A-10 Resurrection: Multifunctional color display upgrade adds life to aging fighter jet

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Andre Menard
  • 917th Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale AFB, La. --  Having been saved from total annihilation only years before, the A-10 Warthog remained at risk of being one with the bone yard. That is, unless it got the refurbishment it so desperately needed to stay afloat.

Resurrection Day for the Warthog, as it is commonly referred, came in the form of the Smart Multifunctional Color Display modification. The SMFCD is an interim solution modification to bring the aircraft through Fiscal Year 2010.

The functionality of the new equipment is unending. The screen acts as a moving map, not unlike the portable global positioning system devices found in many vehicles, allowing the pilot to control both the targeting pod and the Maverick.

The pilot can send and receive data link messages, which are essentially text messages, between other aircraft as well as ground personnel. Land and air tracks can be input, giving the pilot the ability to see where the friendly forces are on the ground.

"So for the first time Barksdale A-10s will be able to pull in an air picture without radar and see other planes flying around them," explains Maj. Allen Duckworth, A-10 pilot with the 47th Fighter Squadron. With this new upgrade, information gets to the aircraft faster. A pilot can rapidly cue sensors and put tracks or symbols on those places on the ground. As Duckworth describes it, "It's almost self plotting. If they tell me over the radio all the information about a target, I have to plot it myself on a map. If they send it to me digitally, it's already on my digital map."

When the targeting pods were first introduced to the aircraft, it was only an 80% solution. "We had to trick the aircraft into thinking it was flying with a Maverick; and we had to use the switches for the Maverick in order to get the targeting pod to work," said Major Duckworth. This new system actually gives the pilots an interface to control the targeting pod without touching any of the maverick functions.

At a cost of only $135,000 per jet for the complete upgrade, a steal in terms of aircraft technology, the SMFCD can be installed at home station, without requiring a trip to depot. Raytheon built the MFD and L3 Communications installs it on site. According to communications Contractor and Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Bryan Gerdes, the contract began at the end of October and is projected to go through March or April.

Still, you can be certain that the SMFCD upgrade will not hinder this aircrafts' capacity to be the 'tank killer' of old. Instead, the A-10 will now be able to "efficiently leverage technology to synthesize modern weapons and sensors," said Lt. Col. James Macaulay, 47th Fighter Squadron commander. And although she might not be as shiny and new, Colonel Macaulay feels that "in conjunction with the forthcoming precision engagement modification, the Warthog will continue to be the weapons of choice for America's close air support requirements in the Global War on Terror or any threat to our national interests."