New `Warthog’ rolled out at Eglin adds brains to brawn
The retro look that helped give the straight-winged, snub-nosed A-10 “Warthog” its unofficial nickname remains unchanged, but a $360 million modification program is giving the rugged ground support jet some brains to go with its brawn.
The first A-10C, the designation that all 356 Warthogs will get once they undergo the most significant update in the plane’s 30-year history, was unveiled Tuesday at this Florida Panhandle base.
�This is a new beginning for the guardian of the ground troops,” said Col. Mark J. Donohue, A-10 systems program manager. “The 2010 A-10 will not be your daddy’s ‘hog.”
By then, all A-10s will receive what Donohue, of Hill Air Force Base, Utah, termed an “electronic brain.” The first of the modified jets are expected to go into service next year after flight testing at this Florida Panhandle base.
Keeping the flying rotary cannon in the air.
Found @ Sworn Enemy
Roger that, AK. The A-10 was, is and will remain the only aircraft built around it’s gun, but I expect that the A-10 will see even more firepower in it’s lifetime.
The time is not far off when the 30mm HE round will be made into a “smart” round, and when that happens, just imagine the force-multiplication of the GAU-8!
I’m sure some of the new package is classified, but I wouldn’t be surprised if allowances were made in the new computer bus for the coming smart rounds.
I still remember the story an Air Force brat told me while we were in college.
A-10 Development Meeting:
Developer 1: We have this big gun that shoots tank killing rounds at 6,000 RPM.
Developer 2: Put wings on it.