This was made by the USAF in 2014 but not released until forced to do so by a FOIA request.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpCvySLGuOA

LOL! I just came here to share the link as well but you beat me by 35 minutes. :-) I look forward to watching it.

Great video but why did it take an FOI request to get it released?

Apparently the USAF doesn't like to give the A-10 good press, makes it harder for them to get rid of it.

+1 F4U

And replace it with what? Not the F-35 surely? The A-10 does a great job because it was designed purely to do ONE job,ground attack,not multi-task.

I’m a big fan of the A-10. It’s not just the plane. The pilots have a completely different outlook than the other fast airplane drivers. They like being ground support.

So the aircraft DOES good work! Cool! I love my Warthog!

Great, can't wait to watch this!

It's funny to think, since the airplane has been so successful, that the Air Force never wanted it. I remember reading that there had even been some consideration to giving it to the Army. The AF people had a fit. Flying jets was their job! Not the Army's! They accepted the airplane but only grudgingly.
The Air Force likes to invision itself high in the blue skies clearing the air of an opposing air force. They've never liked the down and dirty stuff. I'm talking high command and philosophy, here. Not the pilots. They are thrilled to be doing an important job.
The P-51, believe it or not, was another airplane they didn't want. It was designed for the RAF and thr Air Corps high command felt that it had enough fighter designs either flying, or in the design stages, that it had no need for this airplane. But nuetrality laws being what they were, the U.S. could not build an airplane for a warring power. It could sell airplanes that our own units were already operating, but not build airframes specifically for another nation at war. And so the War Department made the Air Corps buy some of the new North American design to circumnavigate the problem. The rest, as they say, is history.
And the Phantom. It was built for the Navy. "We don't want a Navy jet!!" Well, McNamara was pushing his commonality idea through the Defense Department. All the services would fly the same airplanes. Keeps costs down. He was a bean counter. It was FORCED on the Air Force. Again, grudgingly, they took them. It was originally given the designation F-110, but the Defence Department said that to avoid confusion, all services would give the jets the same number. The Navy had already designated the Phantom the F4, and so...the Air Force called it the F4. If it wasn't for that, we'd be up to F-200 or so by now, wouldn't we?
So three of the finest fighter aircraft the Air Force ever operated were forced down their throat. The guys up on top aren't always so smart. Luckily there are a few smart ones up there helping with the decision making.

Great post Pooch!


It can be difficult for any branch of service when your main "bread and butter' mission isn't as relevant as it used to be. For the USAF it's sweeping the skies of enemy aircraft and for the USN it's sinking enemy ships out at sea.


Both of these missions have been pretty sparsely used since Vietnam.

First of all, I love the A-10. If I didn't I would not have posted this.

But, here is a comment from another site that I think covers the A-10 very well:




The A-10 is awesome for the missions it flew in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria etc. where there was no air opposition nor any AAA worth mentioning. Outside of such an environment it would have a tough time. Not saying it would not have a role, but it would have to be employed very differently and that would reduce it's effectiveness.

Yep F4U, I agree completely.

I think a lot of what the USAF does in decision making on these things is based on budget. They're told they have to have a nuclear deterrent (both missiles and bombers), have an air defense capability, a strike capability, and a CAS capability, but not given enough money to get dedicated resources for all of them. When you look at the tasks, I think it's been shown that even bombers can do CAS to a certain degree, and with new weapons and sensors (I can't find the article now, but there is a new bomb that has a very small warhead and can track moving vehicles like trucks) more platforms will be more effective at it. But, it's almost impossible to get an A-10 to be an intercontinental bomber or fighter, so it seems like if the USAF has to cut an airframe due to budget issues, it just makes the most sense to let the A-10 go at this point.

But the pilot mentality of purpose has a big influence. A-10 support was excellent because the pilots knew why they were flying.

Well, if true, it's not the airplane that magically gives them that purpose, other than maybe because there's nothing else it can do. My guess is that if you went to any of the guys who've flown CAS on other platforms, and told them that they didn't care as much about the guys on the ground as the A-10 guys, you might get a bit of an argument.

Don`t think there is anyone here that don`t like the A-10,and even more so,its Canon is what we all like about it. Love hearing that sound when its unleashed.

This is fairly spot on. There is some good overlap for the CAS role. F-16s can carry the AGM-65 and other precision munitions, as can Hornets. New AC-130 configurations have been developed and the USMC even modified KC-130Js for the CAS role. UAVs have a long loiter time and can have multiple cameras on the airfame for enhanced visual monitoring. Then there are attack and recon helicopters. Point being there is some good overlap and every branch has at least one type of dedicated CAS platform that works well for low intensity conflicts.

A smaller dedicated CAS plane would be nice and I know a lot of the Army guys want a prop aircraft for dedicated CAS, but I think it will be a very costly program if the planes are retired when the current conflicts in the middle east settle down.

Very cool airplane and I like the low and slow roll its played over the decades with those specific capabilities and there does seem to be a more tangible camaraderie between Warthog pilots and soldiers on the ground. Maybe its no more or no less than any other piloted airplane interacting and communicating with ground forces but sometimes it seems like it when you watch these documentaries on it. Regardless I appreciate and admire the amazing assistance and morale A-10 pilots and their aircraft bring to the soldiers on the ground. A family friend's husband was an A-10 pilot and flies for FedEx now but he pulled down from his attic a single barrel from the Warthog's gatling gun and I could barely hold it up lol. The airplane is an amazing and wicked weapon of war and I love learning about it and its support role to folks actually on the ground in the thick of it.

Thanks for sharing the vid, I had not heard of it, great documentary !
Love the plane, basically a Ju-87 on steroids, and like its distant ancestor did 70 odd years back, it is now facing a much different environment than it was designed for.

It did well. Delivering every time.
The A-10 will be a great addition - and probably the hero - alongside other warbirds at airshows.
Not angry anymore, but just as sexy and mighty

Cheers,
Slug

I saw this video when it was first made in 2014 while I was at Bagram AFG, but all of the faces were blurred out. My A-10 unit replaced the KC Hawgs in the video about a month after it was made, and we worked with KC for a few weeks before they shipped out...and did the same mission.

We ended up closing A-10 operations at Bagram and then forward deployed to Kuwait where we were the first A-10s to attack the daeshbags in Iraq and Syria. I hung out with the combat photographers who made the video when they followed us to Kuwait and I drove them around the airfield so they could get some cool shots.

Here is some of their work...and in the link I'm in the third picture going under the nose landing gear while doing End Of Runway (Last Chance) inspections before a mission.

Blacksnakes In Kuwait Linky


As far as the debate that A-10s are strictly a CAS platform...oh how times have changed. If you watched the "Grunts" video, they even mention how we used to be strictly going in at 100' to attack tanks, but now, with the amount of upgrades we're more of a medium altitude attack aircraft. A-10s can carry and deliver just about any ordinance that any other fighter can carry. Any AGM-65 Maverick (video, IR, laser), JDAMs, LGBs. CBUs, all assortment of rockets, and even AIM-9s. ECM pods, Litening or Sniper pods. Pilots have the HMICs helmets with the eye recitical, SADL (situational Awareness Data Link), and a wide array of radios to communicate with anyone on or above the battlefield. Oh, and there's still 1150 rounds of HEI 30mm rounds which makes it nice for about 9-10 strafing passes that is about 98% accurate for hitting targets. They still do a hell of a job with CAS and CSAR, but they also seek and destroy insurgents, vehicles, armor, buildings, boats, and infrastructure. A-10s have played a pivotal role in bringing isis to the breaking point.

I do agree that a high threat area isn't a good place to be for them, but for where we've been for the past 16 years it's still kicking major butt.