Boeing builds new wings for the A-10

[Murph]

Just to add to what VX107 added, according to public sources the U.S. Army currently has its own air force that comprises almost 5,000 aircraft, a huge portion of which can, or already do carry weapons. This includes the "magical, mysterious, magnificent" 30mm cannon that seems to be the only thing that some people seem to think is used in "real CAS", and they can fly in the weeds, which again seems to be the one and only mode a "real CAS pilot" employs. Plus they're Army assets, so they're under their control and understand the Army, unlike those mean old Air Force pilots who all seem to hate the Army, except for those saintly few that fly the Hog. Here's the breakdown:

AH-64 (which carries the almighty 30mm cannon): 726.

UH-60: 1443

OH-58: 728

UH-72: 250

UH-1: 875

CH-47: 442

MQ-1: 75

If the Army truly feels that CAS is lacking surely they can dredge up concepts they already tested like DAP kits for the UH-60, rocket and machine gun pods for the UH-1 (whoda thunk it?), or armed CH-47s, which they used in Vietnam (google "Guns a go-go"). That leaves aside the armed special ops helos, which can also contribute. For those counting, that's over 4,500 aircraft the Army operates that already are armed or can be armed to provide CAS. To add to the irony the Army's premiere attack aircraft, the AH-64, pretty much ignored CAS at the expense of the anti-armor and deep attack missions till around 2004 (unlike those wily Marine Cobra helo drivers who kept up their proficiency in CAS). The 300 or so A-10s pale in comparison to the numbers the Army can darken the sky with for that mission, if they really want to. Hell, the Marines have even equipped some of their KC-130 tankers to perform the CAS mission.

As far as cuts, the U.S. defense budget breaks down roughly along the lines of 50% being devoted to personnel costs, because those ingrates actually expect to get paid, fed, clothed, have medical care, and get a retirement rather than serving for free, just for the honor of it. Another 25% is devoted to ops and maintenance, because not only do these ingrates expect to be paid, see a doctor, and get fed they want to maintain the equipment they'll go to war with and train on it, rather than using brooms for guns, like their grandfathers did for training in WW II. Does their perfidy know no bounds? Finally 25% (the part every layman and the media bitch about) goes to purchasing new equipment. They should be happy to fly aircraft that are far older than any car the general public would be willing to drive, and take into combat aircraft that fall apart due to age and some of which their grandfathers flew, and which have seen non-stop combat operation since 1991. On a serious note, typically ops and maintenance funding takes it in the shorts, because nobody is willing to cut the personnel costs (well... outside of reducing the number of personnel) and much of the equipment has been "rode hard and put up wet", and so is in dire need of replacement.

Regards,

Murph

Edited June 25, 2014 by Murph