Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Do we still have any Warthogs in Iraq?

I keep seeing pictures like this:







and this:







and this:







and this:







And I just can't help thinking to myself, "Gee, if this jerkoffs drive around in long convoys, wearing black from head to toe, with big damned black flags on their trucks, then why the hell don't we send out some of these?"







to do this:







until their trucks look like this?



[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd77/jkubesch/Unknown-6_zpse051ccf1.jpeg[/img]



Maybe I'm the only one.

FC

Chances are we don't have a single warthog in theater. According to media reports all the recent strike were by FA-18's....i.e. carrier based aircraft.

I'm guessing they don't have the range. Gotta have an airfield and a FOB. We have Barry to thank for whatever happens. I hope Valerie Jarret gets pancreatic cancer and dies in mid-scream.

We won't ever get sharia law if you keep talking like that

They are moth balling them. I'm sure they are all on an isolated flight line waiting to get the guts pulled out so they can scrap them. Retards running the show in DC and the Pentagon. kwg

I think the Ukraine might be a good fit as well.

I know for a fact some are flying in Korea.

Those pictures of long Isis caravans are weeks, if not months old, since the threat of air strikes they have dispersed vehicles and personnel among civilians. Now the air strikes are reality they are further imbedded. (They're ruthless but not completely stupid.)
Obama had his chance to catch them out in the open like that but oh well you know how that went.

The A 10's were slated to be in service through 2028, but are now being fazed out in favor of fast pointy-nosed fighters less capable (explained below) good read but will most likely pizz you off.


'The Air Force's Rationale For Retiring The A-10 Warthog Is Bullshit'

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-usafs-rationale-for-retiring-the-a-10-warthog-is-bu-1562789528

There are 13 to 15 of them on the flight line about 2 miles from where I type this. I never counted them all but there are usually about 13 lined up on the ramp on any particular day. It's a rare Saturday when you don't see a pair of them flying around.

Same here in Northern Michigan. The National Guard has been doing joint maneuvers out on the ranges most of the summer.
A-10's are a daily sighting.
Helicopters 20 hours a day. Last month they dropped an M-777 howitzer from a Chinook from 750 ft. It planted like a lawn dart. $1.5 mil stuck in the ground.
The investigation team from Fort Rucker has been on site since then.
Speculation is the sling release let go, but I'm sure we won't hear the final report.

The hand writing on the wall is in place by the DOD and AF but what we don't know are how many maintenance hours are required to generate one flying hour since they've had the dog crap flown out of them.I certainly don't think the AF has reached this way point just yet but I'm sure the DOD bean counters have.There's not much hope for worn out air frames in the overall scheme of things and retooling this magnificent CAS asset is a pipe dream...

I have a friend who is an A-10 pilot and is currently deployed to Afganistan. The way he tells it, they are going to be de-commisioned for another plane although the A-10 is FAR superior for the job it was designed to do according to him. He should know, he fly's one.

According to him, the Army and Marines have approached the Air Force and have offered to pay the Air Force to keep the A-10 in service because it is so good at supporting ground troops. He says that politics have gotten in the way and some brass has declined in favor of the new aircraft (baby) they are wanting to bring out.

Yep. Money has greased palms and post-retirement jobs have been secured at the Pentagon, and large contributions to the proper bank accounts for Congressional scum are on deposit so the decision to go forward with the obscenely expensive and less effective solution is set in stone.

A squadron doing maneuvers out of Eilson AFB {Fairbanks] during Red Flag exercise.....their low level flights scaring hell out of the 40 Mile Caribou Herd......I hope they get done soon as I want to go hunting and Supercub pilots share the same airspace.

I'm not aware of a "new aircraft baby" other than the F-35 and all service variants.From conception it's been a burr under my butt with a tremendous price tag especially for CAS missions.Committing this huge price tag for down in the dirt close air support is ignorant as it has zero redundancy vs the A-10.

A-10's really should be an Army plane as CAS is best understood by the army. Trouble is the Air Force insisted they get land based fixed wing aircraft and army gets rotary winged aircraft.

Sad when politics gets in the way of good military decisions, but that's been going on since the first clan waged war on their neighbors.

....."There's not much hope for worn out air frames in the overall scheme of things and retooling this magnificent CAS asset is a pipe dream..."

I understand what you're saying but there's the matter of the BUFF.....there are B52's in the air being flown by the grandsons of the early pilots.
A-10's are one of the best airframes ever produced. Sell the bird to the Marines.....hang a tailhook on it.....watch grunt pilots fight to sit in that bathtub.

The very first A-10's to visit here were OD with US ARMY on the tail feathers.From the logistical standpoint the Army would have had to use an AF installation for combat readiness anyway so I'm guessing this was a major contributing factor.Fixed wing and rotary CAS have always been apples and oranges equally shared.

The Buff argument definitely holds water with all the depot upgrades in avionics,air frame and weapon systems which have kept it alive and well with its strength as a very capable standoff platform.Doubtful we'll see it raining down iron bombs in the future as it's fodder for most new surface to air missile technology.

On the other hand I remember all to well the maintenance nightmares of the M-61 in our F-4's shaking the beegeebers outta everything forward,always needing the mounts reinforced and continually being bore sighted.One can only imagine the wear and tear from the GAU-8 while simultaneously pulling extreme G's.The A10's saving grace would be it's the first aircraft designed around a gun vs the other way.