A-10 Documentrary

FOB Ghazni-great Chicken Sizzler! Good times...dangerous place though.

Those A-10 guys love to punch flares. My crew chief would kill me if we blew off that many! :D
 
Velocity173 said:
FOB Ghazni-great Chicken Sizzler! Good times...dangerous place though.

Those A-10 guys love to punch flares. My crew chief would kill me if we blew off that many! :D
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Better than get shot down though right? Plus scares the Taliban.
 
mscard88 said:
Better than get shot down though right? Plus scares the Taliban.
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Punching flares as you break away from lead or after refuel is for show. Punching flares during a show of force could be done as a protective measure but in this case, it looks like he did it as he flew over friendlies for show as well.

Ghazni Province is mildly dangerous but it’s not a MANPAD type of dangerous. If we punched flares every time we flew over a possible threat, our dispensers would be empty within the first hour.
 
Seemed like the AT-6 had the advantage in short field takeoff. This is if they’re both operating at similar weights.
 
Velocity173 said:
In the vid it’s not carrying any ordnance at all. It can carry a .50 Cal gun pod though.
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Yeah I don't know if there are any plans for a 30 to replace the A-10's. NK and Russia have a lot of tanks, though, unless we have something for them too (sure we do).
 
Cant remember if it was the 1985 or 1986 Defense Authorization bill that had deep within the legislation transferring the A-10 to the Army but at the time even the Pentagon was not aware of the language till the last minute when it did not happen...AF was trying to kill it and some congressman was trying to save the production and jobs. At the same time I was in a unit in Germany that habitually trained with all A-10 assets in Germany. We even ran a 2 week school for A-10 pilots were we through them in the left seat of an OH-58 and gave them 10 hrs of Scout Training as we were there primary source of combined arms integration at the time...they learned to give the 9 line rather than just get it and the perspective our scouts and guns had for the target. Every other month started a new class...occasionally our guy's got a ride in the dual seat trainer they had but never happened for me. The A-10 had at that time only limited ability to pick up a laser spot designator and only that gave him a spot in the HUD and no more info...our AH-1F had that ability...no weapons could be slaved to the spot, only a visual reference. These guys were flying with map and compass like us...no GPS...nothing...

A nine line from an IP was there only method...either guns or if they could pick up the target a Maverick with terminal guidance from their cockpit. Ingress was at 200 ft and 250 knots with a pop up maneuver at 4K from the target to the inverted (Only way to see over the nose) and roll out on target heading and engage...To the average AF pilot this was insane...to us it made JAAT (Joint Air Attack) a thing of beauty...when orchestrated we could put a spot on the target for the A-10 Run, have Artillery impacting simultaneous with a fire at my command mission and TOW missiles in the air and Snakes covering the A-10 break covered with 2.75"s...we practice this dance every other week...

Technology and Desert Storm saved the A-10 with laser spot technology...I would have given my left nut to fly A-10s during this era...still have a checkered ascot...but some things don't need to be told.
 
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