Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

The A-10 Thunderbolt II (also called the Warthog)^[1] is an attack aircraft made by Fairchild Republic. It first flew in 1972 and was introduced in 1977. It is designed to drop bombs, fire rockets, missiles, and its 30mm Gatling gun at enemies on the ground (such as tanks) with about 3500 rounds. It is named after the World War II P-47 Thunderbolt. Although not as fast as most military jets, it is tough, heavily armored, and can turn well. The A-10 is also used as a CAS (close air support) aircraft, which involves flying slowly over a battlefield and destroying enemy targets.^[2]

The A-10 is 53 feet, 4 inches (16.16 meters) long, 14 feet, 8 inches (4.42 meters) high, has a wingspan of 57 feet, 6 inches (17.42 meters), has a top speed 420 miles per hour, and can weigh 51,000 pounds (22,950 kilograms) at its heaviest. It is armed with a 30mm GAU-8 Gatling gun, and can carry multiple tons of bombs or missiles. It can also carry radar-jamming pods to avoid radar detection, and chaff, which can distract radar-guided missiles fired at the A-10.^[3]

1. ↑ "Fact file: Thunderbolt". BBC News. 2003-03-06. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
2. ↑ "Fact file: Thunderbolt". 6 March 2003 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
3. ↑ "Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II". www.fighter-planes.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2019-02-11.