Could have been catastrophic airframe failure. Most likely a bomb or shoot down I agree. We'll see soon.Very strange timing for a bomb. What would have been the trigger? Not altitude, way late in flight for time, If command detonated why then?
Flying home from Disneyland at age 7 or so, the airline workers freaked out when I boarded with a super soaker water gun still new in the box. They pulled me aside until the pilot came out and said 'what's he going to do, shoot water in the engine?' There were stupid people well before 9/11.
Agreed 100% The only time I was happier on the ground was when we had a b-1 on station as a 'show of force.' Taliban did not want to come out and play with that massive bomber overhead.
Additionally, the a-10 can be fitted with aim-9 missles for air defence. If you haven't, you should YouTube some aim-9x videos, damn things can engage targets behind the aircraft, complete 180 degree turns at speed. I love the a-10 and have cheered on numerous occasions as they brought sheer devastation down on the ground in Afghanistan in close support. The gun just sounds like the earth is ripping apart -former EOD tech
The gau-8 fires projectiles at a velocity of 3500 feet per second. A jet traveling at mach 1400 miles per hour is moving at 2053 feet per second. So even if the jet was flying away from the a-10, the projectiles are still closing at 1500 feet per second. Similer to most high powered rifles, but much larger and heavier.
A jdam is a complete package of dumb bomb, sensors and guidance package. Think of it as the short range JSOW (all of the above + large fins that let it glide long range to target. Source - I'm a former EOD tech.