A-10s to Afghanistan

[Ray Tackett]

They are supposed to attack sites which produce revenue for the Taliban, e.g. drug factories. Terry, any comments on the suitability of a great tank killer aircraft for use on ground facilities?

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/01/23/Warthogs-to-join-air-campaign-in-Afghanistan-this-month/2121516723563/?utm_source=fp&utm_campaign=ts_dfn&utm_medium=19

[Bill Bridges]

If they can't handle it I know some Charlie model guys who can.

[Terry Carraway]

Let's see, 1.2 pound explosive projectile, with a muzzle velocity of 3600 feet per second (plus the aircraft speed), delivered at a rate of about 3000 rounds per minute. What ground target will stand up to that???

And add in 500 pound and larger bombs (dumb and guided), and other fun things.

NO PROBLEM.

[Russell Holton]

Reading the article, it's unclear to me what role the A-10 will serve. It may be to support ground troops that do the actual destruction.

If it is the primary offensive weapon, I'm sure the guns can put holes in things, but I'm not sure if bullet holes would destroy production. The bombs may have to do the job. But it seems to me to be one of the better options for cost-effective delivery of bombs in tight quarters.

[Terry Carraway]

It makes a mess of the equipment. And many of the chemicals used in processing are flammable.

[Russell Holton]

I'm thinking about a WWII attack on a German refinery. They ended up hitting the large storage tanks which made for a nice fire, but failed to hit the refinery equipment itself. As a result, the refinery was back in operation fairly quickly. Given the high losses to the Allies in the attack, that wasn't one of the more successful operations.

Let's hope the A-10s do more than "make a mess".

[Ralph Jones]

I'm thinking about a WWII attack on a German refinery.

If you're thinking about the 8/1/43 raid on Ploesti, that operation was a cluster**** from the beginning.

[Randy Sohn]

Ploesti,

Ralph, you remember that story I wrote about gving a Gen. a checkride at Offutt and him failing it? Name was Keith Compton.

best, randy

[Ralph Jones]

Ralph, you remember that story I wrote about gving a Gen. a checkride at Offutt and him failing it? Name was Keith Compton.

Yup, and they named an AFB after his boss, U. G. Ent.

[Randy Sohn]

Yup

Now THAT i didn't know. Mmmmmm, still recall those days. Was doing checkrides on the StanBoard there and he came up for his. So we went out and I recall him resetting the D.G. during a descent. I figured that everybody knew that that'll screw up the reading on the B-16 compass. Anyways, I recall after I'd given him that "thumbs down" on his instrument checkride/ADF approach at Omaha, he looked over at me and sez, "Lt., I've forgotten more about flying than you'll ever know" and I replied "Yes'sir, it's pretty obvious to me how much about flying you have forgotten".

Anyways, I already had a classdate to go to North Central Airlines.

best, randy

[Russell Holton]

If you're thinking about the 8/1/43 raid on Ploesti, that operation was a cluster**** from the beginning.

Probably. But I don't know as it changes my point that the proper metric is the enemy's ability to recover from the damage. What may looks bad may not be that much of a setback. (Conversely, what might seem to be minor damage, completely destroys something critical.)

If you want another example, consider Pearl Harbor. The Japanese did serious damage to a number of ships, but left the repair facilities largely intact. As a result, most of the ships sunk or damaged that day re-joined the war.

In short, whatever is used against the Taliban needs to ruin beyond all repair, not just inconvenience them. As much respect as I have for the A-10, I'm not sure if it's guns are the right weapon for the task at hand. But I suspect some 500lb bombs on-target will take care of it.

[Ralph Jones]

As much respect as I have for the A-10, I'm not sure if it's guns are the right weapon for the task at hand. But I suspect some 500lb bombs on-target will take care of it.

Those are on the menu.

[Terry Carraway]

If you're thinking about the 8/1/43 raid on Ploesti, that operation was a cluster**** from the beginning.

Yeah, I got to ride across the plains of Romania in a car, from Bucharest up to the mountains.

We were driving along, and I could see these bumps on the horizon. We drove and drove and drove, and they got bigger, but were still a long ways off. FINALLY, we got there, and they were the refineries at Ploesti.

And I said to myself, "Myself, what IDIOT thought you could sneak up on this place being going in low??????" From the tops of the refinery, a lookout could have seen the incoming bombers, gone and had a snack, and a cigarette, and gone back up, and sounded the alarm, and be chastised for calling it so early.

DUMB IDEA.

[Bill Bridges]

Say what you want about the Ploesti raid, those bomber crews were incredibly brave.

Bill

[Terry Carraway]

Say what you want about the Ploesti raid, those bomber crews were incredibly brave.

Bill

OH YES. The crews were very brave and did an amazing job.

I was saying that the PLANNERS were idiots.

Ploesti is in the middle of a very large flat plain. Low level works when there is terrain to hide behind. There is NO terrain around Ploesti.

It is like attacking a grain silo location in Kansas.