Moderatore: Staff md80.it
Oserei dire il 'grigione' ..... mentre il 'verdone', che appartiene alle Forze Aeree Bulgare, è sicuramente assai più vicino alla Родина .....Vultur ha scritto:Non so chi dei due è il più lontano da casa.
Fonte ..... "House Legislation Restricts A-10 Retirement" .....In his markup of the defense policy bill, House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry prohibits the Air Force for using FY17 funds to retire, prepare to retire, or place in storage any A-10 aircraft, which primarily conduct close-air support.
The legislation would also mandate the Air Force maintain a minimum of of 171 A-10s designated as primary mission aircraft inventory.
Thornberry’s language also forbids the Air Force from making any significant reductions to A-10 manning levels until the service and the Pentagon’s weapons tester complete comparative tests pitting the legacy Warthog against the fifth-generation F-35, and brief the Congress on the results.
Fonte ..... "Ayotte Continues Efforts to Hold Air Force Accountable and Ensure Ground Troops Have Necessary Close Air Support" .....Yesterday, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Deborah James suggesting that the Air Force's decision to allow the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) A-10 Division pilot manning to drop significantly has forced the division to halt dedicated tests and violates the law.
Mica male .....Addressing the criteria for a replacement aircraft, H.R. 1735 details specifically what standards such a plane would be measured against.
The exact language in the bill is below, but the main takeaway is that the HASC wants the Warthog’s replacement to be able to fly slow and low for long periods of time with a focus on air-to-ground assault abilities while being able to land without a paved runway.
Macché ..... vedrai che ci chiederanno di rimettere in produzione il .....giragyro ha scritto:è la volta che davvero comperano i Ka52 da Putin .-)
Fonte ..... "McSally Wants To Tie A-10 Retirement To F-35 Flyoff" .....McSally said she does not want to “predetermine” the results of the flyoff, but she stressed the A-10’s lethality, survivability and unique capability to provide continuous close-air support: The A-10 can loiter above the battlefield for 90 minutes, while the F-35A can only stay for 20 to 30 minutes on station, she said; the A-10’s gun can fire over 1,170 shots before it runs out of ammunition, while the F-35A only has 180 bullets; the A-10 can stay in the air even after enemy fire has taken out its most crucial capabilities, while the F-35A cannot survive a direct hit.
Fonte ....."F-35 vs. A-10: Air Force Test Pilot Weighs In" .....As debate rages in Washington over replacing the A-10 attack plane with the fifth-generation joint strike fighter, test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, California, are getting a firsthand look at the F-35’s capabilities.
So which platform is better for protecting soldiers in a firefight: the A-10 or the F-35? Lt.
Col. Raja Chari, who started out flying F-15 Strike Eagles and is now director of the F-35 integrated test force and commander of the 461st flight test squadron, weighed in during an interview here with Defense News.
Fonte ..... "Why we need an A-10 / F-35 fly-off" .....The saying “putting the cart before the horse” surely pre-dates the invention of flight, yet it couldn’t be more accurate to describe the Air Force’s shifting and flawed arguments for retiring the A-10 well ahead of schedule, and before we have a proven, tested replacement.
As an airman, I am concerned about our ability to ensure air superiority as threats increase globally and our capability and numerical advantages steadily recede.
We desperately need a fifth-generation fighter like the F-35 to provide air superiority and guarantee access to targets anywhere in the world.
However, the Pentagon’s backward plan to replace the A-10 and its critical missions with the F-35 — before we even know if the F-35 can perform them — risks losing these vital capabilities permanently and puts the lives of American troops in danger.
Fonte ..... "USAF Has Big Plans, But Little Money, For 'Warthog' Replacement" .....The US Air Force is still pondering if and when it can replace the A-10 Warthog, but outgoing Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has his own vision for the next close-air-support platform, which he wants to dispense different kinds of munitions as easily as a soda machine dispenses beverage cans.
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When asked about what improvements he’d like to see in a next-generation CAS plane, Welsh described a “flying Coke machine” that could distribute “firepower on demand.”
"You have a Coke machine overhead, you put in a quarter, and you get whatever kind of firepower you want when you want it. In a perfect world that's close-air support of the future,” he told reporters during a June 15 breakfast meeting.
Fonte ....."Call the CAS Doctors" .......... Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. David Goldfein told the Senate Armed Services Committee the service should not retire the A-10 “in the near term.”
But Goldfein, who currently serves as the vice chief of staff, told lawmakers during his nomination hearing on Thursday he is just as concerned about the A-10 community as he is about the platform itself when it comes to replacing the close air support fighter.
AYOTTE (or McSALLY) for President 2020 .....New Air Force Chief Agrees To Keep A-10 .....
Goldfein agrees not to retire A-10 Thunderbolt, at least for a while .....
Jen DiMascio - AW&ST - July 1, 2016
Gen. David Goldfein, the incoming Air Force chief of staff, is taking a conciliatory tone when it comes to one of the issues that bedeviled his predecessor, Gen. Mark Welsh- retiring the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
In a move that could turn adversaries into advocates, Goldfein, now confirmed by the Senate, is pledging to consult those who fly the close-air support (CAS) aircraft about a future A-10 replacement.
“I’m actually as concerned about the A-10 community as I am about the A-10 platform, because the A-10 community is our Ph.D. force when it comes to close air support,” Goldfein - who has flown trainers, fighters and even the remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper - told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John
McCain (R-Ariz.) during his recent confirmation hearing.
“My focus is going to be on ensuring that I go back to the ‘doctors of CAS’ - the A-10 fleet and the A-10 operators - and say: ‘What is the future of close air support?’”
But a replacement CAS aircraft may be a long time coming.
Welsh, who has spent his four years in office battling Congress over retiring the so-called Warthog, maintains the Air Force does not have the money to pursue an A-10 successor that has more firepower and lower operating costs.
In the meantime, as the Air Force continues to consider options for a future CAS aircraft that can spew precision-guided bullets for 10 min. at a clip, McCain wonders whether it is best not to retire the A-10s.
“Not in the near term,” agrees Goldfein.
Fonte ..... "Air Force Faces Rocky Road Ahead For Replacing the A-10" .....Two years after the Air Force tried to force its aging A-10 Warthog fleet into retirement, officials are exploring whether to procure a potential replacement for the aircraft famed for its powerful defense of troops on the ground.
But whether the service chooses a clean-sheet design or tries to modify a currently available jet, experts say the service will face an uphill battle in terms of getting funding during a tight fiscal climate where it may have to battle other modernization programs for money – despite hopes that foreign customers may be interested in such an aircraft.
The Air Force in recent years has had a complicated relationship with the Warthog, the common name given to the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.
The service attempted to retire the plane in fiscal 2015 and 2016 due to the spending constraints caused by mandatory budget cuts, and was rebuffed by Congress both years.
Finally, in its fiscal year 2017 budget request, it opted to retain the aircraft until 2022 in part due to the platform’s utility in the fight against the Islamic State.
Fonte ..... "Indiana A-10s Deploy to Slovakia" .....Eight A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and about 140 airmen from the 122nd Fighter Wing at Fort Wayne ANGS, Ind., have deployed to Sliac AB, Slovakia, in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
A-10 Warthog Replacement: U.S. Air Force Considers Two-Step Approach .....
Lara Seligman (*) - Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (AW&ST) - July 21, 2016
The U.S. Air Force is contemplating pursuing a low-end, light attack “OA-X” aircraft to augment the A-10 Warthog in a close-air support (CAS) role, while simultaneously aiming for a more robust replacement, dubbed “A-X2,” down the line.
As the Air Force prepares to start sunsetting the beloved A-10 in fiscal year 2018, the service is still deciding on a path ahead for CAS.
During a July 20 meeting, U.S. Air Force officials briefed outside stakeholders on the most recent thinking, detailing the possibility of pursuing two separate light-attack aircraft, potentially in parallel, to meet immediate and long-term needs.
The service officials detailed a possible “OA-X” for solely permissive environments, according to Mark Gunzinger, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
OA-X would be a low-end, low-cost, non-developmental aircraft meant to augment the Air Force’s existing light attack capabilities, he said.
For OA-X, the officials said the Air Force would likely look to an existing airframe, such as the A-29 Super Tucano or the AT-6 trainer, for use in a low-threat battlespace, said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute.
The Air Force does not see OA-X as a replacement for the A-10, but rather as a supplemental capability, Gunzinger stressed.
Simultaneously, the service is also looking into an “A-X2” as a long-term Warthog replacement, the analysts said.
Ideally, A-X2 would be designed to operate in a moderate-to low-threat regime, meaning that it could fight in some contested conditions.
The service officials left the door open as to whether A-X2 would be an existing airframe or an entirely new aircraft, but noted that affordability and speed to ramp would be critical.
The push for a new light attack capability comes as the Air Force faces budget constraints and a readiness gap across the fleet.
The service is looking at potentially adding a cheap, off-the-shelf aircraft to not only to fulfill the CAS role, but also to augment pilot training and add some new cockpits to the fleet, said Rebecca Grant, president of IRIS Independent Research.
“One way they can assist with their readiness is to have some additional cockpits available … maybe this is two birds with one stone,” Grant said.
“I think they feel they need to buy some new planes.”
Gunzinger stressed that details are yet to be finalized, but said he thinks the Air Force could allocate money for the program as soon as the 2019 Program Objective Memorandum (POM).
“They are thinking about how to continue to support this critical mission area given that they have an aging force, a smaller force, and readiness issues and of course definitely budget issues,” Gunzinger said.
“This is a very concrete signal that the Air Force is committed to supporting our men and women on the ground.”
Gunzinger also raised the possibility that one or both could be funded through the supplemental war fund, called the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.
But Thompson said the Air Force may see pushback if it attempts to add two separate aircraft to the modernization plan.
“The reason why they are looking at that instead of simply maintaining the A-10 is because they claim the A-10 costs too much,” Thompson said.
“But now they are going to try to add two aircraft to their modernization plan that no one was expecting.”
..... è necessario precisare che ella è un' accanita sostenitrice del Warthog per il semplice fatto che il marito ne era pilota .....But New Hampshire Sen Kelly Ayotte, a Republican serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has expressed skepticism over whether the A-10 replacement could be fielded in time for the legacy aircraft’s divestment.
Although Ayotte does not hold an A-10 base in her state, she has pushed against the aircraft’s retirement alongside Republican Sen John McCain of Arizona, who chairs the committee.
Fonte ..... "Air Reserve Units Partner for Combat Rescue Training" .....About 200 airmen and 10 A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from Air Force Reserve Command’s 924th Fighter Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., deployed to Florida this weekend to practice providing close air support during combat search and rescue operations
Fonte ..... "Air Force Boss Wary of Proposal for New Close-Air Support Jets" .....While some Air Force officials have begun thinking about replacing the A-10 Warthog, including a new proposal that would involve buying two aircraft types, the service's top civilian leader on Tuesday questioned the affordability of such an endeavor.
During a Defense One event Tuesday morning, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she had not been briefed on any potential options or an acquisition strategy related to a new close air support (CAS) aircraft, dubbed A-X.
One of the options the service is perusing is the purchase of two CAS aircraft meant to augment and eventually replace the A-10.
"So far I have read about this in the news. I have not actually seen a proposal on any of this that has come forward to me. So it sure is pre-decisional. It hasn't been decided on,” she said.
“Where would we get the money? Not at all clear to me.”
Fonte ..... "USAF Air Combat Command chief skeptical over new aircraft for permissive environments" .....US Air Force Air Combat Command chief Gen Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle doubts the need for a new, low-end close air support aircraft when he foresees fewer more contested environments in the future.
During a media briefing announcing initial operational capability for the F-35A, the USAF’s stealth aircraft designed to take on combat zones populated with surface-to-air-missiles, Carlisle expressed skepticism over the possible acquisition of a new light-attack aircraft that would operate in permissive environments.
Over the past month, discussions have swirled within the service around OA-X, the cheap, commercially available aircraft the air force could order as early as next year.
The service is examining two fully developed aircraft, Beechcraft’s AT-6 and Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano.
Fonte ..... "A-10s Fly Over Estonia" .....Eight A-10s, a KC-135, and more than 200 airmen from bases around the US and Europe recently deployed to Estonia for training as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
The A-10s, from 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., arrived at Amari Air Base on July 25 for the two-week exercise
Siamo di fronte al fatto che stanno facendo i salti mortali per boicottarlo nella versione trainer ..... figuriamoci se lo accetterebbero in versione 'cattiva' .....giragyro ha scritto:gli piazziamo un paio di centinaia di 346 in versione armata
Li prova o 'li priva' ?giragyro ha scritto:purtroppo ( per loro ) il nazionalismo sulle forniture militari a volte li prova di validissime alternative ai prodotti nazionali .
Fonte ..... "Air Force To Make A-10 Replacement Recommendations as Early As Fall" .....The US Air Force is deliberating if and how to replace its close-air support workhorse, the A-10, and may have a better picture of their path forward later this year, the service’s top civilian said Wednesday.
During an interview with Defense News, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she and other top service leaders — such as Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein — will be briefed on various options for replacing or augmenting the A-10 Warthog this fall, as the service begins to build its next five-year budget plan.
“Any of these types of possibilities would likely come up in the fall to me and the chief during this planning choices forum. And that's when we would discuss and we could make some recommendations,” which could then flow into the budget cycle, she said.
Fonte ..... "GAO Slams A-10 Divestment Planning" .....Pentagon and Air Force planners do not have a clear understanding of the A-10-divestment implications, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Wednesday.
As a result it’s unclear how effective the service’s mitigation strategies will be, the GAO found.
Fonte ..... "Sharkmouths! U.S. A-10 Warthogs and Colombian Air Force A-29B Super Tucanos fly together" .....Four Colombian Air Force A-29B Super Tucanos are taking part in Exercise Green Flag East from Aug. 15 to 29, from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
The Colombian contingent, supported by 45 Colombian airmen, arrived at the base home of some of the American iconic B-52 strategic bombers on Aug. 13 and immediately started engaging with their U.S. Air Force counterparts in order to prepare for the two-week exercise.
Fonte ..... "Moody Pilots Grounded after Buzzing Charlotte" .....Four A-10 pilots from the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga., were grounded this week after they flew over downtown Charlotte, N.C., at a low altitude.
The aircraft buzzed Bank of America Stadium during a Carolina Panthers practice on Monday, but “were conducting routine navigation training from Charlotte to Moody AFB and not participating in the U.S. Air Force’s flyover support to the National Football League,” Moody said in a statement.
Fonte ..... "DOD Denies ISIS Shot Down US A-10" .....The Pentagon on Thursday denied claims from a pro-ISIS media outlet that the group had downed a US combat jet in Syria.
The Amaq news agency, a main outlet for pro-ISIS propaganda, claimed Thursday morning that the group downed a USAF A-10 near Hasakah, Syria.
