The Warthog LIVES!!!

[bayonetbrant]

Police to get A-10s as part of surplus program

O0  O0  O0

The US Air Force will be retire the A10 thunderbolt soon. The plane with the nicknames of "Warthog" and "Tank killer" was designed for close air ground support missions. A mission that could be adopted for police use.
Police-A10General George Hammond says the A10s we will be retrofitted for civilian police use. "We have done a few studies and found these planes will improve American police forces much as helicopters have."
The planes would be given to police as part of the 1033 program. Much like how MRAP vehicles are being given to police SWAT teams.
A retrofit would include removing the Gatling Gun or rotary cannon, from the nose of the airplane. That weapon would be replaced by a 40mm less lethal launcher.
No police sources will go on record admitting it but there is rumor of new tear gas "bombs" being developed for police use. Using old Mark 81 bomb designs manufactures are looking to create a larger anti riot gas payload delivery system for law enforcement. The theory being that a laser guided bomb could put the gas into the pinpoint center of any civil disturbance.
Police Lt. Cameron Mitchell says "Look we are the police. We don't need a weapon of war. But this plane can be a tool to keep the public safe. With that 40mm launcher we can drop grenades filled with tear gas or pepper spray deep into riots to disperse them with out marching cops into the fight.We can also use less lethal ferret rounds to end high speed chases on the interstate. A close support jet can work better than some helicopters can in missions like these."
Lt. Mitchell could not go on record to talk about bombs. Off the record he did say how a laser guided weapon would do a better job to end a police chase than firing off rounds from nose cannon.
There is no official word on when the first A10 will be in the air flown by a police officer.

[Airborne Rifles]

Heh

[LongBlade]

The first step is admitting you have a problem...

Head of Air Combat Command Gen. Hawk Carlisle informed reporters on Friday that, despite a week of deliberation, the Air Force is still unclear as to what next-generation aircraft would replace the A-10's much-needed close-air support capabilities.

The week-long summit, which brought together leaders across all branches of the military to discuss close-air support, concluded on Friday with broad agreement that the Air Force's position on the matter is correct: the A-10 needs to be retired in order to cut costs and make way for the expensive F-35, Defense News reports. Currently, the Air Force's budget exceeds sequestration limits by $10 billion dollars, and one of the justifications given by Air Force leadership for retiring the A-10 stems from the toll it takes on the budget.

But as Ben Fernanes writes for the Council on Foreign Relations, "the Air Force budget argument fails to address total defense expenditures. The A-10 is, by far, the cheapest CAS platform to operate. In Afghanistan, the military can fly five Afghan-based A-10s for the cost of one Qatar-based B-1B bomber and two A-10s for the cost of an Afghan-based F-15."

source: http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/07/air-force-a-10-replace/

[mirth]

Just read that they're looking at the Textron Scorpion now.

[mirth]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/06/us-usa-airforce-airsupport-idUSKBN0M228N20150306

[Staggerwing]

The Scorpion is too fragile to risk using over a battlefield that might include MANPADs and AA guns w/ radar fire control.

[mirth]

The thinking is that it would be used in low threat environments as a low cost alternative to the F-35. You know, because the A-10 is so expensive to operate :P

[Staggerwing]

If the environment were low-threat it probably isn't in need of CAS anyway. Besides, the Military could just farm it out to Fedex. The ordinance could be bar-coded, scanned, and then dropped out a back hatch on laser-guided hand-trucks.

[mirth]

I'm not disagreeing with you.

[mirth]

Other than Star and some Air Force brass, I'm not sure who thinks the F-35 can survive doing CAS in a 'high threat' environment.

[GDS_Starfury]

wtf are you talking about?  Ive never said that about the F-35.

[mirth]

Really? Do we need to go to the tape, fanboi?

[GDS_Starfury]

go find it.  Ive been one of the biggest proponents of the A-10 you'll ever find and Ive been bitching about parts of the F-35 program forever.

[LongBlade]

go find it.  Ive been one of the biggest proponents of the A-10 you'll ever find and Ive been bitching about parts of the F-35 program forever.

Methinks he doth protest too much.

[GDS_Starfury]

Im still waiting Mirtha.