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Guys how much rewiring are you expecting? As far as I remember PE only adds the wiring needed to make the system work, this is not going to be a complete rewiring of the aircraft or pylons.

Ugly But Well Hung

Dice, from the looks of our jet so far, there is alot of rewiring of the pylons, all the crappy wiring around what was the ICU, TVM wiring gone, alot of stuff will be on 1553 and 1760 busses=less wiring, etc. As well as the new parts should be more reliable for the most part. The jet has been getting away from t-shooting with just a voltmeter for a few years now, at least for avionics.

Also IMHO, without PE, the acft will not be a viable platform for future conflicts. Without precision strike capability and digital data link, what theater commander is going to want it in the future? Yeah, we have the gun going for us, but Desert Storm showed that we weren't the only ones who could take out tanks, F-111/F-15E tank plinking was very effective. The ability to "plug in" to the digital battlefield will allow us to more effectively operate with the ground pounders of the future. Some may argue that it's becoming too much like a lawn dart, but I think with the added capabilities and the superior training/experience working with the ground troops that the A-10 community possesses, the jet will be much more effective than JSF. I'll get off my soapbox now. LOL

Its a soapbox worth standing on. The A-10 is past midlife now, and without PE its dead.

As for wiring, hell Dice you should see the amount of wiring added and replace just for HOTAS let alone PE in its entirety. Alot of wiring is going in and a hell of a lot is comming out. I still hold reservations about weapons troops walking around with PATS testers everyday but I think in the end its a good thing. As an airforce I don't see a replacement for the Hawg anytime soon so its even more vital that the A-10 be kept alive for years to come. The only way is for PE to become a fruitful reality in our community.

Thats all for my opinion.

I'll bow to your opinions because I can't get into some of the things I've seen working inside the PE program....I just hope you guys are right....


Ugly But Well Hung

Well I see I opened a big can of worms with my little JDAM and Hogs comment...I guess I'll explain what I meant. I guess if we wanted just another platform to bomb with GPS precision from 20,000 ft, than lets just buy a bunch of Block 60 Lawn darts. And before anyone has a shitfit, let me say that I'm not totally against the PE upgrade. I do think it is a great idea. I have talked to some of our pilots about our new pods, and from what I hear, they can do some spectacular stuff, and that's great. If it will prevent blue on blue attacks, than I'm a full supporter of it. But I can see those in the higher positions of authority forgetting just what exactly the A-10 was designed for. Getting in low and blowing the hell out of stuff. I remember talking to some of our pilots on the way to debreif during the war, and not too many of them had stories of bombing from umpteen thousand feet. Most of them were letting loose and incredably low altitudes and some of the gun footage was just awesome!!!!!! All I'm saying is that I hope with this new ability of PE, the upper brass doesn't forget where the hog operates best.

The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. -Lt. Col. Tim Collins

I agree with the, but I don't think the Hawg will lose its ability to fight low and rough. It'll just have sharper teeth.