In article <rk5tidlp507vuljk4afuru4i5jg450eiln@4ax.com>, Stormin' Norman says...
>
>On Sat, 23 Jun 2018 13:19:07 -0500, Mitchell Holman
><noemail@verizont.net> wrote:
>
>>Stormin' Norman <norman@schwarzkopf.in.memorium> wrote in
>>news:n3lsidpv2fc4baimb5dsd5d8uct7f6c2lt@4ax.com:
>>
>>> Amazing what one finds just by turning over a few rocks!
>>>
>>>
>>> "The U.S. Air Force has a complicated relationship with its low- and
>>> flying branch has tried more than once to retire the ungainly A-10 in
>>> favor of speedier planes, only for lawmakers to block the move.
>>>
>>> But on at least one occasion, the Air Force actually defended the
>>> modern version of the World War II P-51 Mustang that Congress for some
>>> reason really loved.
>>
>>
>> I thought the A-10 was phased out because
>>it's mission could be better performed - and
>>and less cost - by drone-carried missles. No?
>>
>>
>
>To the best of my knowledge, the A-10 is expected to be in service
>with the USAF to at least 2028.
>
>Originally, the AF had proposed replacing the A-10 with the F-35A but
>I believe congress didn't go for that idea, a good decision IMHO.
The Air Force wanted to shut it down for one simple reason...money...the F-35 is
way behind schedule and way over budget...fazing out the A-10 would free up
money to dump into the F-35 program. The F-35 financial disaster is what
happens when you ignore the fly-before-you-buy approach.
The assumption was that any technical difficulties encountered along the way
would be addressed as they arose...just the high tech pilot helmets are
reportedly going to cost $400,000...each!!
*
>
>Now, the AF is evaluating several turboprop aircraft as replacements.
>
>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/06/air-force-tests-two-turboprops-as-potential-a-10-replacements/
>
>If the USAF desk jockeys were on the ground faced with enemy fire, I
>wager they would come back and insist on acquiring an updated version
>of the A-10 with the same GAU-8 Avenger 30MM autocannon.
>
>
>
>--
>
>are, shall we say, unusual in both ferocity and predictability. This
>is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an
>undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs
>are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a
>craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism
>where the world outside himself has value - indeed exists - only
>insofar as it sustains and inflates him."
>
>- Charles Krauthammer M.D. (Board Certified Psychiatrist)
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