A-10 upgrades take the Thunderbolt into the future

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tracy Brown
  • 442nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  The 442nd Fighter Wing unveiled the first of the next generation Thunderbolts, the A-10C, Dec. 2, 2009, as the squadron began to transform its fleet from the A-10A plus.

The precision engagement modification, which gives the Thunderbolt its C designation, adds upgraded cockpit displays, hands on throttle and stick ( a feature that centralizes aircraft function controls around the joystick and throttle control), situational awareness data link or SADL, variable message format, and the ability to fire GPS-guided weapons, among other things.

"The upgrade brings the A-10 to the digital age, not just for the aircraft, but for ground troops as well. The C-model allows joint terminal attack controllers to communicate to pilots via the data link, opening the lines of communication from the ground to the air," Maj. Abel Ramos, mission planning cell chief of the 303rd Fighter Squadron said.

A plethora of training surrounds the upgrades, from maintenance Airmen who complete the work and maintain the new systems, to the pilots who operate them.

"Our biggest challenge with the C-model is going to be the learning curve," said Master Sgt. James Kirksey, quality assurance weapons/egress inspector. "This is an obstacle we will have to overcome."

The quality assurance office is assisting in the transition - and finding a few of its own challenges with the new systems.

"We want to learn, educate and then evaluate to make the transition to the C-model as easy and painless as possible," Sergeant Kirksey said.

For Master Sgt. Shaun McCrea, 442nd Weapons Flight standardization load crew, the C-model is basically a new aircraft inside the cockpit. Training for the weapons flight included one week at field training detachment school, and one week of munitions loading training.

"The upgrade to the aircraft greatly increased our weapons capability," Sergeant McCrea said. "Our biggest challenge will be getting everyone trained in the short amount of time before the follow up operational readiness inspection and getting them efficient."

Along with two days of academic classroom training, the pilots had the opportunity to use the desktop simulators to train on the HOTAS and try out the new 360-degree A-10 Thunderbolt II simulator.

"I think the training went great," said Maj. Preston McConnell, 303rd FS chief of weapons and tactics, who conducted the classroom training. "Everyone was well-prepared and attentive, and ready to learn."

Major McConnell said the academic training consisted of covering the full breadth of the conversion of the A-10C from the backbone of it to the weapons delivery to the datalink communication and the digital capability.

"Having flown two of the initial upgrade rides, I can say the training has been tremendous," Major McConnell said. "This sort of training allows our pilots to go to a higher level. We can move past the initial training now and really begin learning the system completely."

The training syllabus was created by the 303rd FS and will now be used at all Air Force
Reserve Command units that have the A-10C.

Major McConnell said he thinks the 303rd FS was selected to create the syllabus because of the level of experience of many of their pilots. As of the January UTA, eight pilots from the squadron were fully A-10C-qualified.

For the full article, go to http://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123186441