Combat crop duster

[Olefin]

Saw this today and just had to post a link to it

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/08/...oin-fight.html

Sounds exactly like the kind of plane that the Army or Air Force would use in 2000 and after when aviation fuel is very scarce and many airfields are no longer operational

[The Dark]

Sounds similar to an Antonov An-2, modified and hyper-specialized for a combat role. During the Croatian War for Independence, An-2 cropdusters were modified for use as bombers because they could fly so slow that radar-guided SAMs wouldn't lock on them.

[mpipes]

Soooooo let me get this straight.

The A-10 is obsolete because it can't fly faster than about 450kts and operates too low. Never mind the fact that it can take heavy ground fire and even direct hits from SAMs and bring its pilot home. And it carries a heavy combat load backed up by a 30mm cannon.

Now, they agree that the F-35 is too vulnerable and expensive. So what to do? Apparently, the USAF want a single prop engine plane derived from a crop duster, lighter armor, slower at about 200kts, lower ceiling, no cannon, and no where near as much combat load. And oh yes, the A-10 is still too slow and flies to low and thus too vulnerable. Does anyone else see a problem with this proposal - as in dumb as hell?

And yep...in TW 2000 situation anything that flies is better than nothing.

[Olefin]

Oh I would take an A-10 in a heartbeat over this plane - but if you dont have any A-10's its a lot better than nothing

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Now maybe I'm being a little crazy or perhaps conspiratorially minded but...

We've heard plenty of tales that the USAF has tried to get rid of the A-10 and failed to do so. So now we have a test programme to find an aircraft that would "conveniently" remove the need for the A-10 in the Air Force arsenal... just sayin'

[stg58fal]

That has got to be one of the most pointless things I've ever seen.

The A-10 already fills that role, AND it won't get knocked out of the air by a PK machinegun, nevermind something in the 12.7-14.5mm range.