The invites to tender were sent out to 21 companies in March 1967. In response to this perceived attack General John P McConnell, USAF Chief of Staff announced a new project called the A-X programme that was designed to produce a new purpose built close air support jet aircraft. The USAF chiefs were not happy with the Army trying to take over the responsibility for CAS. Many within the USAF were happy to still use aircraft for which close air support was a secondary consideration like the training aircraft North American T-28 Trojan, Cessna T-37, the fighter F-100 Super Saber, A-1 Skyraider and the bomber B-57 Martin. This lead to the design of the successful Apache helicopter gunship that was able to provide close fire support. The Pentagon had no problem with the Army running its own fleet of Helicopters. The Army then turned their attention to beefing up their attack helicopter. The Army responded by trying to run its own fleet of aircraft that would purely be concerned in supporting land operations. The USAF was criticised during the Korean and Vietnam wars for lack of commitment to this role and poor coordination with the ground units. Under the new arrangements the USAF was to still be responsible for providing Close Air Support to the Army. The Politicians also liked to interfere with the aircrafts development.Īt the end of World War Two the United States Army Air Force USAAF became an independent service called the United States Air Force USAF. There was a lot of inter-service rivalry and infighting within the fast jet fans in the US air force. Some senior officers saw having an aircraft that was only intended for one role as an expensive luxury. They loved it but this love was not universal. It was ugly as a warthog and just as aggressive. The USAF squadron pilots affectionately gave the A-10 the nick name of Warthog. In the past multi role jets performed the task of ground attack. The Fairchild Republic’s A-10 Thunderbolt became the USAF’s first close air support CAS aircraft that was purposely designed for that role. It came about because of an argument between the US Army and the United States Air Force USAF. The American armed services wanted an aircraft that could offer ground attack services to troops under fire and survive in a hostile war zone. Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog Close Air Support aircraft
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