[ARC5] A-10 Radios

[Robert Eleazer]

When I was at the Pentagon the idea was to get rid of the A-10 and use F-16's.  The F-16 equipped with a weapons load comparable to an A-10 could do a very nice job of making sure no one got past the guard shack at the main gate of its home base. 

The fear was that the A-10 was so slow that when the Warsaw Pact came through the Fulda Gap the A-10 would get hit on the first day of the war and although probably survive to make it home but we would not have time to repair it before the war was over.

Some on Congress said that if USAF got rid of the A-10 the US Army should take over the airplane, it being a much better "mud mover."  The Army was terrified, saying that all their airplanes had to have at least two seats.

Then came Saddam's invasion of Kuwait and the A-10 was the machine to have.  And when the war was over we had lost four A-10's and four F-16's  So much for survivability concerns.  A re-engining program was started for the A-10 a few years later. And the USSR went out of business on 25 Dec 1991; so much for the Fulda Gap concern

To some in the USAF was faced with either keeping the A-10 or buying the F-35 - and the F-35 won.   I do not know if that insanity persists.

The A-10 would have at a minimum VHF AM Air Band (108-132 MHZ), UHF AM (220-400 MHZ), and low band FM (30-76 MHZ) radios.  The ARC-114, ARC-115, and ARC-116 such as carried by US Army helicopters of the late 60's would do nicely but it no doubt has gear later than that.

Anyway, look it up yourself.  The pilot's manual for the A-10 is available for free download here:

http://www.476vfightergroup.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=42

Wayne
WB5WSV

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