It's an odd thing to note but the best use of an airforce outside of airspace defence is to assist the army with close support, so why do all airforces fight tooth and nail to do anything but? You might think that the air marshals had religious convictions on the subject such is the venomous level of their irrationality.
For example, the A10 here was one of the most valuable weapons in the USAF's armoury, which is why they scrapped it to make room for high tech, high performance monstrosities like the F22, or white elephants like the stealth planes.
The lower pic is of a Thunderbolt, the best all-American fighter of WWII. Fast, robust, well armed, upgradable, it was able to give a good account of itself as a fighter at all altitudes and had a pretty good range. But it was most useful as a mud mover, carrying out the traditional role of cavalry. Along with the Typhoon, it was a truly lethal weapon of war.
I once attended a fire-power demo at Lullworth Cove where three Warthogs (from one of the big bases in East Anglia?) flew over the viewing stands and making a noise like wet sails being ripped-apart by Dragons proceeded to lift the top off a nearby hill, rearrange the soil and drop it all back down again!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure some of our Iraq veterans have better tales to tell...but I was bloody glad they were on my side (although our Iraq veterans have a sour tale there...).
A year or so latter on a march-and-shoot near RAF Gatow in Berlin the Soviets tried to frighten our platoon by hovering the other side of the wire in a Hind-D, having seen what a Warthog could do - they pretty-well succeeded!
Both Thunderbolts, are also well loved for being able to take lots of damage and still stay in the air.
ReplyDeleteI have been dug in with a few A-10s overhead "working" close support and it is a game changer and a real morale booster, also they have the ability to loiter in the area, the only thing better is a few A-10s AND an AC130 gunship.
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ReplyDeleteDear Mav
ReplyDeleteAnd they have never replaced the thing.
J
Dear SC
ReplyDeleteYes, one of the essential properties of a mud mover is that they can take it as well as dish it out.
J
I've one of the those firepower demos (battlesbury bowl at Warminster). Quite amazing the loss of airspeed when that gun fires.
ReplyDeleteAlso worth noting that the A10's pylon payload is three or four P47s....
Dear ZZ
ReplyDeleteI have heard the A10 described as wings fitted to a gun, rather than the other way round.
J
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ReplyDeleteMovers Brisbane