In the era of limited budgets I am sure every air force top brass must be thinking of new ways to shut off the A-10 and a huge albatross from their necks. The Army can come and take over this A-10 division but then whats the point of having an Air Force if every Arm of the military will duplicate each other ability to a close proximity. Now the Navy has its own Aviation wing, Marine Corps has its own, Army has its own Aviation wing, whats the utility of the Airforce then other than being that absurdly expensive sports car thats only good for one role in a limited capacity.
Have a look at this- 1). They dont look so happy providing CAS and like AM's blog rightly said, now mislable precision bombing as CAS. 2). Most Army's have their own scouting aircraft and troop transport aircraft. 3). Helicoptors of various types are also not a unique preserve of the Air Force. 4). Naval Aviation is out of their Jurisdiction 5). Intelligence gathering and ISR can be done pretty well by satelites, UAV's and HUMINTS of various branches. Reduces role of Air Force Aerial Assets as Army, Navy Marines, CIA etc all have their own UAV's and HUMINT's and satelites are DoD. 6). Specialised support to SF people is being carried out by a new creature called SOAR.
All this leaves the Airforce as basically a Bird-to-Bird killing and Pigeon Shit Dropping (High Altitude Bombing) force only. They are slowly and deliberatly loosing much of the utility and flexibility that characterises a military force, any military force. And its not just happening with the US air force.
I don't see the problem, Russia has army air-planes, it makes sense for the army to control its own fire-support, they already control their own helicopters. There is a bit of a difference between SU-25/A10/Harriers and actual fighter planes.
I do kind of agree about the ISR and sattelites, microsattelites and UAVs with infinite indurance, that fly well above the range of air-breathing missiles and cannonfire of fighter-planes, like the Zephyr (called virtual sattelites) could really displace aerial ISR. Especially when we talk about elon musks rocket revoloution, driving down launch costs, and reusable rockets!
And we have vessals like ACTUV 60-90 day endurance, designed to perform the submarine naval patrol mission, which I think should be refuelable by other USN vessals, for indefinite indurance.
Apparently, according to reports, General Odierno didn't lift a finger, didn't make a peep, to keep the A-10 to maintain effective CAS for the Army, and here we have an Army O-5 with "The A-10 Needs To Go." No coincidence.
So from the circumstantial evidence it appears that Odierno has made a deal with Welsh which probably concerns overall budget support in these troubled financial times. Welsh: 'Ray, help me with A-10 and I'll support your budget.'
It used to be so, and then came the Air Force with its own parochial interests and its own budget.
So with money getting short (relatively speaking), and an over-riding interest in making sure that prima donna AF jet pilots have the most complex, most expensive and most useless machine available the child has now turned on the parent, not an unusual occurrence.
If the thought is that Odierno is abetting this A-10 dumping in order to lay the groundwork for an Army mission takeover, I don't buy it. First of all I don't think he's that bright. He's no Greenert.
Is it me or do Air Forces all over the world Hate providing Close Air and Ground Attack support to the Army and Land Forces ?
ReplyDeleteIn the era of limited budgets I am sure every air force top brass must be thinking of new ways to shut off the A-10 and a huge albatross from their necks. The Army can come and take over this A-10 division but then whats the point of having an Air Force if every Arm of the military will duplicate each other ability to a close proximity. Now the Navy has its own Aviation wing, Marine Corps has its own, Army has its own Aviation wing, whats the utility of the Airforce then other than being that absurdly expensive sports car thats only good for one role in a limited capacity.
DeleteHave a look at this-
1). They dont look so happy providing CAS and like AM's blog rightly said, now mislable
precision bombing as CAS.
2). Most Army's have their own scouting aircraft and troop transport aircraft.
3). Helicoptors of various types are also not a unique preserve of the Air Force.
4). Naval Aviation is out of their Jurisdiction
5). Intelligence gathering and ISR can be done pretty well by satelites, UAV's and
HUMINTS of various branches. Reduces role of Air Force Aerial Assets as Army, Navy
Marines, CIA etc all have their own UAV's and HUMINT's and satelites are DoD.
6). Specialised support to SF people is being carried out by a new creature called SOAR.
All this leaves the Airforce as basically a Bird-to-Bird killing and Pigeon Shit Dropping (High Altitude Bombing) force only. They are slowly and deliberatly loosing much of the utility and flexibility that characterises a military force, any military force. And its not just happening with the US air force.
I don't see the problem, Russia has army air-planes, it makes sense for the army to control its own fire-support, they already control their own helicopters. There is a bit of a difference between SU-25/A10/Harriers and actual fighter planes.
DeleteI do kind of agree about the ISR and sattelites, microsattelites and UAVs with infinite indurance, that fly well above the range of air-breathing missiles and cannonfire of fighter-planes, like the Zephyr (called virtual sattelites) could really displace aerial ISR. Especially when we talk about elon musks rocket revoloution, driving down launch costs, and reusable rockets!
And we have vessals like ACTUV 60-90 day endurance, designed to perform the submarine naval patrol mission, which I think should be refuelable by other USN vessals, for indefinite indurance.
Alow me to clarify the Pegion Shit Dropping remark, a Pegion dropped a load on my motorcycle today, hence the bomb dropping reference
DeleteThe One and only gunship.
ReplyDeleteApparently, according to reports, General Odierno didn't lift a finger, didn't make a peep, to keep the A-10 to maintain effective CAS for the Army, and here we have an Army O-5 with "The A-10 Needs To Go." No coincidence.
ReplyDeleteSo from the circumstantial evidence it appears that Odierno has made a deal with Welsh which probably concerns overall budget support in these troubled financial times. Welsh: 'Ray, help me with A-10 and I'll support your budget.'
The A-10 and whatever future air asset providing CAS needs to be part of Army air.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be so, and then came the Air Force with its own parochial interests and its own budget.
DeleteSo with money getting short (relatively speaking), and an over-riding interest in making sure that prima donna AF jet pilots have the most complex, most expensive and most useless machine available the child has now turned on the parent, not an unusual occurrence.
If the thought is that Odierno is abetting this A-10 dumping in order to lay the groundwork for an Army mission takeover, I don't buy it. First of all I don't think he's that bright. He's no Greenert.
DeleteI haven't heard about what aircraft type was involved in the "blue-on-blue" incident a few days ago. Coincidence? Pretty sure it's not A-10s...
Delete