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MANILA, Philippines — Four A-10C Thunderbolt IIs and two HH-60G Pave Hawks which remained behind in the country after Balikatan 2016 conducted their first flight out of Clark Air Base this week, the US Embassy in Manila said Thursday.

 

On Tuesday, April 19, the A-10s and HH-60s engaged in a maritime situational awareness operation and flew through international airspace to the west of Luzon. 

 

The aircraft are part of the US Pacific Command’s Air Contingent deployed at the Philippine Air Force base in Clark. They remained in the country after this year’s joint military drills which ended on April 15.

via www.philstar.com

That's certainly an interesting choice of platform. Not too terribly threatening (with its very modest air to air capability), but enough capability to engage small ships to be credible.

Of course, the A-10 doesn't have radar, so any surface search would have to rely on its electro-optical targeting pod. Which, in normal maritime patrol, you cue the E/O pod via the radar. I mean, the ocean is simply indescribably vast.

Of course, the waters in question are quite busy. The E/O pod would be used to distinguish harmless fishing boats from Chinese Coast Guard ships.

And really, the whole point isn't to project credible military capability, but instead to fly where the Chinese don't want us to. They might push any Philippine efforts around, but they don't want to risk too great an escalation with the US.

And yes, I remember that Tom Clancy wrote a scenario with A-10s overflying a Soviet task force.