LEGENDARY
A10
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
The Warthog
“Built around a gun. The gun wins.”
Fairchild Republic · military
Length
53 ft 4 in
Wingspan
57 ft 6 in
Max speed
381 kts
Range
800 nmi
Ceiling
45,000 ft
Engines
2x GE TF34-GE-100A
Crew
1
Payload
16,000 lbs ordnance
First flight
1972
In service
1977–present
Built
716
The A-10 Thunderbolt II was designed around its GAU-8 Avenger cannon — a 30mm Gatling gun the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. It flies low, slow, and ugly. Ground troops love it. The Air Force keeps trying to retire it. They can't.
Fun fact
The A-10's cannon fires depleted uranium rounds at 3,900 per minute. The recoil is so strong it would slow the plane down if fired continuously.
How to spot one
Twin engines mounted high on rear fuselage. Straight wings. Giant nose cannon. Designed to fly with half a wing missing.
Crews call it
The Warthog
Sounds like
Twin TF34 engines are quiet — but the GAU-8 Avenger cannon makes the most terrifying BRRRT in aviation
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Warthog from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey