If the A-10 Warthogs are so useless to the USAF inventory, why are they being sent to Israel as an immediate action airplane?

Military "Intellegence" Analysts....

When I was on reforger in 1978-79, what impressed me was that you didn’t hear them coming until they were above you. Seems to me that’s a very good advantage for cas.

The Air Force does and always has hated the A-10 airframe because the USAF abhors the close air support mission. The flybois would rather be in sexy fighter jets or obscenely obsolete bombers rather than actually help groundpounders achieve their missions. Nobody gets promoted in the USAF for helping out the Army and Marines; they get promoted for chest-pounding while flying hugely-expensive fighters and 1950's era bombers. The US National Security would be best served by abolishing the Air Force and giving their budget to the Army and Navy, who could do a way-better job of purchasing true weapons of war that help achieve national security goals.

Perhaps it's time to rethink the fixed wing limitations for the Army and transfer the full responsibility for CAS to them. Fixed wing aircraft have some definite advantages over rotary wing aircraft, and vice versa. Put the whole of the CAS in the hands of the Army and let them workout the optimum mix of both.

Yeah, the A-10 were so "useless" during the Gulf War and OIF in destroying Iraqi armor and vehicles. Just another example of these Pentagon pointy heads constantly trying to re-invent the wheel. But I'll bet dollars to donuts the IDF Air Force is ecstatic about getting those birds.

They're not useless... they're just not "sexy" to the fighter jocks.

In a world full of body-sculpting bros, it's the barrel-chested wildman who wrestles bears.

In addition to what Col Cudworth said. The A-10’s consume alot of funding keeping them flying that could be better spent on more capable and modern platforms. It is a relic of the Tank warfare era when the soviets strategy in Europe was to throw wave after wave of tanks at NATO forces.

No they just got lost.

That old 1946 debate and decision to create the air force, where they get fixed wing aircraft, and the Army decided to use rotary wing, kinda created a few holes in the areas of responsability. THAT needs to be plugged , in my opinion. The AF are kinda locked into the air supremacy box and can't think outside of it. Unfortunatly CAS is outside it, by about 35,000 feet...