re: #344 Targetpractice

It’s simpler than that: The Air Force will never turn over the A-10 to the Army, even if the latter could find the funds in its budget to support the Warthog, because the Air Force will not allow the Army to operate fixed-wing aircraft. It’s been that way for decades, ever since they got absolutely bent out of shape over the AH-56 Cheyenne development program that would have produced an attack helicopter capable of subbing as a fighter bomber.

It’s been 60 years now that the Army has been prohibited from owning fixed-wing combat aircraft. (And missiles with a range of more than 200 miles.)

Where would the Army pilots come from to fly the A-10 if they decided to violate that agreement? Actually, I have a suggestion—fold the Air Force back into the Army as a failed experiment.

Someday somebody is going to be impolite enough to shoot back at these attack hummingbirds helicopters and swat them out of the sky like so many gnats. Then where will we be? I suppose the same place we’ll be when it turns out we guessed wrong on the design of these billion-dollar fighters and the 10 we could afford all get shot down in so many minutes….