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Re: The taxpayers got a bargain much bigger than they bargained for...

By: oldCADuser in FFFT | Recommend this post (0)
Mon, 24 Mar 14 8:15 PM | 50 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Food For Further Thought
Msg. 62192 of 65535
(This msg. is a reply to 62189 by Zimbler0)

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OK, the removal from service of the A-10 is only half completed with the rest planned to be either moth-balled or transferred to Air National Guard units over the next 5 years. But that still doesn't answer the question of whether it's worth something over $10 billion to upgrade the remaining fleet of soon-to-be-obsolete aircraft which will no longer be part of our first-line-of-defense, at a cost of $600,000 per jobs saved. Well, is it? And if so, why then was it not worth $9,000 per job saved in the automative industry? Or does it simply come down to the fact that perhaps, as a percentage, more union jobs were saved when we loaned money to GM and Chrysler than what might be the case when $10 billion is being spent keeping a few hundred nearly 40 year old planes flying training missions at a dozen or so Air National Guard units around the country?




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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: The taxpayers got a bargain much bigger than they bargained for...
By: Zimbler0
in FFFT
Mon, 24 Mar 14 7:19 PM
Msg. 62189 of 65535

The A-10 warthog is the air support weapon of choice
over in Afghanistan.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20140319.aspx

While the A-10 is the most popular ground support aircraft to most soldiers and marines, close air support has evolved over the last decade to using smart bombs or missiles most of the time. To reflect this all A-10s have been upgraded to handle smart bombs. This includes targeting pods that enable A-10s to spot targets while at higher (over 3,000 meters) altitudes. That puts them out of range of small arms and many anti-aircraft weapons. Although the A-10 was built for ground support (using a 30mm rotary cannon) that was intended for shooting up Russian tanks during World War 3 in Europe. That never happened and in 2013 the last A-10 left Europe. But in Iraq and Afghanistan troops appreciated the ability to call in an A-10 for a strafing run. A few hundred 30mm rounds not only did a lot of damage but it also tended to demoralize the enemy and make it easier to capture them alive or drive them away. Smart bombs and missiles tended to leave fewer prisoners and were not as scary and the roar and loud buzz of a low-flying A-10 using its 30mm autocannon.

>>>

I suspect that the rest of what you posted is just
as inaccurate.
Zim.


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