The legendary "Flying Tank" pivots to maritime threats, hunting Iranian boats and securing its mission through the 2030s and beyond.
by Kris Osborn, Warrior
Extending the life of the A-10 Flying Tank until 2030 is an extremely smart idea for the Pentagon, as the classic close-air-support platform continues to show its combat relevance in the ongoing U.S. war against Iran.
The Warthog has been known for years as a successful ground-troop supporting, low-altitude, land-attack aircraft armed with a lethal 30mm cannon and built with a titanium hull to absorb small arms fire. In recent combat supporting Operation Epic Fury, the A-10 has pivoted its historic land-focused close air hunting and attack toward a less anticipated “maritime” utility. The A-10 has been flying low and slow to hunt, target and destroy Iranian small boats and coastal threats with surprising success, a combat performance now inspiring the Air Force to formally “extend” A-10 existence into the 2030s.
Perhaps of greatest significance, the aircraft is specifically engineered with built-in redundancy to enable the platform to keep flying in the event that it sustains damage from enemy ground fire. There are several famous incidents, including one from the Gulf War in the early 90s, when A-10s sustained massive damage and still managed to fly, operate and land.
Nonetheless, the future of the A-10 has been the focus of intense debate and scrutiny for many years, and the Air Force has consistently sought to divest the force of the aircraft. The concept, as articulated by Senior Air Force weapons developers for many years, is based upon the argument that the high-speed, stealthy F-35 can use its longer-range high-fidely sensors to target and destroy enemy ground forces at higher altitudes. The contention has been that the F-35 is well positioned to successfully perform the CAS mission, however military and congressional advocates for the A-10 have intensely fought for years to preserve and save the A-10 from intended extinction. At one point years ago, the Pentagon conducted a special Close Air Support (CAS) fly-off competition to assess the abilities of the A-10 in direct relation to the F-35.
Attacking A-10
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, among others.If the aircraft loses all of its electronics including its digital displays and targeting systems, the pilot of an A-10 can still fly, drop general purpose bombs and shoot the 30mm cannon,Unlike other air platforms built for speed, maneuverability, air-to-air dogfighting and air-to-air weapons, the A-10 is specifically engineered around its gun, a 30mm cannon aligned directly beneath the fuselage. The gun is also called a GAU-8/A Gatling gun. Armed with 1,150 rounds, the 30mm cannon is able to fire 70-rounds a second.
The engines of the A-10 are mounted high so that the aircraft can land in austere environments such as rugged, dirty or sandy terrain, A-10 pilots explain. The engines on the A-10 are General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofans. By virtue of being able to fly at slower speeds of 300, the A-10 can fly beneath the weather at altitudes of 100 feet. This gives pilots an ability to see enemy targets with the naked eye, giving them the ability to drop bombs, fire rockets and open fire with the 30mm cannon in close proximity to friendly forces. The aircraft’s bombs, rockets and cannon attack enemies up close or from miles sway, depending on the target and slant range of the aircraft, The A-10 uses both “Lightning” and “Sniper” pods engineered with infrared and electro-optical sensors able to find targets for the pilot.
A-10 Weapons
The A-10 carries a full complement of weapons to include Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAM GPS-guided bombs; its arsenal includes GBU 38s, GBU 31s, GBU 54s, Mk 82s, Mk 84s, AGM-65s (Maverick missiles), AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and rockets along with illumination flares, jammer pods and other protective countermeasures. The aircraft can carry 16,000 pounds of mixed ordnance; eight can fly under the wings and three under-fuselage pylon stations, Air Force statements said.
The cockpit is engineered with what is called the CASS cockpit, for Common Avionics Architecture System, which includes moving digital map displays and various screens showing pertinent information such as altitude, elevation, surrounding terrain and target data. The A-10 also fires the Maverick, an air-to-ground missile that has been in service since the Vietnam era.
The weapon recently received an upgraded laser-seeker, along with new software configurations to better enable it to hit targets on the run. This could prove extremely effective in targeting small maneuvering boats.The Maverick uses Semi-Active Laser guidance to paint the target. It can also use infrared and electro-optical guidance to attack targets.
It can use a point detonation fuse designed to explode upon impact, or a delayed fuse that allows the missile to penetrate a structure before detonating as a way to maximize its lethal impact. It uses a 300-pound blast-frag warhead engineered to explode shrapnel and metal fragments in all directions near or on a designated target. This kind of munition, supported by laser targeting or even a proximity fuse, could prove effective against small boats on the move. A-10 pilots also wear a high-tech helmet which enables them to look at targeting video on a helmet display.
A-10 Avionics Technology
Pilots flying attack missions in the aircraft communicate with other aircraft and ground forces using radios and a data-link known at LINK 16. Pilots can also text message with other aircraft and across platforms
Part of the rationale for its continued utility, which is considered quite significant by weapons developers, is based upon the broad recognition that today’s A-10 is quite different than it may have been years ago due to continued integration of new weapons, avionics, communications systems and computer technology. Many modern aircraft technologies, electronics and sensors increasingly rely upon secure and effective data organization, analysis and transmission to ensure optimal combat functionality, a dynamic which of course requires advanced on-board processing.
Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 1945. Osborn is also President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University