Aircraft Carriers Need Marine Air

[invertedflyer]

This is an outdated article, yet I found it pretty interesting. I just wanted to generate some interest about these ideas, I've heard talk of A-10s for the Marine Corps. before. I'm not sure I agree with his assertion to drop the CTOL F-35 for the Navy though. any thoughts?

http://www.g2mil.com/Carriers.htm

 

[TheBubba]

Meh... I think the author has way too simplistic a view of how the Navy and Marine Corps employ air assets and what it takes to modify an existing jet to become CV capable.

Its more than just whose better at CAS or adding a hook.

That's my inexperienced opinion.

 

[VetteMuscle427]

That is someone's personal opinion from 2002. Not something really worthy of debate, is it?

 

[nittany03]

Yeah, that guy needs to see the doc about that rectal-cranial impaction. Apparently V/STOL aircraft have a minimum NSS requirement out of Advanced because they're so easy to land on a boat. Oh, wait . . .

 

[Raptor2216]

Modifications for a Marine Corps A-10 "Sea Hog" should only require folding wings, a tail hook, and a catapult attachment point. The Air Force is currently upgrading its fleet of A-10s with better electronics and targeting equipment, so there would be no development costs as the Marines simply join in the Air Force program.

It sounds as if a high school senior wrote this paper or whatever you want to call it. As much I would absolutely love to fly the A-10, I just don't think it is as simple as this guy makes it out to be. The A-10 was never designed to be a carrier A/C and as such, it's not just a matter of folding the wings, sticking a hook on it and attaching a catapult point to turn it into a carrier A/C. What would make sense is for us to have the A-10 and use it as a land based A/C but the chair force will never give it up.

 

[invertedflyer]

I agree to mod the A-10 for carrier use is a bit far-fetched. How ever if the Marine Corps. was to take those A-10s from the bone-yard and use them as land-based A/C that sounds viable IMO. I'm not really educated as to the structure of a CAW, so thats why I put this out there for experienced aviators to examine.

I know the USMC was a little wary of assigning too many of their assets to CAWs, specifically fearing that their resources wouldn't be as available to Marine ground elements. That being said, I'm not sure I agree with his assertion that the Marines should assign 10 squadrons to A/C carriers.

 

[Nose]

I'm not really educated as to the structure of a CAW, so thats why I put this out there for experienced aviators to examine.

I think you mean "CVW" which is the acronym for Carrier Air Wing. The term "CAG" is most commonly used, although it is not an "Air Group" any more.

That being said, I'm not sure I agree with his assertion that the Marines should assign 10 squadrons to A/C carriers.

There are already a bunch of USMC Hornet squadrons assigned to Navy CVW's (nitpicking - you don't really get assigned to a carrier). Happened (again) in the late 90's.

 

[invertedflyer]

^^ There are only 4 that go to the boat to my knowledge.

 

[VFA-203 Forever]

^^ There are only 4 that go to the boat to my knowledge.

Right Now, I believe it's just three if I'm thinking correctly.. 232,323 and 251.

VMFA-115,312 are two NBC squadrons who were stable CVW Squadrons for a while until recently (Could change by next year with the way the Navy swaps things around). VMFA-314 at NKX also did their time on the boat but, like 115 and 312, have been concentrated on UDPs lately.

 

[invertedflyer]

Thanks for the info. I thought there were two east coast squadrons that went to the boat, but I guess its more complicated than that.

 

[JIMC5499]

I seem to remember reading an article right after Desert Storm about adapting the A-10 to carrier operations. The author had worked on the A-10 design at Fairchild and stated that they had given thought to a version of the A-10 that was carrier capable. He went on to state that the airframe and landing gear would have required minimal modifications. He went on to state that this was for "new airframes designed from the start for carrier operations" and that it was virtually impossible to modify the existing fleet of A-10s.

 

[Uncle Fester]

The airframes might not have needed much modification, but you can bet the flight decks would have. Overstressing the flight deck structural frames is one of the big reasons they have to work so hard at keeping new boat planes' weight down. I don't know the weight of the Hog for certain, but I'd imagine all that armor makes it pretty weighty.

 

[invertedflyer]

Its maximum takeoff weight is 51,000 lbs., so it would be within parameters. However, I think they'd have too much trouble modifying existing A-10s for it to be a workable plan.

 

[JIMC5499]

Its maximum takeoff weight is 51,000 lbs., so it would be within parameters. However, I think they'd have too much trouble modifying existing A-10s for it to be a workable plan.

A-10's armour is mostly Titanium. You would have to strip down the entire airframe and rebuild it, adding the mods as you go. Probably cheaper to build new airframes if the tooling is still in existance.