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| Afghanistan |
| Warthogs come to Bagram |
| 2002-03-24 |
Warthogs are truly ugly tank busters, and for some reason the Air Force doesn't like them. They can fly at treetop level give or take six inches, and while they're not fast in comparison to F16s, they're quicker than the eye can follow when they're in the process of demolishing your armor. For my money, the Blue Boys should accept the idea of reverse glamor -- they're so ugly they're beautiful -- and treasure the things. Their presence at Bagram would indicate we expect to meet some more of those antique T54s in the fairly near future, and what the hell, the pilots can always use a bit of target practice. The A10 has loiter time and weapons versatility that the F16 can only approximate. Moreover, the A10 units have as their first training priority ground support, while the F16's have air-air as their first training priority. Of the two, I'd say the training issue is the more important. One probable outcome of the A10 deployment is that next week we'll hear about how the depleted uranium is poisoning the Afghan countryside. The basing of A-10 Warthogs doesn't, to me, at all indicate any expectations of running into tanks. They'rve brought them in because of their protective armor, including that titanium bathtub the pilot sits in. A-10s won't be knocked down while doing ground support, unlike the Apaches and Blackhawks, of which notice at least four were damaged by RPG and heavy machine gun fire at Shah-i-Kot. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |