Back in September of 2013 we reported on news that the A-10 Warthog was going to be retired by the Pentagon in the 2014/2015 time frame. The reasons were many. The role of the airplane had been diminished, they have not built one since 1984 so they are harder to maintain, and they were expensive to operate. The tank killer that had been serving in conflicts for more than three decades was going to be parked forever. No so fast! Reports over the last couple days have signaled that A-10s (in unspecified volume) are headed to Iraq to fight ISIS. Good news for our guys and really bad news for the ISIS guys. The tractor-like aircraft has endeared itself to gearheads since new because of the toughness, insane weaponry, and straight ahead nature of its design.
The A-10 is very unique in the fact that it is the only one in use today specifically designed as a close combat support plane. At base the Warthog is a gun wrapped in a plane, seriously. Packing the largest gun ever installed onto an airplane, the A10 is capable of firing over 4,000 rounds per minute from its 30mm GAU-8 Avenger gatling gun. The rounds are not just standard issue “bullets” they are depleted uranium tipped shells that go through armor on tanks and other combat vehicles like butter. The Warthog was instrumental in destroying heaps of tanks during the Operation Desert Storm as well as artillery pieces, they have been used in the Balkans conflict, in Afghanistan, Iraq II, etc. In talking with veterans, they are about as beloved a machine as has ever flown on our side.
Making reference back to the gun that was the A-10s signature piece, it is literally larger than a VW Beetle. Don’t believe us? Look at the photo below of the GAU-8 actually sitting next to a VW Beetle. We’re not sassing you. Also, you may have been thinking that we were joking about the plane being built around the gun. Again, not a joke. The GAU-8 existed before the Warthog. Designers knew that it was going to be the primary armament on the aircraft so they basically encapsulated the cannon with a fuselage and wings. While the barrel of the gun is impressive and way long, stretching more than half the length of the plane, it is the huge ammunition cannister that really takes up some space. Essentially a nearly six feet long and a few feet across, it can hold up to 1,300 of the 30mm rounds that the gun fires. Yes, we told you that it can fire nearly 4,000 rounds per minute, but being fired in bursts, these 1,300 shells are more than capable of really messing some stuff up. According to what we have read the gun is accurate with within a 40-foot circle when being fired from a couple thousand feet in the air. That is insane and super bad news for anyone hoping to get away from the lumbering beast.
The thing we love best about the A-10 aside from its ability to really deal destruction to the bad guys is the fact that it can take a punch. In fact, we’re pretty sure that there has never been an aircraft designed with more ability to fly home when utterly banged up than this guy. Designers had to take into consideration that this plane was going to be working in harm’s way lots of the time and they compensated for this fact by turning the Warthog into a kind of unstoppable tractor in the sky. How did they do it? For starters, they built the airframe so strong it can take 23mm shell hits directly and not frag. All of the flight systems are triple redundant, meaning that there are two hydraulic systems for everything and if those fail, the pilot can still wrestle the plane home manually even if the hydraulics have bled out. No exaggeration, the plane was intended to survive flying home with one engine, one tail, one elevator flap, and half of one wing missing. These things are like the friggin’ terminator, unstoppable! Continuing on, the fuel tanks are self sealing and surrounded by fire retardant foam to prevent fires and even the landing gear was engineered for the worst case scenario. When the gear is up, the wheels stick out just a little. Why? Because if the hydraulics are shot out of the plane and the gear will not come down, the pilot can belly land that bitch and the wheels will still be there to help some. Would it be a fun landing? No way, Jose. Could it save a pilot? You bet. The cockpit is surrounded by titanium armor ranging from half an inch and inch and a half thick. Again, it can stop 23mm shells and shrug them off like fleas.
Other neat stuff that engineers worked into the plan for the A-1o includes things like the high engine placement that came to be due tot he fact that the machine was probably going to be flying from rough and tumble airstrips near the front lines and moving the engines up lessened the chance that they would swallow a rock or other debris. Also, with the turbines up high, the plane can stay running when it comes in to be reloaded and refueled at the base. This keeps turn around time quick because frankly, those tanks aren’t going to kill themselves. The fuel tanks are mounted in the center of the plane behind armor plating. In another twist that makes this the Jason Voorhees of warplanes, if all the fuel tanks are shot out and drained, there is still enough fuel capacity for the pilot to go another 200 miles before the well runs dry and the Warthog becomes a really shitty glider. At full tilt the A-10 has a top speed of 438mph. They are normally not moving at that clip, instead flying slowly and peppering the ground with that massive cannon protruding from the nose.
During the time of Operation Desert Storm, the Weymouth Naval Air Station was open for business as an active military installation. My parents house was in the flight path of that place and during that conflict there was constant activity. Fighters were practicing touch and go landings on the runway at night, huge C5 Galaxy transport planes were coming and going with incredible frequency, A-10s were coming in (presumably to be loaded into said cargo planes), and so weren’t Tomcats and other jets. Nothing sounded like the Warthog and nothing looked like it either. I bet every kid on my street remembers the sound of that thing. It was different than the pure fury of the fighters and the big rig-esque noises made by the huge cargo planes. The A-10 just sounded flat nasty and it looked like it, too.
It is the airplane that embodies lots of attributes we admire in people like toughness, a never say quit attitude, the ability to protect others, and a single minded approach centered around overwhelming firepower. Kinda gives ya chills, eh? Back in September of 2013 when we first ran this story, the A-10 Warthog was slated to be retired from active duty in the timeframe of the next year or so. It appears that those dates are no longer valid and the trundling, weapons laden legend will be helping to squash the bad guys for a long time to come.
HERE’S SOME VIDEO OF THE A-10 IN ACTION HELPING OUR BOYS AND MAKING A BAD DAY FOR EVERYONE ELSE –
I think the placement of the engines and tailfins help to shield the heat signature of the exhaust too. It is unreal the brutality this plane is capable of dishing out AND receiving.
One of my favorite airplanes, just an absolute monster. Glad to hear that they are not retiring them.
Growing up in the 90s, Warthogs were one of those iconic planes of the era.
I’m glad their ticket got punched one more time!
The absolute intensity these brought to the battlefield was unexplainable. When flying over us laying rounds down range, in the middle of the “shit”, you couldn’t help but stop and watch in awe as the brass was flowing out like a water fall. And the sound the cannon made…… Buuuurrrrp… Buuuurrrp…..They were a major motivator to us to get up and go and they really saved our ass a couple of times. Totally Bad Ass machinery.
A-10s used to buzz around our airfields all the time. They have a unique sound…one you don’t expect to hear, like a regional jet flying nearby, but when that cannon goes off…oh, that’s something else altogether.
They still do buzz around the regional airport I live near on a regular basis . Love watching their slow and measured approach when landing [ they’re almost elegant ] as well as the viciousness of their taking off … especially when the wife and I are having dinner at the airport restaurant and have a birds eye view of the action
Its about time they came to their senses in keeping the A-10 in action . Best and most versatile damn plane in our entire inventory if you ask me .
This topic is still open for debate. We are here, but for how long is still a hotly debated topic among the ranks…time will tell.
If its our involvement in the Middle East you’re talking about …. how right you are good sir ! Simple fact is our political leaders need to get their goram heads around paying attention to our military leaders as well as actually listening to what the Intelligence Community is saying rather than hearing what they want to hear and once and for all making up their damn minds ‘ Is We Is or Is We Aint ‘ .. staying and taking the measures needed to finish the damn job … or getting the heck out and saying Basta ! Because the ‘ games’ our leadership since GW Senior have been playing are wounding and killing good men and women … while filling the back pockets of the greedy ___ed SOB’s directing those games.. and I for one have had enough !
I can understand why they want to retire it because of pilot safety and maintenance expense…
but when you have the ultimate (FU) Extra Large can of Whoop Ass you don’t want to give it up
In my former life as an AF enlisted troop I got to see plenty of these hulks buzzing around. I’ve actually referred to them as sounding like an old Kirby vacuum cleaner. Its very distinctive. The engines were placed high for protection. Many of these suffered a great deal of damage during Desert Storm and still returned home with huge holes in them. If you are down in the dust with the grunts you want that kind of protection and survivability. Its no less than a flying tank that the bad guys absolutely detest. I’m never in favor of moth-balling an airframe. Some like the C141 Starlifter had its problems from day 1, but still served its purpose for many years. The B52, though the longest in the tooth there is, does its job without complaint and is still relevant today. One thing the Fairchild boxcar has going for it is unbelievable maneuverability. That thing can bank and turn to reacquire a target in no time flat. The sound of the gun firing is also very distinctive. One round can literally stop a truck dead in its tracks. Like the old Timex commercials used to say – this thing ‘can take a licking and keep on ticking’.
The big bitch about these planes were their lack of super sonic flight — almost everyone of these planes that have been shot down or damaged has been after they have made their pass and the other folks shoot up their tail pipes — — If this plane had been given afterburners for a safe egress there wouldn’t be any debate on keeping it around
BUT there isn’t anything in the US inventory that can replace it as effectively or cheaply — They are talking about using the F35 as a replacement, but to me that is a very expensive plane to expose to ground fire
Bringing the Thunder!
The A10 does have the most powerful gun of any plane . . . but not the biggest shell. That honor goes to the “Spooky” Gun Ships used in Vietnam. They had a short barrell 105mm Cannon on board.
The Air Force has a hard on over allowing this fixed wing aircraft being shifted over to another branch of service. That’s a big no no for them. Army or Marines would love to have this killer. It was designed to turn the Soviets armor divisions into junk, like the Iraqis found out. Women love to fly this beast! Muslims know it and hate it.
If you want a great read, read “Boyd, the Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War” by Coram. Boyd had a hand in getting this great plane built.
The A10 is a ground support aircraft so that’s the biggest strike against it for the AF. They want to spend their money on bombers and fighters to support bombers. Goes all the way back to Douhet. Add to that the fact that F35s make the Military, Industrial, Congressional complex lots more money and the A10 is all of a sudden a dinosaur. They’ll come up with any DOTMLPF excuse to get rid of the most capable ground support fixed wing aircraft ever created. I mean come on Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the greatest ace of all time, helped design it. Oh well I guess when I’m in the middle of a firefight I’ll just be glad I still have a job.
The A-10 can flip its parts .The left half is interchangeable with the right and the right is interchangeable with the left.( Wings,etc).
My favorite military plane,earned from respect.
The last photo is actually a remote control model, not a combat aircraft. It’s way too clean, and there are other tell-tale signs. 🙂
The 488th down in Fort Smith is losing its A10s and nobody is liking it. They’re getting drones to replace them. It just be the same. When I lived down there I loved hearing the A10s taking off and landing.
At any rate they a one bad ass plane and they need to keep them until they come up with something badder.
The only plane in the arsenal actually design to take fire. Love it.
Whoop! That’s one bit of scrubland that’ll never hurt anyone again!
seriously though- the A-10 is an awesome airframe with no equal at what it does best. Why any military service would get rid of it without a better replacement is entirely beyond me, but then that’s what our government did with the Harrier :-/
Bring the Heat, indeed.
Love these planes. I’d be heartbroken if they were put out to pasture without an honest to god upgrade in place.
Trouble is, ISIS isn’t a Soviet armor regiment.
That fella on one knee in the top photo is my best friend from high school…Dodd by God! Proud of the soldier you are today ole brother