Boeing touts A-10s for international customers should USAF divest fleet

[Styx]

su-25 can do this job too...........

in an emergency this beast can even do a few sorties on diesel

for the a-10, I agree.. its unlikely the US will sell to india or pak, if they sell, it will be most likely the poles who get it.

 

[Nike]

So? That still doesn't invalidate what I said, and if they end up in Pakistan the balance becomes more even, these are the best tank-killers on the planet.

Talk right now is of any A-10 sales being to Eastern European nations like Poland or Lithuania, Turkey has been thrown around too - this doesn't mean the nations are interested, just that they've been highlighted as potential sales targets. Only Jordan outside of Europe has been mentioned. These will be sold to US allies.

And on the balance of power between India and Pakistan; I don't care, I was only offering the US' justification for keeping the A-10s out of the region. And if they were sold to Pakistan, you'd be in for one hell of a reckoning:


But frankly, I don't care about Indian versus Pakistani military-measuring contests, so please don't bother me with them.



Where do you think they'd end up if sold?

Indonesia

actually that's our Ministry of Defense request to asking Boeing to made an inquiry about international sales of A-10 warthog. And this news came not far from our ministry of defense visit to Boeing production facility at Philadelphia and meet Ashton Carter there, as part of pre- eliminary talks and visit before the Visit of Jokowi to Washington later next month.

DEFENCE MEDIA CENTER / PPID

because Indonesia had a problematic relationship with China potent claim at Natuna EEZ and becoming one of our largest trading partner actually that's why we don't to be mentioned as the one who made such inquiry

 

[Rank]

I love this machine... ******* best for CAS ops... phaar phoor kar rakhdayge

 

[Armstrong]

But frankly, I don't care about Indian versus Pakistani military-measuring contests, so please don't bother me with them.

Say what ?

Oh come on and here I made you an Honorary Pakistani ?

 

[IND151]

May Nations may buy A 10 if it is for Sale.

It is a formidable machine.............

 

[The Great One (Mod ver)]

and if they end up in Pakistan the balance becomes more even, these are the best tank-killers on the planet.

Don't be ridiculous. A-10 by itself doesn't shift any balance anywhere. These platforms will be sitting ducks if operated in highly contested airspace or under the presence of good ground based air defence. Even MANPADS make it irrelevant. It will require full air-supremacy or at least superiority in EW..................at which point the enemy is already fucked.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

They will be gone off the market...Fast...!!!

I agree
back in the days of Gen Zia in 80s they were once proposed along with F-16s and cobras but deal didnt get through due to our requirements or as @MastanKhan puts it, the fighter mafiya in PAF.. any CAS role or strike role is frowned upon as far as I know in the air forces. I mean not very esteemed as if you are serving the ground forces (peasants)

there is simply nothing comes close to this jet. its one of a kind . frog foot maybe is the only loose comparison but A-10 is winner hands down.
who might get it? looks like KSA maybe top contender and likely recipient . we can really use it but we would be very much down the order and secondly I dont think PAF would want it unless our army aviation decides to raise a combat fixed wing squadron(s) .

in an emergency this beast can even do a few sorties on diesel

for the a-10, I agree.. its unlikely the US will sell to india or pak, if they sell, it will be most likely the poles who get it.

KSA might be a more likely recipient due to its air campaigns in Yemen and its likely strikes against ISIS. other friendly Arab states like Jordan and UAE may also receive them due to their fight against ISIS.
other than that I dont know like you mentioned but its a very specialised role and for a country that enjoys air superiority.

Many countries want the A-10 and the smaller the country, the more the want. This is the 'next to perfect' combat jet for small countries.

There are so many countries the covets the A-10 that I do not know where to guess. But for entertainment's sake, I would say the country with the largest 'petty cash' purse. What is 'petty cash' does not equal to quantity, but rather of leftover money after necessities have been taken care of, so I guess we are looking at the Saudis, the Japanese, the South Koreans, or the Israelis. For the Israelis, the A-10 would be great for low frequency high intensity insurgency warfare. For the South Koreans, the A-10 would be great against North Korean heavy armor trying to cross the DMZ.

It would have to be who has the quickest draw and the best Washington DC connections.

perfect list of top contenders I totally agree All below have spare cash and tons of political clout in the higher echelons of USA administration.


Israel ... why? well in any future conflict in Lebanon or Syria (whatever is left of it) it will double as Apache and F-16 + and some.
KSA..... why? well Yemen campaign and most likely deployment against ISIS in rest of Middle East
South Korea... why? why Not? make a mince meat of North Korean Zombie horde.

 

[Styx]

KSA might be a more likely recipient due to its air campaigns in Yemen and its likely strikes against ISIS. other friendly Arab states like Jordan and UAE may also receive them due to their fight against ISIS.
other than that I dont know like you mentioned but its a very specialised role and for a country that enjoys air superiority.

could be, KSA enjoy a strange kind of special relationship with the US, but after 3 decades in service, even with midlife upgrades, one has to wonder for how much longer the airframes will be air worthy.

they were originally created specifically to deal with the soviet tank threat, and with things heating up in the eastern europe sector again, maybe they will fulfill their destiny in the end.

 

[Styx]

Can I know why my and @Transhumanist's posts were deleted?

because an india-pak shitfest is the last thing they need on a thread about the A-10 ?

he (transhumanist) needlessly sparked it first, though.. and I see your other posts and thoughts on the A-10 are still here.

and I agree with you, A-10s saw some action in gulf war where they did a stellar job, A-10s and F-117s were the real stars, all the fast movers were jealous (in a good way) when it was over, and it gave the ugly duckling a new lease of life when a decade later they gave the talibs hell for another decade (but there were no air threats in that theatre)

I don't think they'll be very effective in say, the Donbass war if they had to deal with these:

and especially this one:

but A-10 is still a badass, specially as part of a broader superpower conventional warplan the US chalks out when they go in.

 

[thesolar65]

@SvenSvensonov
So as I gather from the discussions, A-10 needs a F-16 or 15 by its side to do its job? How does it fare against an old Mig-21 if it will find itself alone against this oldbird?

 

[Armstrong]

@Transhumanist - No reply !

 

[Armstrong]

I'll let my more knowledgeable and respected compatriot take the discussion from here. @SvenSvensonov should be able to settle things easier.



If you'd like to talk though, we can go to the "Whatever" thread.

What about the Team America thread ?

And @SvenSvensonov is already an Honorary Pakistani so he'd always side with us !

 

[Armstrong]

That's fine too.

You never replied to my post on the Team America thread !

I thought you disowned him for a Dane? I think @SvenSvensonov sides with who ever shuts up and stop arguing though, I've noticed he doesn't really like arguments too much - Pakistani or India.

@SvenSvensonov is an easy going fellow who doesn't like to lock horns with anyone unless hes really irked !

But if he is irked.....hes as angry as a Mama Grizzly Bear !

I learnt that the hard way when I joked about his inability to grow a proper Viking beard or his vegetarianism making him a Swedish Goat - Won't ever do that again !

Just kidding @SvenSvensonov !

Hes a great guy !

Just a little overly obsessive about his Micro-story thread !

 

[Nike]

Israel is a major maybe, I don't know if they'd even want the A-10s, but is a very politically sensitive deal considering regional opposition. Still, if they want them and are willing to pay, they'd be given preferential treatment.

KSA is the same, politically sensitive from an Israeli and Iranian perspective, but they could make extensive use of the A-10 in Iraqi, Yemen and other regional trouble areas.

I have to say though, working for a European Defense Contractor - one based in Norway, and working with nations that have been mentioned before, Eastern Europe seems to be a probable candidate - according to most industry rumors. Their main problem is cost, however, some nations like Latvia, Lithuania and Poland could shoulder the cost while fulfilling their strategic aims or deterring regional threats - in this case Russia.

Japan and South Korea remain distant prospect and have their own alternatives or priorities. Japan doesn't seem too interested, while they would make a lot of sense for South Korea, but again, the interest doesn't seem to be there at this point.

At the end of the day this is all speculative though, the US hasn't yet decided on a de-commitment from the A-10 so no sales are imminent and new and unforeseen future strife and problems will alter the calculus in ways we aren't seeing now. Future conflicts might make one sales target unattractive from a geopolitcal perspective while another becomes a likely candidate.

They could just as easily end up in a boneyard.

Just a bit of perspective from an industry insider.



I like it as an idea. What would be their major role and what weapons would they be armed with. Does Indonesia have anti-shipping and coastal defense weapons that can be fitted to the A-10 - they have the KH-31, but I'm not sure about its fit on an A-10, conversions would be needed for sure? Or will they be used for ground attack in regional conflicts?

I know Indonesia has the Maverick missile, but only in its earlier forms - and these lack the anti-ship capability of the "F" model the US uses.

Maverick "B", "D", and "G" are land attack only.

For the missiles, is up to US if they want to sell the warthog to us or not in the first place. But i hope they will considering such possibility as we need them to augment our ground attack/anti shipping/anti landing (or maritime interdiction) capability.


This move and such request will become a part of Indonesia military strategy in ASEAN region along with strategic cooperation from Singapore to cope with future challenge, but i will not mention the detail any further....

BTW, Indonesian Air Force has long practicing to using Maverick B and D against ships and other soft target at sea (especially against tanker and ships in class of LST) with our Hawk mk 109/209 which been utilized as ground attack aircraft.

 

[monitor]