With the UK's retirement of the Harrier, its time to take a look back in history at other aircraft that were retired before their time. What do I mean by that? I mean airplanes that filled an essential niche' role and with reasonable upgrades could still be flying and fighting...
1.
Harrier GR9. The Royal Navy definitely got the short straw with the move to withdraw the Harrier from service. To be honest, from an outsiders perspective, it appears that the Royal Air Force had a plan to destroy the Navy Air Arm and almost pulled it off. Only the Navy's willingness to sell its soul to get a carrier kept it in the aviation game. The Harrier's will be missed and I have doubts that the Royal Air Force will be able to find bases close enough to areas of future operations to be able to help.
2.
SEPECAT Jaguar. Probably one of the best CAS aircraft of the past century, this little work horse was able to do the Gripen's vaunted road thing before it was cool. While simple, it was robust and with modern targeting pods and engines it would have been a credible and cheap small wars workhorse.
3.
OV-10D Bronco. Photo is of an OV-10 operating from the USS Nassau. This was an ideal airplane that would excel in its new role of V-22 escort. Harriers and F-35's might be too fast but the OV-10 would keep pace, bring an awesome amount of firepower and could operate off the America Class LHD with ease. Some might not recognize it, but the OV-10 is already being missed!
4.
MH-53M Pave Low III. I'm a fan of the V-22 in general but one thing is certain. Special Ops needs all the lift it can manage. The MH-53 was still a viable airplane and would be a valuable addition to the war in Afghanistan. Its long range, superior avionics and toughness are exactly what the Special Ops community need right now.
5.
A-6E Intruder II. An upgraded version was offered that had improved avionics, engines and a redone wing. Already a long range striker, the A-6F would have been the bomb truck of choice in the war on terror.
Sol, I'd like to add another airframe for consideration: the S-3 Viking. Without the humble Hoover, the CSG has no fixed-wing ASW capability.
ReplyDeleteHave a great New Year!
S-3 Viking - good call. And not just for ASW, but also for SUW (superb against swarms of small boats), tanker (during 1991, a KS-3 sank an Iraqi boat with an empty refuel pod), stand-off jammer, SIGINT snooper, fast COD... The list goes on. Big loss.
ReplyDeleteAbout the Bronco, good plane, not so sure for V-22 escort though. It can match its speed, but the MV-22 goes deep, and could still face/forced to bypass local air defense. The OV-10 could be too vulnerable with just some GPMGs and lacking sufficient EW kit.
The Bronco would be dynamite in the A'Stan though; there used to be an enthusiastic crowd for simple prop driven CAS aircraft (AT-6) which seems to have mellowed out a bit (personnaly, I changed my mind about those too).
The Bronco was designed from the ground up for CAS/COIN - a manned Predator!
Nice thing about the Bronco is that it can do para drops as well. You have a team in the field or an outpost that needs a quick resupply you won't need a C-130/17 for it.
ReplyDeleteDiddo on the S-3. Fantastic aircraft, sub hunter, harpoon bus, tanker, recce bird. It could do a lot. (In my wildest dreams I see them taking the V-22 airframe and installing a dipping sonar, radar, sonobuoys, some torpedoes stored vertical in the cargo bay along with a few ROVs and using that as a long range sub hunter in place of the S-3...)
ReplyDeleteThe A-7 Corsair II would have been great to keep around as well. As much as I love the Intruder the A-7 could carry more payload and was a lot cheaper.
>The A-7 Corsair II would have been great to keep >around as well. As much as I love the Intruder >the A-7 could carry more payload and was a lot >cheaper.
ReplyDeleteYou sure about the payload? I thought that the A6E had a higher payload than the A7E.
Definitely agree about the S3 and Jaguar. I think the Indians still use Jaguars and there was a maritime version as well.
ReplyDeleteAnother one for your consideration, the Canberra PR9, even though it first flew in 1949. We are still missing its superb sensors, long range and extreme high altitude
http://www.spyflight.co.uk/pr9.htm
You are right Jeebers the Intruder did carry 3000lbs more payload. My bad.
ReplyDeleteThe Bronco is somewhat mediocre with a very high wing loading and almost fatally poor single engine out performance. The OV-1 Mohawk is generally a better COIN type. Only the USAF's constant crybaby routine with the Key West accords kept the Mohawk from doing more close air suppourt in Vietnam. (And it still did some illicitly)
ReplyDeleteThe later Bronco was screwed up for the Marines by the USAF and DoD again, with the selected short wing configuration severely crippling its ability to operate away from prepared runways, and flight safety.
I'd definitely agree on the Jaguar being gone too soon, and for the USAF the A-7, particularly the YA-7F concept, being a decent NAW striker or cheap bomb truck that would've probably offered a better cost-benefit ratio than fast-wearing F-16s.
On the USAF side, I'd nominate the EF-111A as retired much too early. There was still a lot of airframe life left, it's EW suite was slated to be upgraded to current EA-6B standards, and with the cockpit modernization program it had just completed, maintenance would have been greatly reduced. With the retiring of the rest of the F-111s and F-14s (another too-early retirement candidate) the supply of TF-30 engines was virtually limitless.
ReplyDeleteThe USAF's justification for retirement was that it was too expensive to maintain just 24 airframes. Well, the Royal Australian Air Force managed to fly their F-111Cs for another 18 years after the USAF killed their Spark Varks.
The OV-10s are flying spotting wildfires and directing tankers in CA. They may still be doing a superb job in that role in 20 years.
ReplyDeleteAdd the Blackbird to the list.
ReplyDelete-sferrin
How about the L39? I know they soldier on, but update versions are available from the Czech Republic and they'd make a great CAS/COIN aircraft in Afghanistan or Iraq.
ReplyDeleteor a future retirement: the P-3C Orion. It's a shame such a great asset is going the way of the dodo bird. It's long legs would be great as an airborne sensor/Gorgon stair type aircraft and it could carry a decent payload as well.
shouldn't we add the A-10 to this list? While they are still flying, the basic airframe is no longer in production.
ReplyDeleteAn updated OV-10X is the only fixed wing air the Marines really need and can really afford. The proposed A-7K Corsair II would have been a better "keeper" than the A-10; far more flexible [strike/interdiction as well as CAS with GAU-10/GAU-13 pods] and readily carrier-compatible. The F-14D was a suitable replacement for the A-6F... and the F/A-18, for that matter. All the structurally sound F-14s should have been converted to "D" standard. Sure the F/A-18 is cheaper to operate... and you get even less than you pay for. Are the Indians still flying their Jaguars? The French and Brits retired theirs. Their big limitation was how much ordnance they could carry -- far less than the A-7 or even the Aeronavale Super Etendard. --SteveD
ReplyDeletei think the winner here for the airplane most overlooked and probably most in need of being put back into service is.....
ReplyDeleteCHARLES!
i don't know how i forgot about the S-3! It had an electronic attack, surface warfare and anti-sub mission set! it was probably the most versatile plane in the fleet (i left out its refueling duties!)
way to go Charles...
Annonymous...don't forget that throw wt isn't necessarily as important as it once was. the Jaguar was robust, cheap and with the addition of small diameter bombs quite effective even in todays wars.
ReplyDeleteThank you, sir - probably all of those days in SD hearing the "Hoover Whine" :-)
ReplyDeleteI would like to add the U.S. Navy's F-14 Tomcat to the list of aircraft retired too early (and to second Sferrin's mention of the SR-71 Blackbird).
ReplyDeleteThe F-14's (until their retirement) with the adaptation of the Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting InfraRed at Night (LANTIRN) pod served well in the Afghanistan theater as a long range strike platform. With the A-6 & F-14's gone the Navy has ceded the long range strike over to missiles and the USAF. It's my belief that with Pratt & Whitney's TF-30 engines replaced (to name but one example) many of the F-14's maintenance woes could have been lessened.
I'll also second the EF-111A Raven electronic jamming aircraft (even if the EA-6B Prowler stepped in admirably) and yes, I'll jump on the S-3 Viking bandwagon as well.
ooh great points....new post coming!
ReplyDelete