A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

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Netpackrat
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by Netpackrat »

Denis wrote:Here's a paddler getting a close look at an Orca: https://youtu.be/Vaq4pHxM5P4
That is one lucky dude.
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Termite
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by Termite »

Aesop wrote:I liked the orca story too. But if anyone starts to argue their angle of attack or teeth penetration, y'all are on your own.
:jacked:
Are orcas considered considered dangerous to humans? IE, like some species of sharks are? Or do they generally leave humans alone, unless you get too close to mamma orca's baby, etc?
Porpoises and dolphins seem to be indifferent or somewhat friendly to humans; again, unless you get too close to mamma's baby, then she'll thump you.
"Life is a bitch. Shit happens. Adapt, improvise, and overcome. Acknowledge it, and move on."
Aesop
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by Aesop »

Killer whales have bitten and killed trainers at Sea World, but that may be a special case because of their enforced captivity.
And there are cases on record of people pushed to safety by dolphins and porpoises while lost at sea.

But that's because the ones who may have been dragged out to sea and eaten, or used as a toy and drowned, haven't written any subsequent accounts. 'Cuz they can't.
Catch-22.
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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JKosprey
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by JKosprey »

Netpackrat wrote:I was kind of enjoying watching them beat up on each other, and besides, the entire thread was worth it just for the picture of the orca nailing the seal. Speaking as one who had his bacon saved from sea lions by a pod of orcas.
That sounds like an interesting story...

*EDIT* Nevermind, should have kept reading.... :oops:
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Denis
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by Denis »

Aesop
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by Aesop »

That was a congresswoman's press release, cobbled together with a Christmas wishlist from A-10 pilots, on a site that splits articles into multiple pages for clickbait.

The only thing really useful was noting that Congress, in a bipartisan way, pounded the shit out of SecAF, DAF, and the USAF, for trying to kill the A-10 for the third official time at least, with no actual replacement available, planned, or even contemplated, instead choosing to wave its institutional hand and say "F-35 does everything - because we're broke". With really weak Jedi-fu.

The AF guys basically said "We want a bomb sled that goes faster, farther, longer, carries more, and shoots better, at high speed, at lower cost." Which is nice, but it's the functional equivalent of wanting a 200MPH dump truck that turns like a racecar and gets 80MPG, and sells for $500 out the door. With an integral gun. Good luck with that.

The simpler answer is to redesign the entire A-10 on paper, improving where you can with newer items, then figure out how to streamline everything and make it fit and work, then actually build one.
Build the right plane the right way, and pay what it costs, saving where you can with pre-designed components, instead of trying to go back and forth between what you want, and what you'll pay, and what doesn't work, then having to fix what you didn't pay for with what you want five minutes after the change, then finding out that doesn't work either. The former approach created the F-16. The latter approach got us the F-35, and about 50 other turkeys designed since Orville and Wilbur switched from bicycles.

And even going back to one of Jericho's comments, I can't help but wonder what they could come up with if they tried a twin-engine Skyraider-esque prop job, or a pared down two-engine C-130ish mini-monster, for CAS/FAC/CSAR, with the/a (better) gun.
Instead of trying to do those missions and take on SU-27s and MiG-29s at altitude. (Which either means hanging bombs on a fighter, or building something that does all of the above poorer than either/or, because physics and reality.) :roll:
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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NVGdude
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by NVGdude »

Aesop wrote:That was a congresswoman's press release, cobbled together with a Christmas wishlist from A-10 pilots, on a site that splits articles into multiple pages for clickbait.
As a point of reference, that Congreswoman is an A-10 Driver and former commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron.
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by Aesop »

Precisely as was noted in the article, and which adds nothing to the conversation, nor changes her motives.

I'm glad she and the Congress spanked the Air Force over this, and it needed to happen; but the ceaseless job of a congressman (or woman) is to raise money to get re-elected.
So, just curious, are there any military communities or aerospace companies who'd have some interests at stake in designing and selling the US a replacement for the A-10?
And, hey, say...where are those A-10 bases?
Just wondering. 8-)

When somebody not the Locktard F-35 design committee comes forward with an actual and serious engineering proposal, I'm interested to see what they've got.
This was simply a press release, cobbled onto a Christmas wishlist (which sounded like the intro of Six Million Dollar Man: "...better, stronger, faster...!") from the Guys Who Were About To Be Canned Again, as previously noted. And I'm on their side, but a spade's a spade.
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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HTRN
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by HTRN »

I suspect that the eventual real replacement for the hog will be either an avenger or reaper drone with some kind of gun pod.. a gpu/5a would be pretty much ideal, but it's a tad heavy and ammo limited.
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BDK
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Re: A-10: Like a zombie, back from the dead!!!

Post by BDK »

I suspect we will see warfare move to

A) "Rods from God", as the replacement for ICBMs.

I suspect, cheaper. Harder to stop, faster to launch, guide, etc.

ICBMs/other things which can be hard-wired* will have their place, as they can be set up to not be hacked - and hacking your opponents will probably be a major goal, for nation-state level combatants.

B) Drone swarms, especially more autonomously operated ones, for most of our current operations

Keep a B-52/AC-130/etc over a theater, set up to launch various drones as called in by ground troops.

Additionally, I suspect it will become a race between swarm attacks and defense systems.

*As computers have become more powerful, and stable, in my very limited personal experience, more small businesses are building limited, closed networks for everything important, which have no connection to the Internet, and run what are considered almost sacrificial systems or Macs as their internet connected computers.
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