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A-10 Warthog

Posted By: lout
A-10 Warthog

A-10 Warthog (Walk Around 5517) By Ken Neubeck
Publisher: Squadron/Signal Publications 1999 | 52 Pages | ISBN: 0897474007 | PDF | 33 MB


The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. more commonly known as the WaUhog, is the only aircraft in the US Air Force arsenal that is built solely for the mission of close air support. The A-10 was designed as an aerial counter to the large number of Warsaw Pact tanks and Other armored vehicles that were stationed in eastern Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. Production of the A-10 began in 1975 and. when the assembly lines had closed. 715 had been buill (including the two prototypes). The A-10 is quite simply an aircraft that is buill around a gun. Thai gun is a seven barreled. 30 mm GAU-8/A automatic cannon designed by General Electric. The weapon fires rounds with spent uranium lips at a rate of seven rounds per second. These rounds arc capable of pen­etrating the upper armor of any lank. Ttie A-10 is powered by two lurbofan engines located on pylons above the aft fuselage as part of a series of built-in survival features against hoslilc ground lire. Another survival feature is Ihc lilaniutn 'bathtub' armor that surrounds the cockpit and protects the pilot. By 1990 the A-10 was headed for an early retirement. The Air Force was looking into using modified F-16 Fighting Falcons in the close support rote. Additional mission specific equip­ment was to be added to ihc F-16 in order 10 improve its low level attack capabilities. Additionally, the F-16 would retain much of ils air-to-air combat capabilities — an option the A-10 as a dedicated close support aircraft did noi have. Before this happened, hostilities broke out in ihc Middle East when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Squadrons of A-IOs from five different bases were deployed to the region in August or 1990. The A-10 saw extensive action in sever­al roles during OPERATION OHSF.RT STORM in early 1991: SCUD missile hunter, rescue mission support, artillery post attacks, and of course, its primary role of lank killer. Conservative estimates place the number of tanks being destroyed by the A-10 as almost 1,000, nut the numbers are likely much higher. US Air Force experimentation with F-lfts in the ground attack role demonstrated that the Fighting Falcon was simply loo fast and fragile for the role in which ihc A-10 had been specifically designed. There were also a number of high profile events during the war when A-10s. suffering severe battle damage, were able to return to base. Six A-IOs were lost during the Gulf War which, considering their low level and dan­gerous mission, is surprisingly low. About 350 A-IOs are still in service with the USAF. USAF Reserve, and Air National Guard units since no suitable replacement for the close air support mission exists at this lime. These aircraft are expected to be in the USAF inventory well beyond the year 2020. The A-10 'WttlhOg' is a common sight at air shows and open house events at Air Force bases around the country.

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