Summary and key points: Despite its proven effectiveness in providing close air support (CAS) over the past decades, the A-10 Warthog may be facing retirement as the U.S. Air Force favors newer technologies and stealth capabilities.
Critics argue that the A-10 is outdated and vulnerable to modern air defenses, while supporters believe it remains invaluable for protecting ground troops.
– Although modernizing the A-10 into a stealth platform is not practical, there are calls for the development of a new, advanced CAS platform that retains the A-10’s iconic Gatling Gun and integrates cutting-edge technologies such as supersonic flight and energy weapons.
Why the future of the A-10 Warthog is in danger: Can it survive?
The A-10 Warthog is one of the most popular fighter aircraft in the US Air Force’s arsenal. It is also a fighter aircraft that the Air Force has wanted to phase out for years. At some point, the Air Force’s wish will now come true.
One of the reasons the Air Force keeps trying to retire the aircraft, despite it having proven its usefulness in multiple wars, is because the Pentagon argues the aircraft is simply too old. Certainly the aircraft is older than, say, the F-22A Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II. But the Air Force currently flies the B-52 Stratofortress as a strategic bomber, which has been in service since the end of World War II.
And the Air Force plans to keep the B-52 in service until the middle of this century (so the aircraft will have been in service for a century!).
In the eyes of the Air Force planners, age is obviously just a construct.
Yet they continue to argue that the A-10 is simply too old to be maintained in public. One question raised by A-10 supporters was why the Air Force doesn’t simply modernize these legendary fighter aircraft.
The A-10 cannot be camouflaged
As it turns out, it’s not technically possible to upgrade the A-10 to a stealth aircraft, for example. And the Air Force is still (understandably) obsessed with stealth aircraft.
Yet the Air Force still doesn’t have a credible replacement for the A-10. Some argue that the A-10 is useless today because anti-aircraft systems have become so powerful that they could easily negate the A-10’s tactical strengths. What makes the A-10 such an incredible machine is that it can stand over a battlefield – and operate at very close range – and wipe out enemy troop formations with almost surgical precision, thanks in large part to its legendary Gatling gun.
The A-10 can operate in extremely dangerous environments where any other fighter aircraft would struggle (especially considering that friendly troops would be operating so close to the targeted enemy formations).
Whatever technologically advanced platforms the Air Force has fielded since the A-10 entered service, and however many long-range weapons the Air Force continues to field today, the fact remains that the A-10 has been critical to protecting American and allied ground forces in every major war of the past 30 years.
From Desert Storm to the War in Afghanistan to the Iraq War, most allied ground forces credited the A-10 with saving their butts in close combat with enemy forces.
So the A-10 haters must be smiling when they call on the A-10 supporters to modernize the A-10 by converting these units into stealth platforms. And in this case, the haters are right. The A-10 cannot be converted into a stealth platform.
One of the most important aspects of making a fighter aircraft stealth is basically its shape and size, not to mention the materials it’s built from. The A-10 has none of those factors. And redesigning these fighters to have such characteristics would essentially be like making a new aircraft out of an old one – which could ultimately be more expensive than simply developing an entirely new platform.
The A-10 should not hide
Plus, the A-10 was never meant to be a bird that stalks around in the dark. The warthog, just like the animal it’s named after, is big, slow, loud, and vicious. In spirit, this bird wants you to know it’s there.
This bird is there to be seen.
The sight of that flying cannon over your head not only means certain, gruesome death for the enemy. It also strikes fear into the minds and hearts of all other enemies nearby. A Marine buddy of mine once quipped to me, “The A-10’s cannon sounds like a zipper being unzipped. When the enemy hears it, he knows he’s about to get fucked!”
However, the Air Force is not wrong when it says that modern air defense systems are rapidly outperforming the capabilities of current attack aircraft. Even the A-10, with its heavily armored cockpit, is at risk. The Air Force should develop a new A-10.
But they should not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
The Air Force would be wise to fund a replacement that will last at least until the end of the century. A model that can do things like supersonic flight and does away with stealth technology in order to be able to carry even more weapons into battle than the current A-10. The enemy should see the bird coming. If it is faster than its air defenses can react, who cares?
The Air Force (and Navy) are also developing energy weapons. This new platform should also take these technological concepts into account.
These are just a few ideas. However, the Air Force should stop retreating so quickly from its essential CAS mission. The American military must have a dedicated CAS platform. It just needs to be modernized in a way that will keep up with the advances our enemies are making in countering our CAS capabilities.
Certainly the Air Force engineers are quite capable of achieving this.
But keep the Gatling gun. The gun is the key. Everything else is negotiable.
Author’s experience and expertise: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a national security analyst for the National Interest, is a former congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor to The Washington Times, The Asia Times, and The Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, will be published by Encounter Books on October 22. Weichert can be followed on Twitter. @WeTheBrandon.
All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock.
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