FighterControl

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /82746220/

WASHINGTON — The Air Force is moving forward with a key step in developing a dedicated close-air support plane to replace the A-10 Warthog, a top general said Thursday.

“My requirements guys are in the process of building a draft requirements document for a follow-on CAS airplane,” Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, said. “It’s interesting work that at some point we’ll be able to talk with you a little bit more.”

Defining the requirement is the first concrete step toward developing potentially developing a replacement A-10 for the close-air support mission, often dubbed A-X. The Air Force has been studying the idea of a procuring single-role A-X for at least a year now, hosting a joint-service summit in March, 2015, to work out options for the close-air support, or CAS, mission.

In Football score's: A10 1-0 F35

i thought we'd just had reports confirming they were keeping it? :-/

wolfie138 wrote:i thought we'd just had reports confirming they were keeping it? :-/

Just extending it's life but not by a huge amount

Surely the requirements are easy, just manufacture brand new A-10s! (I know it's not that easy, but why change a design when it works so well!)

The Textron Scorpion team must be smiling, pity the US are so stubborn about using Brimstone though. That would be a serious combination in CAS.

Next generation A-10's!

This aircraft nails CAS right on the head, so rather than go to all the effort of looking for a new aircraft why cant the powers that be look at improving the current A-10 design? Just build new and improved A-10s? Got to be much cheaper than pumping money into yet another of these stubby little pointy jets like the JSF!

TankBuster

Chinook replacement..........CH-47F
Hercules replacement..........C-130J
F-18 Hornet replacement........Super Hornet
Sea Stallion replacement........CH-53K


Some a/c can't be replaced only improved.

grimm6 wrote:

wolfie138 wrote:i thought we'd just had reports confirming they were keeping it? :-/

Just extending it's life but not by a huge amount

Oh :-(
if they can still find the Colt 1911 worth after a century i don't see any reason to think the Thunderbolt's past the shelf life >:-/

Of course there are those out there that believe the A-X project is just a cover to try and accelerate the removal of the A-10 platform, only to cancel A-X when funny old thing, the funding will be withdrawn leaving Dave to carry the CAS torch on. Just saying....but it would not surprise me in the slightest.