A10's to be sold on?
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A10's to be sold on?
Boeing discussing international A-10 Warthog sales - 5/20/2015 - Flight Global
Boeing discussing international A-10 Warthog sales
By: James Drew
Washington DC
Source: Flightglobal.com
17:06 20 May 2015
Boeing has floated the idea of selling refurbished A-10 Warthogs to other nations as the US Air Force seeks to retire the venerable attack airplane.
The company is currently extending the service life of the air force’s A-10 fleet through a re-winging programme, and it recently delivered its 100th modification with more than 70 modifications left on contract.
At a Boeing-sponsored media event in San Antonio, Texas, today, the company’s chief engineer of off-Boeing programmes, Paul Cejas, suggested the US government might pursue international sales of upgraded A-10s. Dozens of A-10s are currently in near-flyaway storage at the air force’s boneyard facility in Arizona, and could be brought back into the operational fleet at any time.
Cejas says he has no exact customers in mind, but Boeing has "begun early discusssions."
“It’s something we would be interested in, but again, it depends where the air force goes with retirements," he says. “If we go that path we would be looking at a modification. It all depends on what the air force does. We have no jurisdiction, and we’ll support whatever they need and we’re positioned for that.”
Congress has long protected the A-10 from retirement, and fiscal 2016 looks to be no different.
Cejas said it would not be fiscally efficient to cancel the re-winging programme this far into the contract, and Boeing would support any potential sale opportunities abroad should the Pentagon and choose to go that route.
Boeing’s current re-winging contract lasts into the first quarter of 2017 and there are options for more upgrades.
Boeing is the closest thing to a prime contractor for the Fairchild Republic A-10, officially called Thunderbolt II. The company owns the technical data package for modification and upgrade, Cejas says. As of March, there were 283 aircraft in the US active inventory.
No other nation currently operates the A-10, called the "best close air support platform ever" by the general in charge of Air Combat Command.
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Not the prettiest of aeroplanes but a nice piece of kit ... Used to enjoy them giving us a "beat up" at Eastern Radar/Watton of a Friday afternoon back in the good old days.
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My interest - other than its superb CAS performance as the infantry's best friend - is also nostalgic. I worked on the engine during its development, and visited Farmingdale to see the #1 X-bird in the shop before its first flight. Kartveli was still on the scene, he thought it looked terrible, but confident with that gun, was a sure winner when deployed! 
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Well Barit1, it looked a hell of a lot better than Northrops A9 competitor
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I should think ISIS would be in the running to buy a few . . .
Just let the iraqi airforce get a few, show up at the front gate in a toyota pickup truck and black flag waving and presto. Yours for free
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Suggestion from a standpoint of complete ignorance:
How would it be if the EU bought a few, based them in Malta (which is some 187 nm from Tripoli), then turned them loose to fly all along the Libyan littoral to take out anything which looked like a possible "refugee" carrier (always provided there were no signs of occupation !)
The 30mm cannon should be adequate for the smaller craft and a few rockets would be handy for the larger stuff.
But of course ISIS and the people traffickers would probably say their Human Rights were being trampled on, and bring a case before the European Court !
Just an idea.
D.
How would it be if the EU bought a few, based them in Malta (which is some 187 nm from Tripoli), then turned them loose to fly all along the Libyan littoral to take out anything which looked like a possible "refugee" carrier (always provided there were no signs of occupation !)
The 30mm cannon should be adequate for the smaller craft and a few rockets would be handy for the larger stuff.
But of course ISIS and the people traffickers would probably say their Human Rights were being trampled on, and bring a case before the European Court !
Just an idea.
D.
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The A-9 looks like a direct descendant:
Bell P-59 Airacomet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[IMG]https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...32515635106349[/IMG]
The XP-59A wing loading was low enough that to accumulate max flight hours, they'd routinely fly it till the tanks were dry, then glide to land dead-stick on the dry lake bed (now Edwards AFB). Pilots got rather good at managing the approach & landing, then rolling out on the parking ramp.
Bell P-59 Airacomet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[IMG]https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...32515635106349[/IMG]
The XP-59A wing loading was low enough that to accumulate max flight hours, they'd routinely fly it till the tanks were dry, then glide to land dead-stick on the dry lake bed (now Edwards AFB). Pilots got rather good at managing the approach & landing, then rolling out on the parking ramp.
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Suggestion from a standpoint of complete ignorance:
How would it be if the EU bought a few, based them in Malta (which is some 187 nm from Tripoli), then turned them loose to fly all along the Libyan littoral to take out anything which looked like a possible "refugee" carrier (always provided there were no signs of occupation !)
The 30mm cannon should be adequate for the smaller craft and a few rockets would be handy for the larger stuff.
But of course ISIS and the people traffickers would probably say their Human Rights were being trampled on, and bring a case before the European Court !
Just an idea.
How would it be if the EU bought a few, based them in Malta (which is some 187 nm from Tripoli), then turned them loose to fly all along the Libyan littoral to take out anything which looked like a possible "refugee" carrier (always provided there were no signs of occupation !)
The 30mm cannon should be adequate for the smaller craft and a few rockets would be handy for the larger stuff.
But of course ISIS and the people traffickers would probably say their Human Rights were being trampled on, and bring a case before the European Court !
Just an idea.
Danny42c,
Or, maybe NATO could use some of the numerous other 30 and 25/27mm cannon equipped aircraft that almost every one of their constituent country air forces have in abundance, rather than buy second hand obsolete slow non radar equipped heaps that the only Air Force that ever bought them has been desperately trying to junk for years?
Or, maybe NATO could use some of the numerous other 30 and 25/27mm cannon equipped aircraft that almost every one of their constituent country air forces have in abundance, rather than buy second hand obsolete slow non radar equipped heaps that the only Air Force that ever bought them has been desperately trying to junk for years?
pr00ne,
If I were a grunt on the ground, I would prefer an aircraft designed specifically for CAS, armed with a fecking great Gatling gun cannon firing at the bad guys.
They may be slow and obsolete in your eyes, but maybe the Army should have been using them and not the Air Force.
If I were a grunt on the ground, I would prefer an aircraft designed specifically for CAS, armed with a fecking great Gatling gun cannon firing at the bad guys.
They may be slow and obsolete in your eyes, but maybe the Army should have been using them and not the Air Force.