Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

SlothmanAllen said:
The Air Force seems like it is in a death spiral. Very few new aircraft purchased per year, extremely old air frames and retiring far more aircraft then they procure.
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Death spiral...right. :rolleyes: Over 2000 combat aircraft in service. New types such as F-35 and F-15EX still being delivered.
 
NMaude said:
I know but over the years the politicians kept on insisting that it stays in service (No doubt to the considerable frustration of the USAF command).
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The USAF has never wanted the A-10. Not really. But when it was designed in the 1960s/70s as the replacement for the old Skyraider they were determined to make the best damn plane they could for the job.

For the longest time, threatening to retire the A-10 would result in a Congressman asking "can the US Army take it over?" and immediately shutting down the discussion.

Now, though, with CCAs, I think the A-10 can be retired and the Army will be able to take over the CAS job. USAF keeps the BAI mission.
 
GTX said:
Retired early?? The youngest of the A-10s is already over 40yrs old!!!
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Yes, early. Previously, it was planned to retire the A-10s gradually until 2029. Now, all of them will be retired within a year.

GTX said:
Death spiral...right. :rolleyes: Over 2000 combat aircraft in service. New types such as F-35 and F-15EX still being delivered.
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If you constantly retire more aircraft than you put into service, what would you call that?
258 combat aircraft retired in a single year vs. 48 F-35 plus 24 F-15EX delivered. tops?

Of the current A-10 units, one squadron is getting F-15EX (107 FS), one F-16 (190 FS), two squadrons are getting the F-35 (74 and 75 FS of the 23 FW). With delays of course.
The rest?
 
eagle said:
Yes, early. Previously, it was planned to retire the A-10s gradually until 2029. Now, all of them will be retired within a year.
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Oh wow, a couple of years earlier. It's hardly a major deal given the age of the platforms and the cost they are incurring.
eagle said:
If you constantly retire more aircraft than you put into service, what would you call that?
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Certainly not a death spiral. The USAF is still the largest, most powerful air force in the world and it is continuing to bring on new, more capable combat platforms every year. To claim it is in a death special is hyperbolic bullshit.
 
Ward Caroll and Mike "Pako" Benitez talk about the A-10 retirement.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nL-tJrnyL0

Main points:
1. What happens to the ~240 pilots? Likely not enough capacity to transition to other platforms. Plus they focus on the CAS/CSAR missions. There is a risk of losing institutional knowledge in those areas.
2. Shrinking force, higher demands lead to a "death spiral of readiness and retention across the F-15, F-16, F-22, and F-35 communities".
Also here: https://themerge.co/p/rip-a-10

With the current buy rates, I estimate the USAF is heading towards a ~1200 combat aircraft force.
 
Scott Kenny said:
The USAF has never wanted the A-10. Not really. But when it was designed in the 1960s/70s as the replacement for the old Skyraider they were determined to make the best damn plane they could for the job.
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That and to keep the far better AH56 from the army hand.

And it was better then the A10 since it could carry nearly the same load and have ALL THE SENSORS in it unlike the A10 which is blind as a damn bat.
 
There is also the problem of pilot qualifications and readiness: if you cut an entire fleet like SecDef was advocating and keep new deliveries of aircraft low, what are going to do all those pilots?
 
TomcatViP said:
There is also the problem of pilot qualifications and readiness: if you cut an entire fleet like SecDef was advocating and keep new deliveries of aircraft low, what are going to do all those pilots?
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Convert them to drones, probably.

I should poke the Gowen Field PAO and see what the plans are for the future.
 
bobbymike said:
The legislation authorizes $848.2 billion for the military, including at least $211.3 billion for the Air Force and Space Force. It looks to save the Air Force’s plan to buy two E-7 Wedgetail airborne target-tracking jet prototypes from cancellation, block retirement of the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes, and boost funding for the new Sentinel ground-based nuclear missiles to over $3 billion, among myriad other spending tweaks and oversight provisions.
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Backpedalling.
 
isayyo2 said:
Full A-10 retirement may be delayed, though the fleet is winding down irregardless.

www.defensenews.com

Some A-10 Warthogs may dodge retirement under proposed Senate bill

The DOD's fiscal 2026 budget calls for the Air Force to retire its remaining 162 A-10 attack planes. The Senate's version would have the service keep 103.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
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I would humbly ask as to what *exactly* has changed in the current threat environment to make the A-10 endangered/superfluous that cannot be remedied by a vigorous software update?
 
isayyo2 said:
An old dog can learn new tricks! :cool:

www.twz.com

A-10 Warthog Appears To Have Become A Drone Killer

The laser-guided APKWS II rocket is an established surface-attack weapon for the A-10, which is now likely using a version of it for drone hunting. The laser-guided APKWS II rocket is an established surface-attack weapon for the A-10, which now appears to be using it for drone hunting.
www.twz.com www.twz.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1976771688831574167
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This would be very handy for Ukraine to have as it would be useful for hunting and shooting down Shaheed type drones..
 
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I still think a very good successor to the A-10 would be the Textron Scorpion. It would require some upgrading of course but it is simple, can be low-cost and can carry a good payload. One tradeoff may be going with a 20mm instead of the 30mm gun. The days of the good ole Warthog are coming to an end.
 
And the A-10 is going to be missed Hydroman, the Textron Scorpion would be a great successor to the Warthog but whether the USAF goes with it is another thing.
 
FighterJock said:
And the A-10 is going to be missed Hydroman, the Textron Scorpion would be a great successor to the Warthog but whether the USAF goes with it is another thing.
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You are right FJ but you know all this talk about UFOs, the real UFOs are the "Un-Funded Opportunities" that are out there and had been. I am hoping for more good 'ole common sense in our services but I am not sure these days unfortunately.
 
Too true Hydroman, I liked the Textron Scorpion when I first saw it and I thought that it was a pity that it was not selected to go into production.
 
Forest Green said:
I've always wondered if you could use the gun in indirect fire to strafe enemy trenches and minefields.
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I don't know about minefields but the GAU-8/A would do horrible things to Russian soldiers in the trenches plus it would be a good way to obliterate ammunition dumps, other storage sites, SAM sites and artillery (Both tube and rocket).

TomcatViP said:
I guess you could do the same with 30mm shells.
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Ah, yes, spray and pray.
 
Defense Updates has put out a video about how the A-10 is showing its' once again in the current Gulf-war against Iran:


The Fairchild Republic 'A-10' Thunderbolt II, widely known as the ‘Warthog’, is reportedly playing a significant role in Operation Epic Fury, with a focus on countering Iranian maritime assets and drone threats. Despite longstanding U.S. Air Force plans to retire the platform, it has demonstrated renewed relevance in this context due to its extended loiter capability and cost-effective firepower, technically granting it a “second life” in contemporary operations.​
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As of now, Warthog deployments are concentrated along Iran’s southern approaches, particularly in efforts to secure the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. The aircraft are operating from established regional bases, including Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base and Al Dhafra Air Base, as well as from austere forward airfields positioned closer to the operational theater.​
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As per reports, Warthog is frequently operating in coordination with rotary-wing assets such as the AH-64 Apache, while leveraging targeting and situational awareness data provided by advanced platforms like the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II via secure data links such as Link 16, enabling integrated and networked mission execution.​
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In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how A-10 Warthog is showing its worth against Iran?
#defenseupdates #a10warthog #usiran
https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/usiran
Chapters:
0:00 TITLE
00:11 INTRODUCTION
01:34 SPONSORSHIP - NordVPN
02:08 A-10 WARTHOG
04:40 ROLE IN IRAN
07:21 ANALYSIS
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It turns out that the venerable A-10 is just the right aircraft for hunting and killing the 1,500 IRGC attack speedboats:


The US Navy destroyed 120 Iranian warships — and Hormuz is still closed. Two carrier strike groups, eight Aegis destroyers, and $40 billion in naval firepower couldn't reopen a six-mile shipping lane clogged with 1,500 fast boats. The answer wasn't a newer ship or a bigger missile. It was a 50-year-old Air Force jet the Pentagon wanted to throw away.​
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The A-10 Warthog was never designed for naval warfare. It was built to kill Soviet tanks on the plains of Europe. But its GAU-8 cannon, low-speed maneuverability, and titanium-armored cockpit turned out to be the exact engineering solution for a problem the Navy's blue-water arsenal was never built to handle — cheap, fast, swarming targets in a confined corridor. This is the equation behind the most counterintuitive combined-arms operation in modern military history.​
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#USNavy #A10Warthog #StraitOfHormuz #NavyDecoded #OperationEpicFury #IranWar #militarystrategy
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Timestamps:
0:00 120 ships destroyed — and the strait is still closed
1:44 The $5.3 million-per-kill problem the Navy can't escape
5:32 A gun that fires 65 rounds per second at $137 each
11:49 Three branches, one corridor: the convergence equation
15:18 What happens when the Warthog retires?
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Forest Green said:
I've always wondered if you could use the gun in indirect fire to strafe enemy trenches and minefields.
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Humans become pink mist and not very effective against mines cause they tend to be more spread out. Goodluck getting close to treches with the mass proliferation of MANPADS though. There is a reason for the incredible amount of Su24-25 as well as KA52 kills in ukraine rn
 
DWG said:
At least that's what the A-10 fans are saying, yet the straits remain currently closed.
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It's going to take a while to open up the strait as I learned the other day that Iran's fleet of attack speedboats number ~1,500 (They attack in swarms of 50 boats at a time), but the A-10 makes a deadly duo when used in combination with the AH-64.
 
NMaude said:
It's going to take a while to open up the strait as I learned the other day that Iran's fleet of attack speedboats number ~1,500 (They attack in swarms of 50 boats at a time), but the A-10 makes a deadly duo when used in combination with the AH-64.
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No one is disputing the A-10 can kill small speedboats (jetskis are going to be more challenging), but can it do it quickly enough versus a swarm to protect convoys in the narrow confines of the Strait of Hormuz, and can it do it at all if the surface escorts are dealing with simultaneous drone and missile attacks that require them to put missiles in the air? And how much will its performance be degraded during major sandstorms such as the one that hit the Strait about 10 days ago?

And of course those speedboats are going to shoot back. The A-10 may be able to shrug off MG fire, but dodging MANPADs is going to throw off anyone's aim.
 
DWG said:
No one is disputing the A-10 can kill small speedboats (jetskis are going to be more challenging), but can it do it quickly enough versus a swarm to protect convoys in the narrow confines of the Strait of Hormuz
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You wouldn't have single A-10Cs on mission but a squadron no doubt and in addition to their GAU-8/A cannon they'd almost certainly be equipped APKWS missile pods (Each pod carrying seven missiles).

DWG said:
And of course those speedboats are going to shoot back. The A-10 may be able to shrug off MG fire, but dodging MANPADs is going to throw off anyone's aim.
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Of course they'e likely to be shooting back but the A-10Cs (And likely AH-64 Apaches too) will be firing from a distance and these speedboat attacks appear generally happen at night so it would be a bit hard for the gunners to see them.
 

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