The A-10: Worse Than You Think

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[noControl]

The worst thing about getting killed by an A-10 is that since the bullets are supersonic you won't get to hear the cool buuuurrrrt sound before you die.

[oisnowy]

Finally. Now Simon becomes a person who could be invited to a LazerPig conference.

[dgoodwin]

Here is an easy take from a Marine 0326 who was blessed to practice my craft in Afghanistan and Iraq repeatedly. It never mattered what fixed wing support we received, but the psychological impact the A10 had on enemy combatants was obvious. Drop a bomb and heads went down, fly the big brrrrt overhead and they laid down as and ran away. Is the A10 perfect? No. Does it stand up against 5th generation fighters, No. Does it have it's place on the battlefield once air superiority has been achieved? IMO, yes.

Here is the thing; I don't have to be at the sharp end of the spear anymore so I can appreciate the A10 as it was during my time, younger warfighters will appreciate their own aerial assets.

[Ebroglio]

Simon, you didn't acknowledge the guided munitions at all. The Warthog wasn't just an airborne cannon. Shame on you.

[JR-jnjp]

Having worked with this platform both in training and overseas, it is in the same category as ac-130 gunships...a platform meant to be used in an uncontested environment. Agreed that there are better weapons (than the cannon) for armored vehicles, however the cannon is more cost effective for apc/soft skinned/arty/suppression. It is also nice to have pilots, who specialize in supporting troops in contact vs someone who has many mission types in a plane that is easily damaged down low by small arms fire. Another advantage is the time on station and quantity of ordinance. Love the f35 and it's precision weapons, however I do not see the AF pushing f35 drivers to army liaison slots to develop that expertise in supporting ground elements. In the end only boots on the ground hold territory...thus everyone supports the infantry.

[SomeOtherTroper]

Watching this video back-to-back with your first Megaprojects video on the A-10 from 8 months ago was a surreal experience, since they present very different takes on the aircraft and its effectiveness in the combat zones/roles it's been used in.

I feel like this video could have benefitted from more direct juxtapositions with your previous statements about the aircraft, particularly because there are several cases (including the potential overstatement of A-10 kills that may have been misattributed from other aircraft/sources) where what you now call the "perception of the A-10's performance in the common zeitgeist" is ...basically what you said eight months ago in your original video about the aircraft.

There's no need for a formal retraction or recantation, but I would have appreciated a quickly bullet-point rundown of "here's what I said then, here's where I'm saying something different now, and here are the points that still stand from my first video on the topic" at/near the end.

As far as my personal opinions on the A-10? I'm not qualified to answer, but I think that in terms of aviation platforms designed for Cold War era combat doctrine, and with the upgrades it and its potential hardpoint loadouts have received over time, the A-10 is far more relevant to the modern battlefield than the fleet of nuclear-capable bombers built for the Strategic Air Command.

It's worth asking about potential replacements, but like the A-1 Skyraider before it - CAS seems like a role where prior generation aircraft do often seem to be good ENOUGH at the role to stick around long after their generational equivalents in other roles have been phased out.

[Expressedtitan]

Coming from maintenance side as the crew chief I can’t speak much for OPS. I know as far for the A model A-10 she was lacking in many ways but we learned from previous mistakes and improved. Now C model definitely closed the gap and improved night operations and identifying friendly forces. Also got rid of that god awful pave penny pod lol. The gun I agree it’s not enough maybe for personnel or soft armor looking at mobile SAMs. But big thing for my side maintenance friendly love this ugly thing and I’ve worked every legacy fighter minus F-18E and F-14.

[SkullHunter]

I have a strange love for this aircraft. When most people talk about how much they love the A-10, they gush about its cannon and the psychological effects it has. My admiration for it comes from how quiet it is. Having spent more than a decade on air force base flightlines, I love how it barely roars when it takes off and almost doesn't even whisper when it lands. Whereas other aircraft like the F-15, F-16, F/A-18, F-22, B1B, KC-135, and so on that practically make you deaf when they take off and still roar when they land, I appreciate the A-10 even more.

[joshuaedwards]

As a soldier on the ground in Afghanistan. I love this gift from above.

[anthrobug]

My uncle worked as an engineer & my aunt was one of the nurses on staff in case of emergencies, and I've had a special place in my heart for this plane my whole life. As a kid, I went to 'Family Day' at Fairchild Republic in Farmingdale and saw the A-10 being built and the gun, bullets, and all the amazing parts. I remember a presentation/show of all the protection and redundancies in the plane. Being able to walk through the assembly line & see it in so many stages of assembly fascinated me.

[insomniafun]

Dad is a vet of Iraq, round one. I'm round two. His company was getting held down by two T72s back in the day. Commander called in close air support, pair of A10s came JUST above the dunes and saved his ass (and the rest of the dudes he was with) is a graceful, FORCEFUL angel to me. Cut those tanks in half.

[HolyNorthAmericanEmpire]

I've been in the USAF as a pilot, however I've served with the mudhen (F-15E). It was always very amusing to me when people inflated the capability of the A-10 when in fact the F-111, F-16 and our beloved F-15E are the unsung heroes of close air support, air interdiction and precision strikes.
The F-35 and F-15EX will continue to be underdogs in popularity, although they will be the ones that come to the rescue when needed.

[craigbryant]

When you think about it, if 30 mm autocannons were good at killing tanks, we might put them on tanks? Or at least on tank-killing vehicles. But on the ground, 30 mm is used for lighter vehicles, infantry, shooting up buildings, that kind of stuff. Tanks tend to carry something around 120 mm for killing each other, and if you want to trick out something like a Stryker for an anti-tank role, you put TOW missiles on it.

Now, on the role it played in Afghanistan, air support against softer targets, the arguments seem weaker. Here you've got a rugged, reliable plane that can fly from dodgy airfields and bring an awful lot of stuff to the party. And of course the ground forces love it.

[chrisconte]

I was a JFO, or the guy who called in close air support in Afghanistan... A10's are the best CAS weapon system hands down

[MLN-yzph]

As someone that was adjacent to A-10's in operations (I was in Armor Cav), nothing that I have seen in the first fifteen or so minutes of this is wrong. Yet the context is. The A-10 is not the attack asset you send out to kill large numbers of tanks, it is the one you send to kill the ones 1000 meters off of your friendly positions. That is where the low and slow works (along with time on station) and that has been a thing going all the way back to Korea. If I want to do tactical in even remotely contested air I want a fast mover. The A-10 is the bridge between an attack helo and something like an F-16. It is has very good survivability vs a multi-role and can move faster with more weapons then a helo. And that gun is like pulling a knife in a gun fight most of the time. The rest of the fights vs soft or light armor it is just way to spread the love. At best modern aircraft carry just a few smart munitions. With that gun and a little Priceless.

[brianeleighton]

As a soldier whose life has been saved by the Warthog, I will say it is worth its reputation for me.

[GeofftheIronwolf]

As a tank buster with just the gun, yes. But as a ground support platform like the old A2 Skyraider, there is nothing the US inventory that can carry as much ammo/weapons for the amount of loiter time it can do.

Well nothing short of say a B1.

[AltamaLFG]

The thing saved my life. I'll not bash it, I've seen what it does to massed enemies in light cover. Hint: it's not pretty and it sounds scary as hell for added effect.

[danielhowell]

The psychological value of just the sound of the A-10's 30 mike mike opening up and the whistle of it's engines approaching, can not be overstated. During my 2 deployments in Iraq, i was only ever pinned down by direct fire once, and that sound was like auditory manna being dropped from heaven. I'm sure whatever the opposite of that is, the enemy was feeling.

[MojoPup]

There's nothing quite as reassuring as when you're under siege on the ground and hear those Warthogs approaching... A-10 pilots never have to pay in my bar.