Is there no way to melt water out of the ice?
Is there no way to melt water out of the ice?
And less capable - the two jet engines let it carry its gun.
Thank God, the Air Force leadership finally had a moment of clarity! I wonder how much money they blew figuring out an A-10 was better at CAS than the F-35?
I worked on A-10s and they are just nice jets to maintain. Very well thought-out design. They really should restart production of A-10s. Like C-130s, they hit upon a beautifully designed airframe and there is little room for improvement.
Thank God, the Air Force leadership finally had a moment of clarity! I wonder how much money they blew figuring out an A-10 was better at CAS than the F-35?
I worked on A-10s and they are just nice jets to maintain. Very well thought-out design. They really should restart production of A-10s. Like C-130s, they hit upon a beautifully designed airframe and there is little room for improvement.
Indeed. The one area for improvement that I can see is making a compact targeting pod that would mount where the old Pave Penny pods went, which would free up a hard point.
:lol: Or something like this?:
Good luck placing the GAU-8.
Indeed. One of the great things about the A-10 is that it is highly modular and technological upgrades are relatively easy to implement. Something like the F-35 Helmet Mounted Display system for the A-10 would be a killer combination - the right technology on the right aircraft IMO.
F-35 Helmet Display System - YouTube
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Anybody remember Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites ARES? Kinda neat idea - engine intake on left, gun on right, but good luck repairing any ground fire damage.
Turbofan Killer Bee: Rutan ARES "Mudfighter" for U.S. Army Close Air Support - YouTube
Here's a question I have: Could an F-14 variant have been designed with the GAU-8?
An interesting alternate history exercise:
Given the history surrounding the F-111 project and then the development of the Teen Series fighters, I don't think a world in which the F-111 ended up failing completely, and the Air Force ended up adopting the F-14 in its role, and then never developing the F-15 because the F-14 was competent (if not as good as the F-15) in an air superiority role, is at all inconceivable. The Navy ended up not developing the ground attack capabilites of the F-14 because they had other attack aircraft, but in a world where the USAF didn't get the F-111, they would probably at first have been most interested in the F-14 for ground attack. I'm not sure the A-10 would have been necessary in such a world, though it still might have been desirable on cost grounds, but then, reducing 3 types (A-10, F-111, F-15) to one (F-14) might have allowed enough fewer airframes to be built to offset the higher cost per airframe. And if that was the case, I could see an attempt being made to fit a GAU-8 into an F-14.
Damn, this parenting business is complicated!!
99% of parenting is staying calm against all odds.
Here's a question I have: Could an F-14...
Actually I recall them having problems modifying Tomcats to be able to deliver air to ground stores (nicknamed the "Bomb Cats") due to aerodynamics making it hard to cleanly separate the bombs from the airframe without throwing off the aim. I assume they worked those problems out. The F-14 is a very large airplane, especially for a fighter, so it could probably handle a large payload and gun pod.
I don't imagine it'd be the best platform for loitering around a ground combat zone for long periods of time, though.
Why not, in particular? Part of the reason the Tomcat was so heavy (beyond the need to carry the Phoenix) was the Navy's fuel requirements.
IMO the Pentagon wasted 25 years. After the Gulf War an effort should've been made to build a follow-on to the A-10. But the fact is that even in 1991 the USAF was already talking about retiring the airframe. I've never been impressed with the USAF upper leadership's commitment to CAS and inderdiction; the USAF was built on strategic bombing theory and that's what they've always focused on, with modifications for nuclear deterrence. CAS means supporting the Army and a land campaign.
Here's a question I have: Could an F-14 variant have been designed with the GAU-8?