Why is the A-10 Warthog loved by almost every service member?

SSG Philip Cotton — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:15:43 -0500

Whenever a service member hears either the name A-10 or Warthog or A-10 Warthog, they seem to become giggly little school girls and start talking about how awesome the A-10 is like a 12 year old pre-teen girl talking about Justin Bieber. Any thoughts as to why that is? I know why I love it so much. BURRRRRRRRRRRR....the universal sound of F** You and everyone and everything around you.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 8 at 2014 7:40 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:40:27 -0500

that thing saved me in combat on two occasions , I seen it in action live,  and I had a pilot fly over a US Flag for me over Afghanistan.  I love it for that reason. It is an awesome piece of equipment and I know what its capable off. When I grow up I wanna be a A-10 pilot, lol.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 8 at 2014 7:43 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:43:07 -0500

This is how big the 30MM gun is ! ! !

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 8 at 2014 7:52 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:52:46 -0500

Our base transitioned to the A-10's back in 1990 - they reminded me of the old WWII aircraft in their design.  The A-10 is an awesome close combat ground assault weapon platform that does precisely what it is designed for.  It is the infantry's best friend in the sky (next to the spectre gunship) that will wreck havoc with any armor on the ground.  The pilot sits in a titanium 'bathtub' so to speak - so unless he gets hit in the canopy or runs into the ground - he is pretty safe. If the pilot is real good he can let loose with the gatlin gun and then turn on a dime (due to slowing the forward motion of the aircraft from the burst). The amounts and types of munitions it can hold and/or deliver are fantastic.   

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 8 at 2014 9:23 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 21:23:11 -0500

It’s because it’s one of very few USAF aircraft that are actually designed to support the ground.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>The rest of them are designed to go fast and look cool.<o:p></o:p>

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 9 at 2014 12:28 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:28:58 -0500

Having never experienced an A-10 in person, I cannot personally share everyone else's enthusiasm. However in terms of fixed wing fire support, the A-10 is actually quite limited in its abilities when compared to other aircraft. I believe it is loved by service members because its the most common ground to air fire support system.

But I'm sure I would love anything that gets me out of a tough spot, especially if it flies and carry a punishing payload.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 29 at 2014 5:43 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 17:43:47 -0400

I have to say that I have never witnessed the A10 wreaking the havoc for which it is known, but I do know why I have always loved that plane: The Rattler from the mid-80's GI Joe toys! Yeah...I will always be a kid at heart...

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 23 at 2014 2:31 AM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 02:31:52 -0400

Simply because I think of the the number of butts it helped save on the ground!

Response by A1C Aaron Johnson made Jun 23 at 2014 2:41 AM

A1C Aaron Johnson — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 02:41:13 -0400

We'll do we have to say it? Maybe it's cause the gun in the front or maybe cause it's a air to ground, air to air! Or maybe it's just freaking awesome

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2014 12:55 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:55:12 -0400

I enjoyed sitting outside on those BAF autumn nights smoking and listening to the BUUUUURRRRR of A-10s pummelling whatever it was that they were pummelling.

Response by SrA Jeff Campbell made Aug 13 at 2014 7:09 AM

SrA Jeff Campbell — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:09:24 -0400

Speaking as an Air Force Veteran and being able to look directly into that BURRRRRRRRRRRRR barrell of the gun on the Flight Line.....and also watching the crew load it for battle...what an intense fighter that thing was. I actually remember seeing an A-10 land with pretty much just half a wing, the other half taken Anti-Aircraft fire in a Sortie over Iraq during Desert Storm! Still Amazes me that it could land as bad as it was beat up!!! But that my Friend is the Resilience of the United States Air Force!!!!!

Response by MSgt Paul Smith made Aug 13 at 2014 3:39 PM

MSgt Paul Smith — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 15:39:31 -0400

It's is a great plane and it can tell more punishment than most any other aircraft in the inventory. Problem is it's ground support and AF likes things in the sky we can control, not things the Army can control. I spent lot of time with that aircraft. I was at Bentwaters when we transitioned from F-$ to A-10s and help open all of our FOLs in Germany. Fun times for all.

Response by MSgt Daniel Caton made Aug 14 at 2014 10:02 AM

MSgt Daniel Caton — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:02:58 -0400

It is simply the best. I remember at England AFB going from the A-7D to the AA-10 and then going to RAF Bentwaters. The plane was ugly as a Warthog and worked liked one. The base flew a quarter of the hours in USAFE and at one time all 108 aircraft were in the air at the same time, check that out for any other fighting aircraft. Not pretty just good and deadly.

Response by MSgt Daniel Caton made Aug 14 at 2014 10:10 AM

MSgt Daniel Caton — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:10:22 -0400

I remember going to A-10s from -7Ds at England AFB and then going to RAF Bentwaters. The base flew a quarter of the hours in USAFE and in fact at one time had all 108 in the air a the same time, no other unit or plane could do that. Like its name the Warthog was ugly, but flew and flew and did its job better then any other aircraft and still does.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Aug 14 at 2014 10:18 AM

MSG Wade Huffman — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:18:41 -0400

It's really very simple. It does exactly what it was designed to do, and it does it reliably well. Period. The same can seldom be said of any other system before or since the A-10.

Response by SSG Robin Rushlo made Aug 14 at 2014 10:49 AM

SSG Robin Rushlo — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:49:43 -0400

Saved my butt and many other many times. Enough said. It is like the first love that stays with you forever. Same as the F4 and the A10 butt savers forever.

Response by MAJ Jim Woods made Aug 14 at 2014 11:25 AM

MAJ Jim Woods — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 11:25:19 -0400

During VN they brought back a WW2/Korea aircraft (A1-E) because fast movers could not provide CAS with accuracy. I loved that airplane. it could loiter for several hours while fast movers had to get in and get out in about 15 minutes. In the early-mid 70's the AF realized that if they didn't get on the ball they would probably lose they CAS mission to Cobras or some future version of the Blackhawk.

I was at Ft. Lewis in late 70's when they sent 4 A-10's for CAS evaluations. They were great in that they had the ability to provide CAS like the A1-E. Accurate, good Loiter Time, and they looked and sounded AWESOME! Plus, if necessary, you could use them in a marginal Danger Close environment (try that with anything that has an "F" in front of it.

Due to the terrain where I was at in VN (inland II Corps it was mountains with triple canopy jungle), weather (don't get me started), high heat and humidity of VN, we seldom used any "F" aircraft within 700-1000 meters. if you did a study of Blue on Blue incidents in VN you would see that most of the were "F"'s vs. Infantry.

Response by Sgt Packy Flickinger made Sep 6 at 2014 5:01 AM

Sgt Packy Flickinger — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 05:01:23 -0400

Anything that throws a chunck of metal for 126,000 FtLbs of energy (from what I've read) and make that God awfull, beautiful sound has got to be good.

Its soooooo ugly, its pretty.

I've heard its going bye bye, but nothing confirmed yet.

Response by SrA Jeff Campbell made Nov 25 at 2014 7:04 PM

SrA Jeff Campbell — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 19:04:03 -0500

I actually was able to have an Air demonstration in England. The A-10 flew over and the target was an old school bu. IT SHREDDED that thing like a KNIFE cutting hot butter! The front gun and the munitions that are on the plane are TRULY AMAZING!!! Hey Government...clue to eliminate ISIS!!! when they are all lined up dancing in the streets in their broken down tanks, send in a squadron of A-10's to finish them...(MORTAL KOMBAT ANNOUNCER VOICE!!!!) thank you and GOOD NIGHT!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 27 at 2014 10:54 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 22:54:01 -0500

As a Combat Medic who has deployed with 2-35INF, 3BDE, 25ID "Light" Infantry to places like Kunar, Afghanistan and Sammara, Iraq, I cannot say enough about air superiority and fire superiority!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 27 at 2014 11:44 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 23:44:59 -0500

Let us take a minute to reflect on the history of such a unique airframe that seems antithetical - maybe even anathema - to the Mach 3 branch of the profession of arms.

During most of the air war over Europe during World War II, we didn't have the P-51 Mustang affectionately called "the Cadillac of the Skies." Until such Units as the fabled Red Tails, our best air frame was the already venerable work horse, the Curtis P-48 Thunderbolt.
This plane was the go-to airframe from every role including pursuit, bomber escort, air raids, and where it most excelled in close air support.
During Operation Overlord (D-day), one in particular suffered so many hits air and ground crew alike wondered how it was able to fly back and safely land.
Such was the legacy of the original Thunderbolt. It had in its time the largest capacity of combat payload and it could take a pounding and deliver its pilot safely home. The aforementioned Thunderbolt held the record for suffering the most hits and still making it home.

During the Cold War, our DoD had the task of leveraging technology against the USSR's military that had us vastly outnumbered - especially in armored units.
One thing the USAF did was to blaspheme everything they held sacred, by designing an air frame that could fly deep interdiction shorties to loiter for extended periods for rear echelon anti-armor missions carrying a large payload and able to take a pounding. In doing so, they designed an airframe that had to be subsonic for extended loitering, had a wingspan longer than the fuselage nose to tail which also added a lot of lift to carry a lot of weight, and twin outboard Pratt & Whitney turbines with awe-inspiring power for an incredible thrust-to-weight ratio. Being mounted outboard avoided the problems of damaged internally set engines. The forked tail helped to mask some of the heat signature from early SAM-2 while offering added stability and survivability through redundancy. This airframe also had added survivability for its pilot whose cockpit was wrapped lovingly in a giant titanium tub of armor. This airframe was able to lift an astonishing array of MK-82, MK-83, Snakeyes, ECM, and other such deadly payload, but the best part in the opinion of all I know is the nose gun. The GAU-30 fired 30mm rounds at 1,000 per minute. Okay, stop. Do the math. That should get you to at least half mast by itself. Most now know that the ammo is made from spent Uranium 238. Most also don't know why. Uranium 238 is the specific isotope for that element that we weapinized for our multi-stage nuclear warheads. Three-quarter mast now? Spent means it was safe enough to use, yet just as the trigger mechanism only initiates a high explosives detonation that then creates sudden incredible pressure that itself causes the Uranium to reach critical mass so too do both mass and kinetic energy team up from the muzzle velocity dense uranium and impact on Soviet armor. This spalling is a tiny critical mass event that works in the same fashion yet to far more devastating effect than HESH rounds from the M1-A2 Abrams MBT. Full mast? I thought so.
It is now easy to see why Fairchild-Republic chose to christen this revolutionary, albeit ugly as homemade soap, airframe the A-10 Thunderbolt II. This work of wonder has been mothballed more than once only to be resurrected to serve in the role for which it is unassailable. No other airframe can perform in CAS like it can.
Case in point: during Operations Desert Shield/Storm The Thunderbolt II had become the first, and to this day, the only airframe to break the record of its namesake for taking the most number of hits and safely delivering its pilot home to a safe landing.

Let's all pay our respects to this venerable bird named by the Soviet Union as the Devil's Cross.

Response by MSG John Duchesneau made Jun 19 at 2018 11:47 PM

MSG John Duchesneau — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 23:47:21 -0400

Every now and again the U.S. military comes up with something which is perfect for what it does - like the M1911 .45 automatic, the M2 .50 cal machine gun or the C-130 cargo plane. The A-10 is one of those things.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Jun 20 at 2018 11:40 AM

SGM Bill Frazer — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 11:40:15 -0400

With a Warthog on station it's like having a Spectre- you can sit back and watch the show, then search the remains for intel, also o worries about being out-gunned or out numbered.

Response by 1st Lt Mark Marshall made Jan 10 at 2021 3:43 PM

1st Lt Mark Marshall — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 15:43:11 -0500

I hate to admit it. but I Love this plane