These Hogs are Warthogs, specifically the A-10 “Warthog” jet fighter
The headlines and newscasts have understandably and rightfully been dominated lately by the bloody Hamas invasion of Israel and Israel’s bloody response.
But there’s another bloody war we need to keep on our radar. That’s Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. It has been called a war between democracy and totalitarian dictatorship.
In the U.S., the Putin wing of the MAGA party, the one they used call Republicans, wants to aid Israel but strangle Ukraine. They want to help Russian dictator Vladimir Putin defeat Ukraine’s democracy.
Ukraine needs weapons. I want to tell you about some potent U.S. weapons the Pentagon is sending to the scrap heap. These allegedly obsolete weapons could help Ukraine—a lot.
We need to send Ukraine the U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt, which has been a literal lifesaver for countless American combat troops over the years. The A-10 is known as the Warthog or simply, the Hog. Here’s an example of what U.S. troops in nasty firefights have to say about the Warthog:
“The A-10 is savin’ the day again, baby!” [Laughing, cheering]
Let’s consider that again:
“The A-10 is savin’ the day again, baby!”
A favorite of our “Boots on the Ground”
The A-10 is far and away, the favorite Air Force aircraft of our boots on the ground, from special forces commandos to the rank-and-file infantry.
The A-10’s main mission is what is known as close air support.
The Warthog flies low and slow compared to other Air Force jets.
Its deadly Gatling gun cannon makes a Bronx cheer kind of noise as it swoops in to blast the enemy. When the A-10 strafes enemy troops with its machine-gun cannon, cheers erupt from U.S. troops on the ground below, in one war zone after another.
“Close air support is…about the guy on the ground.”—“Stoner”, A-10 pilot.
“The A-10 was built for ground combat. —“McGraw”, A-10 pilot.
Those comments are from a mini-documentary, produced by the Missouri-based 303rd A-10 fighter squadron, on duty in 2014 in Afghanistan. They hoped their documentary would convince the Pentagon to save the A-10.
The Generals were Furious
Instead, the Air Force brass was furious. Air Force generals tried to kill the documentary, but copies leaked out. Soon it was seen millions of times on the Internet. Members of Congress saw it, too, and the Air Force left the A-10s in service—for a while.
The A-10 is, quite simply, a rapid-fire gatling gun cannon with an airplane built around it. The GAU-8 Avenger’s seven rapidly rotating barrels can fire 30-millimeter projectiles at a ferocious 39 hundred rounds per minute. The plane’s ammo drum is almost the size of a Volkswagen beetle. The cannon is so powerful it briefly slows the plane’s air speed when it fires.
The A-10 was designed and built during the Cold War. One of its missions was to kill Soviet tanks if Russia invaded Europe. The A-10 was up for the challenge.
The A-10 Warthog is ugly and slow when compared to newer, sleeker, faster combat aircraft, like the obscenely overpriced and problem-plagued F-35.
The A-10 was built to take groundfire, and a lot of it. The cockpit is surrounded by a projectile-resistant titanium tub.
An A-10 Survival Tale
One A-10 pilot who was saved by the plane’s armor was Capt. Kim “KC” Campbell. KC is her call sign. It stands for Killer Chick.
Campbell flew over 100 combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan.
For her combat flying skills she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the highest medal in the Air Force. She retired as an Air Force colonel.
During the Iraq war, Campbell and her lead A-10 pilot got a call that U.S. troops were taking enemy fire at a bridge on the North side of Baghdad. As Campbell recalls:
“We had the coordinates. We understood the situation and our plan was to go in there, do a couple of strafing runs with rockets and get out. We did a couple of passes. We did gun and rockets and my last pass…and just the loudest explosion at the back of the airplane. I mean, I knew I had been hit. There was no doubt in my mind. It was just, the whole jet shook. I remember seeing this kind of bright orange fireball surround the airplane…”
The plane’s hydraulic controls had been shot up. She struggled to get her A-10 under control using an old-fashioned manual control system. Campbell knew she couldn’t eject over Baghdad where battles were raging everywhere. Her only option was to limp back to Kuwait, a harrowing one-hour flight of about 300 miles. But she made it and she landed safely.
“I was just happy to be on the ground. Any landing you can walk away from is a good one,” Campbell said, smiling.
The A-10 was a life-saver many times over in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, the Air Force hates the A-10 and it has been moving heaven and earth to ground these heroic planes. The Air Force hates the A-10 because they apparently hate close air support. The Air Force doesn’t care about the grunts on the ground.
Old Fantasies Die Hard
The generals get orgasmic over supersonic jets engaged in acrobatic air-to-air combat. Air Force generals and fighter pilots cling to the delusion that cockpit hot shots will engage in aerial combat in wars of the future.
The Air Force’s own Research Lab has developed the XQ-58A Valkyrie, an unmanned combat drone powered by artificial intelligence. The Valkyrie cruises at 548 miles-per-hour. It has a range of 35 hundred miles. Test flights have already demonstrated the drone in the role of wingman to piloted fighters. Before long, those piloted fighters will be obsolete.
Ukraine Asked for A-10s—A lot of them
When Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the first U.S. weapons the Ukrainians asked for was—the A-10. One hundred of them.
The Warthog was designed in the Cold War as a tank killer. It was meant to go up against Soviet tanks in Close Air Support. That’s exactly what Ukraine wanted to do with them.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin refused Ukraine’s request, saying the 1970s-era A-10 is obsolete.
Obsolescence hasn’t stopped the Air Force from keeping the B-52 bomber in service. The B-52 has been flying since 1955. It is 22 years older than the A-10. Everything from engines to sheet It’s been upgraded with the latest electronic defensive systems.
But the B-52 is a nuclear bomber, not a lowly jet fighting down and dirty with our ground troops and saving the lives of many GIs.
Trying to Con Congress
Congress knows that countless veterans—who vote—have high praise for the A-10. To get Congress to fund costly new war toys, the Pentagon had to keep the A-10 in service for years.
The late Sen. John McCain, was a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War.
He was on a mission near Hanoi when he was shot down. He became a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Sen. McCain was a fierce supporter of the A-10. He was well-aware of what the A-10 did in battle.
During a Senate Armed Services hearing in April, 2014, McCain grilled Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James about the relentless plan to retire the A-10. Senator McCain asked her which plane the Air Forced planned as the replacement for the A-10 for close air support. She stunned McCain when she mentioned the B-1 Bomber:
James: “F15E, F-16, B-1 Bomber, some of our unmanned…
McCain: “The B-1 bomber will now be used for close air support?
James: “So it is my belief that the B-1 bomber has done some close air support in Afghanistan. So, we would cover it with existing aircraft and, of course, down the line…”
McCain: “That’s a remarkable statement. That doesn’t comport with any experience I’ve ever had, nor anyone I know has ever had.
“See, this is an example…you’re throwing in the B-1 bomber as a Close Air Support weapon to replace the A-10. This is the reason why there is such incredible skepticism here in the Congress…”
The A-10 was built specifically for Close Air Support. The B-1 is a bomber, designed and built to be—a bomber. It was meant to replace the aging B-52, but new technology and cost-overruns made the B-1 an Albatross, not a Warthog. The Air Force Fact Sheet about the B-1 Bomber does not mention Close Air Support. Not once.
Senator McCain was visibly angry:
“I cannot speak for the committee. I can only speak for myself and several others. You will not pursue the elimination of the finest close air support weapon system in the world with answers like that. So I hope you will come up with something that is credible to those of us who have been engaged in this business for a long, long time.”
I have a theory about why the Pentagon refuses to send the A-10 to Ukraine. The Air Force would much rather put them in mothballs. Why? Because Ukraine could make good use, perhaps excellent use, of the A-10s. And maybe that’s the rub. If the Ukrainians use the A-10 “Hogs” to deadly effect against Russia, it will make the new-jet-fighter-loving U.S. Air Force brass look bad for getting rid of a proven life-saving aircraft, which was fully paid for decades ago. And we can’t have any of the big-spending Pentagon brass looking bad, now can we?
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