The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, commonly but affectionately known as the “Warthog,” has been etched long since in the annals of American military aviation history because of its prowess in firepower and accuracy.
It is a single-seater, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft that became the core of USAF’s close air support operations after its induction in 1976.
The A-10 Thunderbolt II is a close-ground support aircraft. It has two turbofan engines and is equipped with a straight wing.
Because of this, the aircraft can carry so much weaponry that each can carry 13 tons of it. The airframe weighs around 12 tons without armament, and its average price to produce is $26.6 million.
Perhaps the most recognizable characteristic of the A-10 is the 30mm GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun mounted on the nose. This gun can fire high explosive incendiary rounds and depleted uranium bullets that can punch holes through armor.
It often is given an intimidating appearance because it sports fangs or a shark’s mouth painted on the nose cone, so the jet is given the nickname “Warthog.”.
Even with all this glorified history and record of battle, the A-10 fleet is to face cuts. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act sanctions the USAF to retire now 18 of its A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets, bringing the fleet level down from 153 to 135 aircraft.
It had started cutting down initially with the 2023 NDAA, the first it had authorized the retirement of A-10s.
For some time, senior USAF leaders have shown they are desperate for the money spent to maintain aged aircraft out of guidance from the OSD to use to purchase more capable multi-role fighters, such as fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35s, and thus have long been fixated on reducing the size of the A-10 fleet.
The modifications have kept the A-10 relevant, and new wing sets Boeing’s manufacturing under contracts awarded in 2011 and 2019 will keep the aircraft flying into the 2030s.
The A-10 was almost promoted to the level of being a cult object among American ground combat troops, notably low-level gun runs and close air support in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Its design was on the need for an aircraft cockpit of titanium made to protect the pilot, besides the mighty GAU-8A Avenger cannon, making it a real tank killer.
Recent testing suggests that the primary cannon installed on the A-10 remains effective against modern main battle tank armor, a fact evidenced 50 years after its design. However, the aircraft is still very vulnerable to modern air defenses.
Still, the USAF finds a way to keep the A-10 relevant, such as in this demonstration, demonstrating that it can carry and drop up to 16 Boeing GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs, precision-guided munitions from as far as 40 nautical miles.
With tensions running high geopolitically in every direction around the globe from Europe to the Indo-Pacific USAF’s most advanced fighters have to be off on active deterrence missions, thus enabling the A-10 to patrol other critical areas of the globe, like the Middle East.
It also was part of an October surge of US airpower to the region following an outbreak of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.