The A-10 in T2k - still the most flying?

[kato13]

As to ammo - more than 100,000,000 rounds were made for the GAU-8/A in our timeline

I had trouble accepting that number until i found this.

http://www.atk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/30mmx173mmAmmo1.pdf

ATK's family of 30mm x 173mm ammunition builds on our production experience of over 100 million rounds of 30mm GAU-8 ammunition.

I am pretty well informed on things military, but every once and a while the size of military logistics staggers my mind.

Edit.

I guess that only comes out to about 100 full loads per airframe. Not unreasonable when you consider the longevity of the airframe and the amount of training the US does.

[DigTw0Grav3s]

Did anybody read Red Storm Rising There was a bit about the A-10's brutal effect on Soviet armor, but it also points out that the Warthogs were flying into some of the most dense IADS in the world. Even with excellent crews, A-10 drivers would probably lose the numbers game.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Did anybody read Red Storm Rising There was a bit about the A-10's brutal effect on Soviet armor, but it also points out that the Warthogs were flying into some of the most dense IADS in the world. Even with excellent crews, A-10 drivers would probably lose the numbers game.

Yeah - basically when a flight of two popped up every trooper around the general officer the book was focusing on screamed "Devil's crosses!" and went into panic mode.

IIRC in Coyle's Bright Star (or maybe it was Sword Point) a young Soviet officer witnesses an A10 flight's attack on his truck convoy at dusk, and watches his vehicles and men burst into flames every time the "bright red beam" from the A10's nose (they were firing tracer rounds) hit; his assumption was that they were armed with energy weapons since nothing else could do that.

[pmulcahy11b]

I know that A10 training is now done at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, but does anyone know which base would have carried out pilot training in the late 1990's in the T2K timline It seems to me that area would be the most likely location to find any A10's that are still in the US in the year 2000.

I'm not sure about primary training, but prospective fighter and attack pilots go to Randolph AFB here in San Antonio. It's on the far north of San Antonio in an area of the city called Universal City. T2K canon says it took a 1 MT nuke on TDM, but I find that hard to believe considering the events of Red Star, Lone Star.

[mpipes]

That was done by my old AF Reserve unit; the 917th Wing. at Barksdale AFB They exclusively took up the training mission in about 1993 if I recall during the base closing and realignment decisions that occurred after Desert Storm. However, in the new pre-T2k world, a lot of assumptions that led to the decisions to draw down the military would not have been in play. I think more active USAF A-10 units would have been retained, and I doubt the base closing and realignments would have gone through as they did.

Incidentally, the 917th is now the 307th Bomb Wing operating B-52Hs, and all the A-10s went to Davis-Monthan.

I also remember watching an video of an A-10 attack with cannon on what I think was a T-55 or maybe T-62 on gunnery range in the early 70s, and the 30mm rounds literally ripped the rear of the turret off of the tank.

[Olefin]

I'm not sure about primary training, but prospective fighter and attack pilots go to Randolph AFB here in San Antonio. It's on the far north of San Antonio in an area of the city called Universal City. T2K canon says it took a 1 MT nuke on TDM, but I find that hard to believe considering the events of Red Star, Lone Star.

I saw that as well - a 1 MT nuke there and no San Antonio left for the Soviets to occupy. It's like the Colorado Springs government location - if they got hit as described then there shouldn't be a Colorado Springs anymore

[WallShadow]

I don't know which unit it belonged to, or where it was from, but at least one A-10 flew west over the flea market south of Harrisburg where I was on Saturday morning. It might have been out of Ft. Indiantown Gap.

[Olefin]

saw that same plane in my area as well down near York - forgot you were in my area WallShadow! Great to have someone in the same general area.

[kato13]

A-10 is going to outlive the F-22

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/12/air-force-chief-hints-retiring-f-22-raptor-fighter-downsize.html

[Adm.Lee]

Idaho National Guard having fun with paint

https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/a...war-two-idaho/

Another A-10 in P-47 colors

[mpipes]

The A-10 outliving the F-22 is very ironic, since one of the rationales offered for retiring the A-10 about 20 years ago was to free up funds and personnel to go to the F-22 fleet.

[Raellus]

Sexy Beast

Another A-10 in P-47 colors

Such a sexy scheme.

Here's some more Warthog stuff for y'all:

A different D-Day paint job:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39760/this-shot-of-a-pair-of-specially-painted-a-10-warthogs-is-mind-boggling

A Vietnam era A-10 paint job:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39496/a-10-warthog-emerges-painted-in-green-and-tan-camouflage

And why you don't want to dogfight with a Warthog:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/38894/fighter-pilots-reveal-why-you-dont-want-to-mess-with-the-a-10-warthog-in-a-dogfight

Recent upgrades to keep the A-10:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37233/the-a-10-warthog-is-preparing-for-its-biggest-upgrade-in-over-a-decade

And lastly, if you're thinking about gen'ing up a female A-10 pilot PC:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/4014/how-a-small-town-girl-ended-up-in-the-cockpit-of-an-a-10-warthog

(Includes a ton of pics)

I live north of Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, so I get to see [all-grey] A-10s nearly every day, but I haven't caught any of these custom paint jobs yet.

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[swaghauler]

Both the A10 AND F16 will outfly all other aircraft. Why It's simple. COST PER FLIGHT HOUR. In a world where fighter aircraft can cost up to $50K per hour to fly, The A10 and F16 can cost as little $5k per hour (depending on the model and mission configuration). $10K would be more truthful, but the two aircraft I mentioned are still the cheapest to fly. In addition, they are the two aircraft most easily maintained and therefore can go much longer between the mandatory services that are required to remain "airworthy."

[Olefin]

If I remember right wasnt the reason the A-10 was in Terminator Salvation was that they actually did research and figured that if any jet would still be operational years after the end of the world that it would be the A-10 because it was so easy to maintain

[Raellus]

Always Bet on Black

And just when you thought the A-10 couldn't look any cooler...

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41483/behold-the-awesomeness-of-this-black-a-10-warthog

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