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A-10 Thunderbolt
Moore's Aircraft - USAF Warthog Ground Attack Aircraft

Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog Ground Attack Aircraft
The Warthog, the Hog, the Flying Gun and the Tankbuster are all names that the A-10 Thunderbolt goes by. It is designed to provide air support to ground forces by attacking tanks, armoured vehicles, infantry and installations. The A10 Thunderbolt was introduced in March 1977 and is still in service.

One of the requirements was that it was heavily armoured so that it had a high-survivability rate in hostile arenas. In the Vietnam War, large numbers of ground-attack aircraft were shot down by small arms, surface-to-air missiles, and low-level anti-aircraft gunfire. This new aircraft had to be better protected. As the aircraft would be working from forward air bases it had to have short take-off and landing capability. If runways are damaged in an attack, the A-10 can operate from taxiways or straight roadway sections such as Germany's autobahn. It was required to have a long range and endurance so that it could loiter in the battle area. It should also have massive cannon firepower and weapons payload. The A-10 Thunderbolt was born.

To enable it to have accurate, effective targeting and weapon delivery over all types of terrain it had to be manoeuvrable at low speed and low altitude. The A-10 Thunderbolt (warthog) ground attack aircraft meet all of these requirements.

The A-10 Thunderbolt first flew in May 1972 and was originally manufactured by Fairchild. Northrop Grumman took over the contract in 1987. The upgraded A-10C first flew in January 2005 and has increased the aircrafts service life to 2028. The single-seat cockpit is protected with a titanium 'bathtub' structure that gives all-round armor, to protect the pilot. It is up to 3.8cm thick. Self-sealing fuel cells and manual backup for the hydraulic controls help with its survivability. The A10 can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles up to 23 mm. The aircraft has triple redundancy in its flight systems.

The good all-round vision cockpit canopy has a large bulletproof bubble. It is a versatile aircraft and can be fitted with a variety of weapon systems. It can be flown at night and has stand off capabilities.

Underneath the fuselage and wings it can also carry up to 16,000lbs (7,200 kg) of other weapons, including high explosive and cluster bombs, laser-guided bombs and Maverick missiles, rockets and air-to-air missiles. The A-10 Thunderbolt has a seven-barrel, 30mm Gatling gun under its nose that can fire 65 rounds per second of depleted uranium shells. The A10’s gun's ammunition drum can hold up to 1,350 rounds of 30 mm ammunition.

It has eleven hardpoints; 8 underwing and 3 under the A10’s fuselage. It can carry 16,000 lb (7,260 kg) of extra weapons. It can be a combination of different weapons depending on the mission. It can attach the following munitions; 4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× / 7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively), 4× LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets), 6× LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× 127 mm (5.0 in) Zuni rockets), 2× AIM-9 Sidewinders air-to-air missiles for self-defense, 8× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles, Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs, Mk 77 incendiary bombs, BLU-1, BLU-27/B Rockeye II, Mk20, BL-755 bombs and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs, Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs, Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C) or Joint Direct Attack Munition (A-10C).

I have been on the receiving end of a A-10 Thunderbolt’s attack run. It was in England on the highland area of the North Yorkshire Moors parked by the edge of the road waiting at a check point for a group of teenagers on a four day hiking expedition. The pilot was obviously on exercise. He had spotted my white Ford van against the green rolling hills and chose it as a target. He did six mock bombing and strafing runs. I was amazed at how tight the A-10 Warthog could turn at low speed so that the pilot could repossession the front of the Thunderbolt to head back toward the target again and again.

These aircraft photographs are great reference sources if your painting 1/72 scale, 1/48 scale or 1/24 scale plastic model airplane Airfix, Tamiya, zvezda, revel, Pavala aircraft kits or you’re into flying and painting radio RC controlled model planes. There are many aviation books published about the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog Ground Attack Aircraft

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