The A-10 is far more than a one trick, anti-armor pony.
It's main 30mm gun (which everyone naturally talks about) is great for that, but it also has ELEVEN HARD POINTS and carriers A LOT of ordinance for the infantry ground support role. The thing is a literal bomb, missile, rocket, etc. carrying Mac Truck.
This aircraft has GREAT loiter time, and is in-flight refuelable, so it can hang around a long time in support of troops.
As to its ruggedness, well, the A-10 it is very hard to kill and can take immense damage, including direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23 mm to its overall fueselage, and up to 57mm to the pilot area. .It has been desinged with a double-redundancy hydralic flight system. Failing that, a mechanical system acts as a third back up in case all hydraulics are lost. The aircraft has been DESIGNED to fly with one engine, one tail, one elevator, and even up to half of one wing missing.
Around the pilot there is an exceptiomnally heavily armored section called the "bathtub." it is made up of titanium armor from 1/2 to 1 1.25 inches thick. The bathtub has been tested against strikes from up to up to 57 mm rounds.
Now, the F-35 is going to bre great aircraft, includoing the ground attack role, but it cannot begin to compare woith the A-10 in the close air support support role.
It is lunacy to consider retiring these aircraft. Besides, neither the close ground support role, or the anti-armor role has gone away. Far from it.. All one has to do is look at the major potetnial advesaries of the US and the armor those nations are continuing to develop to know this is ture.
Now, I pray that we never have to have such conflict...but one of the best ways to avoid it is to keep systems like the A-10 in service to deter it.
Just as an example, if you doubt the ruggedness of this aricraft, in 2003, over Baghdad, an A-10 piloted by Captain Kim Campbell, a female US Air Force combat pilot, sustained heavy anti-aircraft damage and was significantly damaged. It knocked out one of the A-10's engines, crippled its hydraulic systems...both of which failed, and the aircraft's flight controls had to be reverted to the manual mode. The aircraft sustained numerous hits to the rear of the aircraft, including the horizontal stabilizer, tail section and engine cowling, Captain Campbell could not see the damage, but her flight leader, Lt. Col. Richard Turner, positioned his aircraft where he could view the damage and helped her assess the damage.
Despite this damage, Captain Campbell, operated the aircraft for an hour while assessing the damage, and then returning successfully to base and landing safely. Here's are some pictures of that damage and others that A--10 airccraft have sustained and landed safely anyway.
Phenominal stuff. That last picture is an A-10 that took an anti-aircraft missile strike in one of its engines and yet was able to fly home and land.
The F-35 will never be able to do this, no was it designed to. The A-10 can get down very close and personal, support the troops, take damage if necessary, and then come back to fight another day.
