Posted on Jan 25, 2024
This monster aircraft was the helicopter version of the AC-130 gunship
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The Air Force fighter pilot generals are jealous of the A-10 warthog and want them all grounded.
They prefer the F35 junk strike fighter that has no protection and flies too fast. The a 10 has 1400 rounds, while the F35 only has 250 rounds to shoot at ground targets.
You would think with modern technology today. They could bring back these Should nook closer support choppers of Death.
I'm sure these helicopters with modern countermeasures and even something similar to the Israeli Anti RPG trophy system adapted for helicopters could shoot down incoming missiles Before they strike the helicopter.
They prefer the F35 junk strike fighter that has no protection and flies too fast. The a 10 has 1400 rounds, while the F35 only has 250 rounds to shoot at ground targets.
You would think with modern technology today. They could bring back these Should nook closer support choppers of Death.
I'm sure these helicopters with modern countermeasures and even something similar to the Israeli Anti RPG trophy system adapted for helicopters could shoot down incoming missiles Before they strike the helicopter.
This monster aircraft was the helicopter version of the AC-130 gunship
Posted from wearethemighty.comPosted in these groups: 
Helicopter Pilot
Helicopter Mechanic
Close Air Support (CAS)
Vietnam War
Military History
Helicopter Pilot Helicopter Mechanic Close Air Support (CAS) Vietnam War Military History
Posted 10 mo ago
Responses: 4
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You must understand that when the Soviet Union fell the A-10 became an aircraft with no mission. Those fighter pilot Generals wanted to scrap the aircraft then. Fortunately some foreword thinking person saw the potential of using the A-10 in a CAS role and the aircraft got a reprieve.
Now your helicopter theory......first I hate helicopters, but even with the modern upgrades you propose it's still a helicopter and that big boy is neither fast or agile. That aside, helicopters don't have the built in survivability like the A-10 and there are way too many sensitive aimpoints that can bring a big helicopter down. The Army fast attack helicopters are better suited for the CAS mission, but the Army doesn't want to use them for that.
Face it, I love it, but the A-10 is an old aircraft that has been heavily flown, unlike the older B-52s that spent most of their time on alert. I was at SOS in the early 70s when the first production decision was announced so its a 50 year old aircraft with lots of heavy flight time. It got a reprieve by being assigned a mission that the Air Force never really wanted from the start, but that mission was perfected by the AF. The Army doesn't want to get back into that level of fixed wing aircraft operations by accepting the A-10 fleet and is unwilling to convert attack helicopters to a full time CAS role so is forced to accept what will be available.
I agree that CAS is a dumb mission for the F-35, but the reality comes down to take it or have nothing. I'm sure that as an Army officer the concept of no dedicated CAS aircraft is unacceptable to you.
Now your helicopter theory......first I hate helicopters, but even with the modern upgrades you propose it's still a helicopter and that big boy is neither fast or agile. That aside, helicopters don't have the built in survivability like the A-10 and there are way too many sensitive aimpoints that can bring a big helicopter down. The Army fast attack helicopters are better suited for the CAS mission, but the Army doesn't want to use them for that.
Face it, I love it, but the A-10 is an old aircraft that has been heavily flown, unlike the older B-52s that spent most of their time on alert. I was at SOS in the early 70s when the first production decision was announced so its a 50 year old aircraft with lots of heavy flight time. It got a reprieve by being assigned a mission that the Air Force never really wanted from the start, but that mission was perfected by the AF. The Army doesn't want to get back into that level of fixed wing aircraft operations by accepting the A-10 fleet and is unwilling to convert attack helicopters to a full time CAS role so is forced to accept what will be available.
I agree that CAS is a dumb mission for the F-35, but the reality comes down to take it or have nothing. I'm sure that as an Army officer the concept of no dedicated CAS aircraft is unacceptable to you.
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MSgt Dale Johnson
Those may not be that agile but for a big Helicopter the Jolly Green Giant was pretty nimble. My neighbor at Clark AB was a Crew Chief on a Jolly Green and got me a fam ride to the gunnery range one day. They strapped me into the gunner door seat and the Pilot flew between the banks of the river on the way to the range. He was swinging that bird in tight turns and I swear the skids were probably not more than 15 feet off the river as that bird swung like a pendulum turning right and left. It was a wild ride.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
MSgt Dale Johnson - The CH47 and MH53 are really two of the faster helicopters, usually faster than the gunships, but their maximum speed tops at around 200 MPH and it's a big target.
Fly with some Army chopper pilots. I've set in the door of more than one Blackhawk with the pilots flying nap of the earth and slamming down in some postage size LZ wearing Night Vision Googles. The old ones made your depth perception suck.
Fly with some Army chopper pilots. I've set in the door of more than one Blackhawk with the pilots flying nap of the earth and slamming down in some postage size LZ wearing Night Vision Googles. The old ones made your depth perception suck.
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MSG Thomas Currie
Bottom line: Ever since it because a separate branch, the US Air Force has always been opposed to CAS -- they don't want to do it, and they don't want aircraft that are designed to do it because that would mean they would have to fly those aircraft and perform those missions.
Ground attack was something for fighter jocks to do when they had air supremacy and wanted to go shoot something.
Perhaps the Air Force is right that CAS is "too risky" in a peer or near-peer conflict, but I would respond that FLYING is equally "too risky" in a peer or near-peer conflict. If Air Warfare becomes entirely BVR we will have come full circle back to the beginnings of Air Warfare in WWI when air warfare was a game that had no significant effect on the actual battle.
Meanwhile warfare is risky, and any peer or near-peer conflict is going to be "too risky" for everyone involved (except the politicians and senior generals who won't be anywhere near the conflict).
Ground attack was something for fighter jocks to do when they had air supremacy and wanted to go shoot something.
Perhaps the Air Force is right that CAS is "too risky" in a peer or near-peer conflict, but I would respond that FLYING is equally "too risky" in a peer or near-peer conflict. If Air Warfare becomes entirely BVR we will have come full circle back to the beginnings of Air Warfare in WWI when air warfare was a game that had no significant effect on the actual battle.
Meanwhile warfare is risky, and any peer or near-peer conflict is going to be "too risky" for everyone involved (except the politicians and senior generals who won't be anywhere near the conflict).
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I can remember one night at Da Nang Vietnam during 1968 I was working a perimeter post and not too far off a few hundred Viet Cong were coming across the Han River. They didn't make it, it was the first time I'd seen Chinook Helicopters firing on them and all the tracers coming from those large choppers. also about 8 Huey's also came in and between tracers and rockets it was pretty impressive.
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