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Warthog Lives to Fight Again

Defense One reports that the U.S. Air Force may be forced to postpone any immediate plans to retire the A-10 Warthog attack plane.

The debate over the A-10 concerns more than just a type of aircraft.  In many ways, it is a microcosm of how policy makers envision future security threats to the U.S.  On one side is the White House, which has generally promulgated the concept that large-scale nation vs. nation warfare is a thing of the past, and the type of weaponry necessary for conventional combat operations such as destroying tanks are an unnecessary expense.  On the other side are those who point to the dramatic conventional arms buildups of Russia and China.

Part of those two nation’s conventional buildup has been developing new and powerful tanks. Moscow’s “Armata” tank will enter service in 2020, according to the Diplomat.  China Daily reports that Beijing’s VT-4 is the equal of its Russian counterpart. Both seek to sell their new combat vehicles internationally, as well as equipping their own armed forces with them. “Production lines of tanks have been closed in Western countries for a long time, so among large tank makers, only China and Russia have such facilities, which means if an international client wants to buy a new tank, it can only choose between China and Russia”

In addition to being a contentious issue between the USAF and the US Army, the aircraft’s fate pitted Congress against the White House.  For the past two years, the President’s Executive Budget sought to retire the Warthog, but Congress fought to keep it alive.

The Warthog, an extremely durable aircraft designed to attack tanks and other ground targets, has been targeted for retirement on a number of occasions by the USAF, which prefers to use scarce resources for other priorities such as air to air fighters and bombers.  Estimates are that the USAF could save up to $4.2 billion by retiring the Warthog, according to Breaking Defense.

During the Obama Administration, defense spending has been severely curtailed, and attempts to retire the Warthog have been part of that. Breaking Defense quoted Dustin Walker, Senate Armed Services Committee spokesman earlier this year: “The A-10 continues to prove its enduring value as a close air support platform against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The A-10 is also deploying in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, reassuring our NATO allies and partners in the face of continued Russian aggression in Ukraine…Senator McCain continues to believe this administration’s attempt to prematurely retire the A-10 fleet without fielding a suitable replacement is folly. And he will do everything in his power to oppose it.”

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One problem is the aircraft, as mandated by law, is assigned to the Air Force,  but its primary mission is one that belongs to the Army, the destruction of enemy armor and protecting ground forces.

According to Defense One, “Putting the A-10’s retirement plans on hold is a key policy shift that will be laid out next month when the Pentagon submits its 2017 budget request to Congress, said Pentagon officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the Obama Administration’s spending plan before its official release.”

Its role is not, by any stretch of the imagination, obsolete. Indeed, it may well be needed now more than ever, and not just in the current fight against ISIS.  As the NEW YORK ANALYSIS OF POLICY & GOVERNMENT reported earlier, most American tanks have been withdrawn from Europe.  The White House has also, inappropriately, sought to close down the very last factory that manufactures tanks, to make the job complete. For the United States to continue its NATO obligation to defend against the increasingly likely possibility of threats of Russian aggression , the A-10 would be a key aspect of providing a credible deterrence.

Seth McCormick Lynn, writing for the Princeton Journal of Public and International Affairs , notes:There is no indication that the U.S. military has seen the last of conventional warfare…conventional threats represent a far greater danger to U.S. national security than do irregular threats…U.S. conventional capabilities have deteriorated significantly, making these threats even more severe.”

The A-10’s cost about $18.8 million each. F-35’s, which are a multi-role aircraft that would to some extent undertake A-10’s role should the Warthog be retired, can cost about $178 million each.

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“Warthog” proves its worth again

Reports indicate that the A-10 Thunderbolt, (known widely as the “Warthog”) has been crucial to recent U.S. efforts in combatting ISIS in the Middle East.

Military.com  notes that the A-10’s “operating out of Incirlik airbase in Turkey provided ‘devastating’ close air support for U.S.-backed Syrian-Arab fighters in taking a town in northwestern Syria from the Islamic State.” About a dozen Warthogs were recently deployed to the Turkish Air base.

Despite numerous attempts by the USAF to retire the plane (which first took flight in 1976) with more costly aircraft more suited to the type of air to air and bombing missions which are that services main stays, the Warthogs’ ability to fly slow and close to the ground while withstanding significant punishment from enemy fire make it the most effective airborne defender of troops in existence.  It has survived, with bipartisan support, another appropriations battle and will be funded again in the FY2016 Pentagon budget. But with increasingly constrained funds, the future looks less than optimistic.

The battle to save the indispensable aircraft has been fierce. Former Defense Secretary Hagel had stated that “The A-10’s age is also making it much more difficult and costly to maintain. Significant savings are only possible through eliminating the entire fleet, because of the fixed cost of maintaining the support apparatus associated with that aircraft. Keeping a smaller number of A-10s would only delay the inevitable while forcing worse trade-offs elsewhere.” His remarks were met with disagreement by ground troops, many of whom have noted that they owed their lives to the aircraft.

While funds are limited, the fact that there is nothing in the U.S. arsenal that can accomplish its tasks of knocking out enemy armor and safekeeping American troops as effectively is a powerful argument for its preservation. It is unfortunate that the diminishing defense budget forces inappropriate choices to be made, particularly at a time when international threats are rapidly rising.
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The problem is, the aircraft, as mandated by law, is assigned to the Air Force,  but its primary mission is one that belongs to the Army, the destruction of enemy armor and protecting ground forces.

Its role is not, by any stretch of the imagination, obsolete. Indeed, it may well be needed now more than ever.  As the NEW YORK ANALYSIS OF POLICY & GOVERNMENT reported earlier, most American tanks have been withdrawn from Europe.  The White House has also, inappropriately, sought to close down the very last factory that manufactures tanks, to make the job complete. For the United States to continue its NATO obligation to defend against the increasingly likely possibility of further Russian aggression, the A-10 would be the best solution to provide a credible deterrence.

A 2014 Breitbart analysis noted: “The problem is that the Air Force doesn’t want to ‘own’ the CAS [close air support] mission. Since the A-10 was created, many argue that CAS has always been an orphan in the Air Force’s planning, budgeting and training. That may be going too far, but it is clear that the Air Force doesn’t want to ‘own’ CAS by devoting the resources needed to perform CAS.”

A Bloomberg report last year disclosed that “Active-duty and retired service members … are trying to persuade the U.S. Department of Defense to drop its plan to save $4.2 billion in operation and maintenance costs over five years by retiring all 283 of the 1970s-era Air Force planes. Some top Army officers say there’s no substitute for the protection the jet has long provided to troops in ground combat. The Air Force says that newer, faster aircraft, such as the F-16, F-15E, and, eventually, Lockheed Martin’s (LMT) new F-35 fighter, can perform the A-10’s principal mission of “close air support,” striking targets on the ground to help soldiers in a land battle…[but retired Lieutenant Col. William Smith, who flew the A-10 in Iraq and Afghanistan] asks  “You really think they’re going to allow a $200 million airplane to get down in the weeds, where it’s extremely vulnerable?”

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The Warthog’s Demise

At first, it seems like just another victim of the budget ax and to some extent it is: the A-10 Warthog, an aircraft built like a flying tank, soon be grounded due to lack of funds.

But there is, of course, something more to the story. The Warthog is an orphan.  It belongs to the Air Force, but its primary mission is one that belongs to the Army, the destruction of enemy armor.  No glorious air to air combat, top gun-style.  No dramatic high altitude bombing, no globe-traversing long range flights, with all the strangelovian romance that entails.

It is a GI’s best friend, one that protects him from the king of the battlefield, the tank. It’s a practical weapon, one that has proven its worth over and over again.  But it doesn’t titillate the high-tech crowd, doesn’t falsely claim to be a wonder weapon, it just does its job, protecting our men and woman in uniform, and it does this superbly well.

Simply get a solution acceptable for both of You If you have children, it becomes even more important for both of you to discount cialis 20mg schedule an appointment with an expert chiropractor Vista CA has to offer. There can be many other possible causes of ED in men, Ajanta pharma decided to manufacture in the medicine in different forms of consumption. levitra cheapest Strangely, not only renal problems but sexual problems getting viagra like erectile dysfunction are also a great taboo in society. Today, mental health clinics and their physicians, counselors, registered therapists, pastors and psychologists are able enough to handle the worst depressive disorders, bi-polar disorders and other related matters. djpaulkom.tv viagra tablets price Its role is not, by any stretch of the imagination, obsolete. Indeed, it may well be needed now more than ever.  As the NEW YORK ANALYSIS OF POLICY & GOVERNMENT reported earlier, the last American tanks have been withdrawn from Europe.  The White House is also seeking to close down the very last factory that manufactures tanks, to make the job complete. For the United States to continue its NATO obligation to defend against the increasingly likely possibility of further Russian aggression, the A-10 would be the best solution to provide a credible deterrence.

The Warthog is a practical plane in an impractical era, a time when posing with a cardboard cutout of a tweet takes the place of actually doing something. We live in an age were reality is an inconvenience to those making decisions, because reality doesn’t conform to their worldview.

The urgently needed A-10 Warthog is more than a single weapon system.  It is a symbol of a America’s commitment to the defense of itself and its allies.  It’s untimely demise speaks volumes about our nation’s uncertain future.

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Last US tanks leave Europe

The news is quite startling: There are no longer any American tanks stationed in Europe. The story has been largely ignored by the major media. The information was provided in an article in the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

According to the Department of Defense, at its peak, Germany, the main center of NATO activity during the first Cold War, was home to 20 U.S. armored divisions, with about 6,000 tanks. Despite the glaring revival of threats from Moscow, the United States no longer has any tanks, the pivotal weapon in land combat, stationed on the entire continent. The entire combined tank forces of all NATO nations on the European continent (including the United Kingdom and Turkey) does not come close to equaling Russian numbers.

Mr. Obama’s extreme views on the lack of need for tanks became an issue in the 2012 campaign, when vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan  criticized the President’s attempt to shut down the only American plant that produces them.

For those who believe that airpower can be used to deter the massive advantage Russia has in tanks, there is further bad news: Washington is seriously considering retiring the Air Force’s tank-killing fighter, the A-10 “Warthog.” According to Defense Secretary Hagel’s February statement,  “The A-10’s age is also making it much more difficult and costly to maintain. Significant savings are only possible through eliminating the entire fleet, because of the fixed cost of maintaining the support apparatus associated with that aircraft. Keeping a smaller number of A-10s would only delay the inevitable while forcing worse trade-offs elsewhere.”
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There are no new weapons systems or innovative methods coming on line that will take over the tank’s front-line tasks.  Indeed, even if there were, there are no funds available to fund them. Another armored development program, the Ground Combat vehicle, a multi-purpose platform, has been defunded.

According to current plans, by 2020, there will be only 30,000 American troops in Europe, approximately one-tenth of the maximum strength during the first Cold War. This spring, further cuts to U.S. military infrastructure in Europe will be presented.

These actions take place in the face of massive new funding for the Russian military, as well as exceptionally aggressive behavior on the part of the Kremlin.