Air Force Extends A-10 Warthog Through 2030 After Combat Missions in Iran
A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft flies over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility during Operation Epic Fury, March 9, 2026. (U.S. Air Force photo)
The A-10 is a survivor, from both the Air Force trying to retire it multiple times and the battlefield. Everything that I have read, the ground troops love it. And we do not have a good replacement for it. Maybe they should transfer it to the Marines if the Air Force really doesn't want it.
As for helicopters, I will agree that the Chinook style is cool, but I am partial to the Sea Stallion/Super Stallion type. I am not sure why, but I have always like them. Maybe it is the fact that such a giant thing can actually fly with a single rotor.
And the scene in the movie The Sum of All Fears when the Marines land in Baltimore to rescue the President was just cool.
Although when the real President came to town after the Camp Fire it looked like his Marine guards were in Ospreys.
That's an interesting idea, turning A-10 over to the Marines. The CH-53 is certainly a capable machine and looks the part! BTW: I find such ugly machines beautiful because of their capabilities. The Sum of All Fears movie escapes me. Pretty sure that I've read the book but not seen the movie. I can't believe that I missed a Morgan Freeman flick. Well, yes, I can. Except for the 10-cent Saturday matinees in Tulsa, I've not been much of a movie-goer. I did not own a TV 1977-1990 and have only basic TV, now - no movie channels.
Hunky Husband had something to do with the Osprey - way back when - but I would have to research what that was. As I recall, it is the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. For anyone who does not know, Bell (for some years, now) has been owned by the same company as Cessna and Beech: Textron. In fact, Bell was Textron's first aviation company acquisition, then Cessna, then Beech. https://www.textron.com/About/Company/History
The A-10 is a survivor, from both the Air Force trying to retire it multiple times and the battlefield. Everything that I have read, the ground troops love it. And we do not have a good replacement for it. Maybe they should transfer it to the Marines if the Air Force really doesn't want it.
ReplyDeleteAs for helicopters, I will agree that the Chinook style is cool, but I am partial to the Sea Stallion/Super Stallion type. I am not sure why, but I have always like them. Maybe it is the fact that such a giant thing can actually fly with a single rotor.
And the scene in the movie The Sum of All Fears when the Marines land in Baltimore to rescue the President was just cool.
Although when the real President came to town after the Camp Fire it looked like his Marine guards were in Ospreys.
That's an interesting idea, turning A-10 over to the Marines. The CH-53 is certainly a capable machine and looks the part! BTW: I find such ugly machines beautiful because of their capabilities.
ReplyDeleteThe Sum of All Fears movie escapes me. Pretty sure that I've read the book but not seen the movie. I can't believe that I missed a Morgan Freeman flick.
Well, yes, I can. Except for the 10-cent Saturday matinees in Tulsa, I've not been much of a movie-goer. I did not own a TV 1977-1990 and have only basic TV, now - no movie channels.
Hunky Husband had something to do with the Osprey - way back when - but I would have to research what that was. As I recall, it is the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. For anyone who does not know, Bell (for some years, now) has been owned by the same company as Cessna and Beech: Textron. In fact, Bell was Textron's first aviation company acquisition, then Cessna, then Beech. https://www.textron.com/About/Company/History
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