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#1 cost (mostly due to lack of upfront funding to keep costs down) #2 it doesnt look/scound cool like those 'new' planes. it sounds great to have a cool new je

by autokad 12y ago

#1 cost (mostly due to lack of upfront funding to keep costs down) #2 it doesnt look/scound cool like those 'new' planes. it sounds great to have a cool new jet fighter with (some) stealth and can do neat loopty loops and use the latest and greatest air to air and electronic warfare systems, BUT none of these new planes actually come anywhere close to fulfilling the close ground support role the A-10 offers. its much akin to wanting the best fantasy stat players on your sports team but come to find those metrics don't win championships / make teams.

crypto5 12y ago
> none of these new planes actually come anywhere close to fulfilling the close ground support role the A-10 offers What makes you think that way? Low-end missions can be fulfilled by drones and apaches, and high-end obviously by F-35. A-10 is obsolete mostly because high precision bombs and missiles combined with good sensors are much more efficient than what A-10 has.
- tim333 12y ago
  The new planes - they can't look out the window to figure who to shoot so well. Too high and fast. Drones - limited arms. Though they may be the future when they beef them up a bit. Apaches - the enemy machine guns them. Not protected enough. Here's a story from 2007 when the high end B1 screwed up, the Apaches were challenged and the A-10 helped save things: https://medium.com/war-is-boring/a-10s-saved-the-day-in-botched-afghanistan-raid-b78367f4fd0e https://medium.com/war-is-boring/a-10s-saved-the-day-in-botc...
  - stormcrowsx 12y ago
    The modern Apache fires its weapons from so far away there is no hope of hitting it with a machine gun. Those things are probably the most high tech the Army has, it can communicate with a drone miles ahead of it, that will transmit back the location of a vehicle and the Apache can destroy it without even having line of sight.

by autokad 12y ago

crypto5 12y ago

> none of these new planes actually come anywhere close to fulfilling the close ground support role the A-10 offers What makes you think that way? Low-end missions can be fulfilled by drones and apaches, and high-end obviously by F-35. A-10 is obsolete mostly because high precision bombs and missiles combined with good sensors are much more efficient than what A-10 has.

tim333 12y ago
The new planes - they can't look out the window to figure who to shoot so well. Too high and fast. Drones - limited arms. Though they may be the future when they beef them up a bit. Apaches - the enemy machine guns them. Not protected enough. Here's a story from 2007 when the high end B1 screwed up, the Apaches were challenged and the A-10 helped save things: https://medium.com/war-is-boring/a-10s-saved-the-day-in-botched-afghanistan-raid-b78367f4fd0e https://medium.com/war-is-boring/a-10s-saved-the-day-in-botc...
- stormcrowsx 12y ago
  The modern Apache fires its weapons from so far away there is no hope of hitting it with a machine gun. Those things are probably the most high tech the Army has, it can communicate with a drone miles ahead of it, that will transmit back the location of a vehicle and the Apache can destroy it without even having line of sight.