That’s nuts - $40 million each?

That video was made at my home airport in Tampa.

USSOCOM just finished SOF Week here, a big convention for SOF vendors, leadership and policy makers.

I’m hearing rumors it’s under powered even with 1600 SHP. Looks like it has the drag coefficient of a brick, hope it hacks the mission.

Butch

As seen on Twitter.



I had some avionics work done at XP Services a few years ago and got to see some prototypes of this aircraft. They were assisting with the avionics and flight testing. They look pretty brutish up close.

I’m going to guess the plane (airframe and engine) is the cheapest part of that price tag. Custom avionics (Garmin would have written bespoke code for that suite), the wiring to support hanging interesting things off the hard points, that very fancy satellite connection (replicates what a Reaper has), and probably a certain number of sensor balls per airframe would rapidly drive that cost up. That said, the crews will be able to train and fight at a pittance compared to what operating a A-10, AH-64, or AC-130 would cost.

The A-10s were only about $20 million each. And we have a bunch still stored in the desert.

And are sending more there this year (closing some A-10 units).

Maybe need to point DOGE in this direction.

The A-10s were only about $20 million each. And we have a bunch still stored in the desert.

And are sending more there this year (closing some A-10 units).

Maybe need to point DOGE in this direction.

I wonder what an A-10, produced today, would cost? Some sites are noting $15M. Granted, they aren't a SETP but they can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'!!

A copy at $40M is a huge jump from $1.6-$2.2M new for the AT-802!

The A-10s were only about $20 million each. And we have a bunch still stored in the desert.

And are sending more there this year (closing some A-10 units).

Maybe need to point DOGE in this direction.

They built some 700+ A-10A models. There were only about 200 A-10Cs in service (active, ANG and Reserves). So some 500 airplanes that could convert to C specs for a lot less than a whole new airplane.

The A-10s were only about $20 million each. And we have a bunch still stored in the desert.

And are sending more there this year (closing some A-10 units).

Maybe need to point DOGE in this direction.

A new A-10 cost roughly $10 mil in the 70s. That’s roughly $60 mil today and doesn’t account for any of the advanced sensors and communications gear. I’m not saying there isn’t fat to cut in these projects, but cutting that fat would require cutting jobs in a lot of Congressional districts. That always goes well.

The A-10 was an amazing tank killer that would have done well in the Fulda Gap and did a passable job over Iraq and Afghanistan. It was also (like our other fighters and bombers) overkill for providing CAS in a permissive environment. Going forward, it’s to expensive to run in a permissive environment and to vulnerable in a high threat environment. The USAF definitely needs a CAS focused airframe for the future high threat environment. The OA-1 looks like a good gap filler for future lower threat environments such as AFSOC frequently operates in.

The wings on those A-10s need to be replaced and the engines are worn out. The avionics are also well behind the C model. Even if you updated all of those things, it would still be more expensive to operate than the turboprop. If you think you could do that update for less than the per unit cost on the OA-1, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.