Sen. Ayotte To Air Force: Get Me A-10 Answers; Keeps SecAF Nominee Hold

[mota bhai 2,675]

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who has made clear her unease with what appears to be the Air Force’s intent to scrap the entire fleet of the beloved and ugly 326 A-10 close air support jets, told the service today she would not let the nomination of Air Force Secretary nominee Debbie Lee James proceed. Why? Answers to questions she posed to the service about the A-10 were “insufficient.” She has sent follow-up questions to the Air Force.

“As Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, Senator Ayotte’s central concern is that our troops have the close air support they need to accomplish their missions and return home safely. The A-10 has saved many American lives, and Senator Ayotte is concerned that the Air Force might prematurely eliminate the A-10 before there is a replacement aircraft-creating a dangerous close air support capability gap that could put our troops at risk,” a congressional aide said on background.

...

The A-10 isn’t alone in facing the axe. The Air Force is considering scrapping its fleet of KC-10 tankers, F-15C fighter jets and the planned $6.8 billion purchase of new combat search-and-rescue helicopters.

The Air Force leadership made clear at last month’s Air Force Association conference that they wanted to cut weapon systems that have only one role, even if those systems perform that role fabulously well. It’s all part of the increasingly desperate push to find big enough savings to either forestall or meet the demands of the mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration. The fight over the A-10 will only be one of many come February, when the new budget is rolled out.

http://breakingdefense.com/2013/10/08/sen-ayotte-to-air-force-get-me-a-10-answers-keeps-secaf-nominee-hold/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BreakingDefense+%28Breaking+Defense%29&utm_content=FaceBook

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The Air Force does not like getting close to the ground where they can get hit by individual and crew fired weapons systems. All that CAS stuff stains their spandex flight suits.

Edited October 9, 2013 by The Patriot

[Pooky 3,838]

The Air Force does not like getting close to the ground where they can get hit by individual and crew fired weapons systems. All that CAS stuff stains their spandex flight suits.

Wrong. The pilots love the Warthog.

The Air Force brass, on the other hand, want their shiny new toy, the all-purpose Locknart F-35 Thunderpig, and they're willing to sacrifice anything to get it.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Wrong. The pilots love the Warthog.

The Air Force brass, on the other hand, want their shiny new toy, the all-purpose Locknart F-35 Thunderpig, and they're willing to sacrifice anything to get it.

Why the love affair with the F-35? I don't get it.

[Pooky 3,838]

Why the love affair with the F-35? I don't get it.

It's new and shiny and it'll go supersonic. What else do you need?

Apart from an asset that will actually do the job it was designed to do.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

It's new and shiny and it'll go supersonic. What else do you need?

Apart from an asset that will actually do the job it was designed to do.

They killed the F-22 and now they go for this?

[Ban Hammer 13,590]

It's new and shiny and it'll go supersonic. What else do you need?

Apart from an asset that will actually do the job it was designed to do.

try to design it to do everything other than one job really well, and you get the equivalent

of a swiss army tank.........

[Pooky 3,838]

They killed the F-22 and now they go for this?

The USAF didn't kill the Raptor. SecDef Robert Gates did.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

The Air Force does not like getting close to the ground where they can get hit by individual and crew fired weapons systems. All that CAS stuff stains their spandex flight suits.

And they darn sure don't want the Army flying ground support air craft.

Something about some deal hashed out in a bar in key west

[Darnell 8,479]

I luvs the warthog. luv luv luv.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

try to design it to do everything other than one job really well, and you get the equivalent

of a swiss army tank.........

The Army is just as bad. How many weapon systems can you integrate into a troop carrier, or have you seen the new design for an Engineer assault vehicle?

[Karee 4,191]

They need one of these:

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

The Army is just as bad. How many weapon systems can you integrate into a troop carrier, or have you seen the new design for an Engineer assault vehicle?

Remember the Sgt York AA gun debacle.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Remember the Sgt York AA gun debacle.

I was around when that was being tested at Fort Hunter Ligget in the mid-1980's. It didn't work very well in California's coastal mountains and canyons, but some AF pilots coming in for target practice got in trouble when they started shooting cows grazing near the live fire range.

[Ban Hammer 13,590]

Remember the Sgt York AA gun debacle.

they shoulda just copied the zsu-23-4 and saved lots of money.