Programme US pour compléter les A-10: Light attack airplane

http://warisboring.com/articles/the-pentagon-has-two-choices-for-light-attack-planes/

Il y avait une proposition de Boeing pour refaire des OV-10 Bronco, mais le "tooling" (outils de production) n'existe plus.
"The existing OV-10 inventory is in such poor condition that DEVGRU took two years and $30 million to locate and return two aircraft to serviceability for the Combat Dragon II program. These particular aircraft are NASA-owned OV-10s, designated OV-10G+, that have been partially upgraded with new engines and a 12-inch EO/IR ball."
Donc pas de OV-10 modernes.

Il reste le A-29 Super Tucano et le AT-6C Coyote, une version du Texan II ou Harvard II couramment en service.
-"Both aircraft, combat loaded, are comparable in power-to-weight ratio and wing loading to a combat-loaded P-47D."  
AT-6C

Super Tucano

Oui, c'est des Sidewinders sous les ailes!

Autre point intéressant de comparaison:
"The fuel consumption of the turboprop aircraft is extremely low. The AT-6C fuel consumption at JEFX 10 averaged around 350 pounds per hour for all phases of flight. The A-29 uses the same engine with a different prop, and has demonstrated similar economy.
By comparison, an F-15E will use 390 pounds of fuel in six minutes at idle."

Il y avait d'autres candidats dont un jet fait par Textron (multi compagnies, Cessna en fait partie) mais il n'est pas assez dévellopé pour etre en compétition. Textron Scorpion

Le fuselage a un petit look de 262, n'est-ce pas?

Je préfère la version UCAS du A10....

Si la chaine de montage existait encore, ca serait surement dans les plans.
Par contre, ce sujet devrait etre intéressant:
"In 2011, the National Science Foundation granted $11 million to modify an A-10 for weather research for CIRPAS at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, replacing a retired North American T-28 Trojan. The A-10's armor is expected to allow it to survive the extreme meteorological conditions, such as 200 mph hailstorms, found in inclement high-altitude weather events"
http://www.weathermodification.org/Fargo%20Presentations/Detwiler2015.pdf

Mai là on sort du sujet des COIN! (à mes yeux tout est intéressant. )