It's cool as hell, but I can't quite get behind the name. To be a true "Skyraider," it has to have a massive radial engine out front. With that modest but reliable turboprop, it's merely a sparkling plunderer from the air 😃
I'm pretty sure both the army and marines would like them. It's like so common sense that they are perfect for the job. About the only thing I can see replacing them is drones, Really though it would take a full drone swarm to replace that ability to bring the hurt to ground targets.
about half the performance of a A10 for 3 times the loiter time... I can see serious arguments for both. Its ability to use dirt airstrips is also a strategic win. Not to mention the price has got to be pennies on the dollar compared. Ok went out and looked at base cost and finish deployed plane. 1.2 t to 2.8 mill for civilian mondel.
The build plane for military and it gets shipped another company where they take it apart and modify it. by the time it is operational its more like 40 million dollars. that is what the A10's inflation adjusted cost of today would be.
Someone is making some serious margins somewhere in there.
18 million is the A-10's adjusted cost according to google (1.4M new). These are going to cost twice that. Yeah, that doesn't sound at all right.
Oh, and the A-10 can land on dirt runways.
These things will probably do okay against small groups of people with regular firearms, but I don't see them surviving any ground to air missiles, larger guns, or of course, enemy aircraft. They're also going to be slow. Especially when carrying ordinance.
stall speed is only 38 knots different. Loiter time is 6 hrs or so compared to 2.5 to 2.5 for A10 but about half or less of the payload. I can see a place for it but I wonder if a modernized A10 with better more fuel efficient engines mike not be the answer. The ability of the A10 to take damage and bring the pilot home is better than any other air frame im aware of.
There will never be another A-10. The USAF hates that aircraft with the power of a thousand burning stars. The only reason they still have it is that the Marines WANT IT and they WANT IT BAD. The Marines have been trying to take the A-10's since the late 80's, the first time the USAF tried to get rid of them.
The moment they do, the Marines will end up with them, and the USAF can't have that.
I'm not kidding about any of this.
As for the loiter time, that'll change with weapons onboard and half of that loiter time will probably be used getting to the target. It's definitely not an airplane that you're going to want to fly at 10,000 MSL in a battlefield. You're going to be at 500AGL all the way there and back. Also it can't refuel in the air like the A-10.
It's not a bad idea, but the price gouging going on is kind of weird, and I suspect every pilot who'll be flying those will be there because he pissed on somebody's wheaties.
I think history teaches us that for civil society to flourish, proper pest control is vital.
It's cool as hell, but I can't quite get behind the name. To be a true "Skyraider," it has to have a massive radial engine out front. With that modest but reliable turboprop, it's merely a sparkling plunderer from the air 😃
There is no way that you will convince me that a turboprop is as damage resistant as a big ol' radial engine.
Radials can survive split jugs, ingesting a valve or cracking a piston, leaving the connecting rod flailing around inside the crankcase.
The heart of every turboprop is a finely balanced turbine. And they notoriously become extra-finicky when exposed to high velocity lead or steel.
It's not, but there aren't any radials available anymore... sigh
I'm pretty sure both the army and marines would like them. It's like so common sense that they are perfect for the job. About the only thing I can see replacing them is drones, Really though it would take a full drone swarm to replace that ability to bring the hurt to ground targets.
about half the performance of a A10 for 3 times the loiter time... I can see serious arguments for both. Its ability to use dirt airstrips is also a strategic win. Not to mention the price has got to be pennies on the dollar compared. Ok went out and looked at base cost and finish deployed plane. 1.2 t to 2.8 mill for civilian mondel.
The build plane for military and it gets shipped another company where they take it apart and modify it. by the time it is operational its more like 40 million dollars. that is what the A10's inflation adjusted cost of today would be.
Someone is making some serious margins somewhere in there.
18 million is the A-10's adjusted cost according to google (1.4M new). These are going to cost twice that. Yeah, that doesn't sound at all right.
Oh, and the A-10 can land on dirt runways.
These things will probably do okay against small groups of people with regular firearms, but I don't see them surviving any ground to air missiles, larger guns, or of course, enemy aircraft. They're also going to be slow. Especially when carrying ordinance.
Yep...
stall speed is only 38 knots different. Loiter time is 6 hrs or so compared to 2.5 to 2.5 for A10 but about half or less of the payload. I can see a place for it but I wonder if a modernized A10 with better more fuel efficient engines mike not be the answer. The ability of the A10 to take damage and bring the pilot home is better than any other air frame im aware of.
There will never be another A-10. The USAF hates that aircraft with the power of a thousand burning stars. The only reason they still have it is that the Marines WANT IT and they WANT IT BAD. The Marines have been trying to take the A-10's since the late 80's, the first time the USAF tried to get rid of them.
The moment they do, the Marines will end up with them, and the USAF can't have that.
I'm not kidding about any of this.
As for the loiter time, that'll change with weapons onboard and half of that loiter time will probably be used getting to the target. It's definitely not an airplane that you're going to want to fly at 10,000 MSL in a battlefield. You're going to be at 500AGL all the way there and back. Also it can't refuel in the air like the A-10.
It's not a bad idea, but the price gouging going on is kind of weird, and I suspect every pilot who'll be flying those will be there because he pissed on somebody's wheaties.
Yep, L3Harris... dammit...
Looks like the Good Idea Fairy ™️ showed up sober this time, and the Air Force cults of speed and stealth were kept out of the conversation. 👏
Loved the reference to the Polikarpov biplanes in WWII. 👍
I've watched the float plane water bombers doing work on a big fire down at Lake Somerville a few years ago.
I hope the crews call them SPADs.