Photo courtesy US Air Force on Flickr
The Air Force loathed everything about the A-X, which soon would be known as the A-10. Jokes were made that it was so slow it suffered bird strikes–from the rear–and that instead of carrying a clock, the cockpit had a calendar. The aircraft was so ugly it was called the “Warthog”. Many in the Air Force said no airplane could perform or survive in combat as this airplane was supposed to perform. It would be almost twenty years before the A-10 had the chance to demonstrate how wrong its detractors were.
–Robert Corham in Boyd: The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War
Pierre Sprey’s brainchild would become a legend. The “plane built around a gun” would destroy nearly 4,000 pieces of military equipment in Desert Storm, and survive hundreds of rounds of small-arms fire and flak during Iraqi Freedom. The A-10 has even scored more air to air kills than the F/A-18 Hornet, downing two Iraqi helicopters with its GAU-8 30mm “Avenger” cannon during the First Gulf War.
And today, it’s shown its prowess in the maritime role, destroying a Libyan patrol ship near Misrata. From the Navy Times:
USS MOUNT WHITNEY, At Sea (NNS) — A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft and guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52), engaged Libyan Coast Guard vessel Vittoria and two smaller crafts March 28.
The vessels were engaged after confirmed reports that Vittoria and accompanying crafts were firing indiscriminately at merchant vessels in the port of Misrata, Libya.
The P-3C fired at Vittoria with AGM-65F Maverick missiles, rendering the 12-meter patrol vessel ineffective and forcing it to be beached after multiple explosions were observed in the vicinity of the port.
Two smaller Libyan crafts were fired upon by the A-10 using its 30mm GAU-8/ Avenger cannon, destroying one and forcing the other to be abandoned.
H. Lucien Gauthier of the US Naval Institute asks if the A-10′s ever taken on an anti-shipping mission before.
Well, yeah…in a legendary chapter in Red Storm Rising.
Damn, now I have to read that book. Thanks for the mention!
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Thanks for the post, Andy! I grew up around planes and this one was my favorite as well. My dad flew A-10s out of RAF Bentwaters, UK, for 4 years back in the cold war days. He loved that plane, even compared to others he flew–the F-111 & F-4. Incredibly nimble. Redundancies. Easy to maintain. Overall, one of the most overlooked planes…people tend to go for the supersonics and over-the-top-high-tech-stealthy-gizmos.
Spent 6 years in the US Army and grunts loved this mo fo. I was a 12 Bravo (combat engineer) who spent much time in the company of my 11 Bravo brethren (grunts). And when that gun would open up… yeah baby, most awesome aircraft ever.
very nice pic! does the plane slow down when its in active shooting mode?
A10 Warthog model</a
Nope. Just a rumor: http://www.stripes.com/does-the-a-10-s-gun-slow-the-plane-when-fired-1.152557
Sorry, but yes it does slow down, not a rumor, just some idiot answering a question he knows nothing about . . .
I think that the Navy should have gotten involved in the A-X program that created the Warthog. While people associate the A-10 in the ground-pounder, anti-tank role, and the Marines always appreciate that, it would have been awesome to use it in a naval warfare role during Operation Preying Mantis (1988 Persian Gulf) to take out Iranian corvettes and patrol craft. The A-6 did a great job on these targets, but the A-10 could have done as well if not better. Its rugged survivability would have been a big help with Soviet naval targets in the 1980s. The A-10′s size and wingspan currently are small enough to fit on a carrier, although it would need folding wings for storage, and added weight would come from stronger landing gear, an arresting hook and other carrier-specific modifications. Probably bigger, stronger engines would be needed for launch to increase the thrust to mass ratio. But the plane is so maneuverable, I can’t believe it couldn’t land perfectly on a flattop. Alas, the era of manned aircraft will be over soon. Maybe the A-10′s best aspects can be incorporated into future drone aircraft that will be launched from carriers