By Henry Cuningham
Military editor
 

 Sixteen years ago, the Air Force was about to get rid of the A-10. Now the Air Force plans to keep the Warthog for 22 more years.

“The A-10 is proposed to stay in the inventory till 2028,” said Col. Warren L. Henderson, commander of the 23rd Fighter Group at Pope Air Force Base.

The aircraft, which is known for flying low and slowly over battlefields in support of ground troops, will be upgraded to the A-10C configuration. The upgraded aircraft will have more computer technology and precision-guided weapons and the ability to shoot from higher altitudes in all weather.

The first A-10 was deployed in 1976, according to the Air Force. Last year, Henderson was the pilot when Aircraft 697 hit the 11,000-hour mark, setting a record for the A-10.

“A lot of people like to poke fun at the A-10 because it’s old and it’s slow,” Henderson said. “It doesn’t have all the fancy weapons, but there’s a lot to be said, and our customers tell us this, for a system that has staying power, can service a target over and over and over again, that has a big gun and knows how to use it. There’s just no beating that.”

Lockheed Martin Systems Integration-Owego of New York has the contract for the $300 million program to develop the Precision Engagement upgrade of the Air Force’s fleet of 356 aircraft for 21st century warfare, said Frans Jurgens, a spokesman for the contractor.

The upgraded A-10 will have computer screens instead of knobs and round dials and will be able to deliver GPS-guided bombs.

The upgrade program is small change compared with the billions being spent to develop the supersonic F-22A Raptor and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that will eventually replace the A-10 and F-16.

“Air Force inventory is old,” Henderson said. “It’s going to continue to get older because the replacements are expensive. It’s going to take time to acquire those capabilities and bring them into the service. In the meantime, we’ve got to make sure we can still provide the support to the public that we need to. The way to do that is to extend the service life of our airframes.”

The Air Force has been doing flight testing of the A-10C at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

“The first A-10C production aircraft is being rolled out by the Air Force at Hill Air Force Base in Odgen, Utah, in mid-August,” Jurgens said. The contractor will deliver hardware and software upgrade kits to be installed by the Air Force, he said.

During the next two years, the Pope group will be juggling deployments to Afghanistan, the four-month aircraft upgrades and a move to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.

“In addition to the airplanes being upgraded, the pilots will have to go through an upgrade course of about a month to do academics to learn about all the new systems and simulators and flights to learn how to be able to employ them appropriately,” Henderson said.

Henderson, who is 48, has been flying the A-10 since 1987. The aircraft got high marks for its performance in the first Persian Gulf War in 1991 and has been frequently deployed since then, especially to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.

“The A-10 is always the first fighter aircraft to go on the chopping block because it’s not supermodern,” Henderson said. “It’s not superfast. It’s not stealthy. It’s not glamorous. It’s not any of the things we like to think of when we think fighter aircraft. It’s ugly, and it’s slow, and it’s a little bit old and archaic in its systems. However, every time the A-10 is called into duty, it proved its capabilities and it proves why the A-10 needs to stay in the inventory.”

Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3585.

I had thought the AF was going to retire them, so it is good news to know that not only will the Warthog be around for 20+ more years, it's going to become even more capable.

"I have the Americans with me, and they have their death ray. Surrender or die!"   Gen. Abdul Rashid Dotsum. Afghan Warlord.

I'm glad they're upgrading her, she's a good bird and I don't know any ground pounder that wants to see her go away

"...my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." He added, after a pause, looking me full in the face: "That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave"

General "Stonewall" Jackson

My favorite is, of course, the C-130!  

Recoil myth

The GAU-8/A "Avenger" gatling gun next to a VW Beetle

A persistent urban legend is that the recoil force of the Avenger matches that of the A-10's engines and as such the plane would slow down, stall and subsequently crash if the gun was to be fired for long periods of time. Some even add the fanciful notion of the plane beginning to fly backwards. These claims hold little truth.

The recoil force, F, can be calculated by using F = ma, where m is the projectile mass, and a is the acceleration to bring it to muzzle velocity. At 4200 rounds/minute, a 0.425 kg projectile is accelerated to 1067 m/s in one seventieth of a second, giving an acceleration of 74690 m / s² (alternatively, over the course of a second, 29.75 kg is accelerated to 1067 m/s). This gives a recoil force of approximately 30 kN. On the GAU-8/A product homepage the recoil force is stated as 10,000 pounds-force, or about 45 kN. The maximum combined output of the A-10 engines is 80 kN. Hence the recoil force of the gun is slightly more than half of the total thrust of the engines. While this is quite significant, it is not sufficient to stop the aircraft, or to even slow its airspeed enough for the pilot to feel any noticeable reduction.

According to 355th Fighter Wing Weapons and Tactics Chief at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ, there is no recoil problem with the GAU-8/A. The GAU-8/A utilizes recoil adapters. They are the interface between the gun housing and the gun mount. By absorbing (in compression) the recoil forces, they reduce the magnitude of the recoil and counter recoil energy transmitted to the supporting structure when the gun is fired. There is no noticeable feel to the aircraft that any reduction in airspeed is occurring, nor does gun-firing affect aircraft speed.

Some claims have been made that the A-10 engines are susceptible to flame-out when subjected to gunpowder gases, such that when the GAU-8 firing, the smoke from the gun can make the engines stop. Gun exhaust is essentially oxygen-free, and is certainly capable of causing flame-outs of gas turbines. However, the A-10 is designed so that the gun exhaust passes underneath the fuselage, and never ventures near the high-mounted turbines, even during negative-G maneuvers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger

Far as the recoil myth goes, the GAU does cause a miniscule loss of velocity but the aircraft does not carry enough ammunition to create a discernable affect. One of the prototypes was lost after both engines were flamed out by the smoke and debris being ejected fromt he muzzle. Modifications were made and it hasn't  occured since...

 

"The degenerative and loony should never be denigrated but, rather, thanked. In their absence, the rest of you would be obliged to fill congressional seats... positions naturally unsavory to the sane and honorable."

Thorax

I'm Surprised Panama's still sea level, after all the Push Ups I did down there.

"The degenerative and loony should never be denigrated but, rather, thanked. In their absence, the rest of you would be obliged to fill congressional seats... positions naturally unsavory to the sane and honorable."

Thorax