F-35 video of one of them in a ground attack profile. They all seem to be bench tests and level flight demo’s.
On July 23, 2018 at 8:37 am, Gryphon said:
The Very Best Aircraft are ones with a Purpose-Built Design – i.e. to do ONE type of Mission. The A-10 is one of the Best Ground-Attack Planes ever Built, and to compare it to that F-35 abortion is a Joke perpetrated by military-industrial complex stooges who only think of Profit.
The Claim that a (barely) Supersonic Fighter Jet, with a very Limited Weapons-Carrying Capacity can perform in the Weeds effectively against Grunts is flat-out a Lie that will get a lot of guys Killed because of a lack of Support.
The F-35 is the Result of the Corporate Conglomeration of the Aviation Industry by the (((financial parasites))) over the last 4 Decades. In the Past, the Dozens of Companies building Aircraft and Thousands of Suppliers of Hardware and Components could concentrate on Building Planes that Worked; Today, we have two giant Conglomerated parasite ‘businesses’ that are run not by Aeronautical Engineers, but “MBA’s” whose only Concern is the “Stock Value” of the Company.
This is Why there are NO U.S. built Spacecraft that can carry Astronauts… Want a Ride to that Space-Station the U.S. spent Billions on? Go to Russia.
Oh, Yeah, most all of the Chair Force Satellites go Up with Reliable Energomash RD-180 Rocket Engines. Made in Russia.
On July 23, 2018 at 2:13 pm, Pat Hines said:
I’ve personally witnessed an A-10 run on a range at Fort Hood, Texas while visiting Apache Training Brigade which is headquartered there. Our unit flew practice Joint Air Attack Team (JAAT) missions with A-10s. I was in the 1/130th Aviation based at RDU airport at that time, about 1987.
Shooting captured armored vehicles, it is spectacular. Those 30mm high velocity projectiles do incandesce when they hit.
There needs to be a clean sheet upgrade to the A-10, new engines, upgraded armor, and the like. An all glass cockpit would be a good thing. I could probably think of many other worthwhile upgrades to the new production A-10 airframe. Nothing will improve upon the basic layout and that titanium tub surrounding the cockpit.
On July 23, 2018 at 5:39 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
Fairchild-Republic developed the A-10 “Thunderbolt II” in part based upon the military career and exploits of former Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-87 “Stuka” driver Hans-Ulrich Rudel, arguably the most-proficient ground-attack pilot in history with 519 tanks destroyed on the Eastern Front, as well as 800 vehicles of all types, several ships, and 9 air-to-air victories to his credit.
He flew 2,530 ground attack missions, as well as an additional 430 missions in fighter aircraft. Rudel was the most-decorated German serviceman of the war.
Rudel’s experiences were combined input from Allied tactical (CAS) pilots and crew from the Second World War, Korea and Vietnam, to form the conceptual basis of what eventually became the A-10. The nickname of aircraft, Thunderbolt II, was a tribute to famed Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter/fighter-bomber of WWII – nicknamed “Jug,” an aircraft legendary not only for its performance and potent weaponry, but for its ability to absorb punishment and still keep flying.
Systems redundancy, twin engine design, engines mounted high in the airframe, extensive use of armor around the pilot, and the GAU-8 seven-barrel 30mm rotary cannon firing depleted uranium ordnance, are just some of its well-known features.
Being the finest ground attack airframe ever designed, it figures that the perfumed princes and assorted other shady characters over at the Pentagon/DOD want to pull the plug on it. They are so incompetent they could screw up a steel ball…