(Washington D.C.) Surrounded by plates of titanium armor, pilots of the classic A-10 “flying tank” can fire off a 30mm cannon aligned straight underneath the fuselage from 50 meters away while loitering above and absorbing enemy small arms fire to support advancing infantry in a firefight.
It is a classic and much revered aircraft, which due to upgrades now operates with a digital cockpit, advanced targeting systems and a full complement of air-to-ground weapons to include rockets, bombs and missiles.
It is built to literally linger at slower speeds above ground troops engaged in heavy combat, and engineered with built-in redundancies to enable it to keep operating in the event that key portions of the aircraft sustain heavy enemy fire.
A-10 Thunderbolt II, affectionately known as the Warthog, has been in service since the late 1970s and served as a close air support combat aircraft in conflicts such as the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Allied Force in Kosovo.
For many years now, the Air Force has been working on various efforts to retire the A-10 as part of an evolutionary process of placing an F-35 in the role of performing close air support.
