Why No One Wants to Fight the A-10 Warthog

[Music] five reasons why no nation on earth wants to fight the a-10 warthog in a war [Music] [Applause] one simply does not mess with the a-10 Thunderbolt and get away with it caller the a-10 Thunderbolt or more affectionately a-10 warthog but the US air force close air support Avenger will take up beating and still find a way to shower you with her low altitude armor piercing ammo the a-10 is one of the most revered pieces of equipment that our fighting men and women have at their disposal and its track record proves it the 30 millimeter gau-8/a cannon that sits on the front of the a-10 with its barrel protruding from the nose is one of the heaviest automatic cannons ever mounted on an aircraft since the pilots are protected by titanium armor which also protects parts of the flight control system the a-10 can linger longer in the battle zone in all kinds of conditions including low visibility and dark doors the a-10 Thunderbolt has earned its reputation thanks to the bravery of her pilots and her performance above the battlefield we're proud to give a little respect back to those who've served our great country and share a few of the reasons why the a-10 warthog is an aircraft that should never be taken lightly one armament here's the total count a 30 millimeter gau-8/a cannon up to sixteen thousand pounds of mixed ordnance on eight under wing and 3 under fuselage pylon stations a 500-pound MK 82 and two thousand pound MK 84 series low high drag bombs incendiary cluster bombs effects munitions mine dispensing munitions and agm-65 maverick and aim-9 sidewinder missiles plus a Gatling gun that's specifically designed to fire high-explosive incendiary and armor-piercing depleted-uranium rounds at a rate of thirty nine hundred rounds per minute that's a serious aircraft with a bad attitude and you want to shoot at this bad beast good luck with that to survive the building the a-10 has a honeycomb panel design that makes up the leading edges of the wing and tail making them more resistant to battle damage interestingly the front landing gear retracts under the wings while still sticking somewhat out of the fuselage given the Warthog a way to touch down with its landing gear up this aircraft can survive multiple direct hits from armor-piercing and high-explosive projectiles while its self-sealing fuel cells are protected by internal and external foam like in 2003 when captain Kim Campbell successfully brought her warthog back from a close air support mission near Baghdad her 75th Fighter Squadron a10 was hit by ground fire taking extensive damage to the starboard vertical stabilizer horizontal stabilizer aft fuselage and engine upon sustaining the hit the airplane became uncontrollable rolling left nose down after trying several ways to regain control she engaged the backup mechanical flight control system the jet responded and with some help from her wingman she landed back at her forward bangs three range at around 2,500 eighty miles the warthogs flight range could get you from New York City to Los Angeles California thanks to to General Electric TF 34 GE 100 turbofan engines the aircraft can achieve about 450 miles an hour or Mach point seven-five making the Thunderbolt fast enough to be ultra deadly for support the a-10 warthog has immeasurable value to our US troops on the ground and plays a critical role in our military strategy in the Middle East and around the world Arizona Representative Ruben Gallego said I'm glad we were able to keep this fleet fully operational and I will continue to fight to preserve this aircraft to ensure that the warfighter on the ground gets their air support the a-10 was specifically designed for close air support missions it's large and varied ordnance long loiter time above the battlefield accurate weapons delivery and unfriendly field capability are more than well-developed to be at the forefront of the ground forces around it as the US Air Force says the low altitude safety and targeting enhancement upgrade provided computerized weapon aiming equipment and autopilot and a ground collision warning system which includes multiband communications Global Positioning System and inertial navigation systems infrared and electronic countermeasures against air-to-air and air-to-surface threats in other words try to shoot at our ground troops and we will not only shoot back but unleash hell on you exactly where you stand five grit [Music] a ten pilots have night vision capability to conduct missions during any hour after dark the a-10 was also designed with a fast maintenance turnaround time in mind to keep it on the battlefield things like damaged wing skins that can be replaced in the field the cannon creating so much smoke while it's being fired that it looks like a forest fire and a Gatling gun that fires rounds the size of beer bottles makes the warthog deserve its moniker the cross of death certainly the most important thing to remember is the pilots who fly these winged wonders and the ground crews that maintain them our fighting men and women are the real heroes and the a-10 Thunderbolt is just another tool in the fight for freedom and a tool that works quite well thank you contemporary Air Force f15 and f-16 pilots like to joke that a-10s don't have instrument panel clocks they have calendars at the time the Air Force's high tech fighter faction which included most of Air Force leadership considered the twin engined straight wing attack airplane and anachronistic dud unfit to operate in the modern battlefield where it was supposed to kill Russian tanks whether you're talking about a sophisticated stealth bomber or flying machine gun it's never easy to bring a new warplane into being how the a-10 program survived its first few years is a complicated story former a-10 pilot and author Colonel Arden Badal retired contends that the Thunderbolt 2 made it to production by prevailing in two key political battles between the maneuverability and the survivability the a-10 fleet Fighter Squadron has taken on Operation Enduring Freedom Desert Storm and Isis wherever they may be making it one of our best weapons in the fight for freedom around the globe [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: US Military News

Views: 2,437,341

Rating: 4.8542295 out of 5

Keywords: A-10, a-10 warthog, a 10 warthog gun, a 10 warthog action, a 10 warthog brrrt, a-10 warthog jet, a 10 warthog machine gun, a 10 warthog noise, a 10 warthog plane, a 10 warthog weapons, a-10 warthog brrrt, a 10 warthog youtube, A-10 Thunderbolt II, a-10 thunderbolt, a-10 warthog sound

Id: S8rvg6YE6BI

Length: 9min 37sec (577 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/MeGrendel]

This is one of the butt-ugliest awesome aircraft. Just watching one stand on it's wing and do a minimum radius orbit around a target is a sight to behold.

That which does not kill you, makes you stronger. Except an A-10. An A-10 will fucking kill you.

[u/ecdolphins]

These aircraft devastated the Iraq army. They had a huge tank army but if they tried to use them the warthog destroyed them. Serious tank hunters and ground support.

[u/Squrlz4Ever]

Below, a few random facts about the A-10 that testify to the genius of Alexander Kartveli, Pierre Sprey, and the rest of the team that designed it. Some of these features are mentioned in the video, some aren't.

• If the plane's landing gear are damaged and unable to be deployed, the plane can still make use of them in their retracted position and land with little or no damage.
• All major components, such as the engines and vertical stabilizers, can be used in either the left or right positions by the ground crew. So if you've got one damaged A-10 with just the LEFT vertical stabilizer intact, and one A-10 that needs a RIGHT vertical stabilizer, no problem.
• The engines are located high off the ground so the plane can make use of messy, littered airstrips or highways without danger of sucking debris into the turbofans. Their "mouse ear" locations help shield the engines from ground fire because one engine is almost always protected behind the fuselage from the perspective of the ground.
• The plane has a retracting built-in ladder for the cockpit to allow the pilot to get in or out in a non-airport setting, such as a highway.
• Easy aiming of the gun was a paramount design spec, so it was placed so that the one firing barrel (of the rotating six) is aligned to the center of the aircraft within a millimeter's precision. This necessitated offsetting the nose wheel by some 14" to one side.
• The hydraulics for the flight controls are all backed up with manual cable controls. The plane can fly even if all hydraulics are lost.
• The pilot is shielded from enemy fire by a "bathtub" made of titanium that encloses the entire cockpit. It is some of the most extensive pilot-protective armor ever put into an aircraft.
• The plane is able to stay aloft and maneuver even if the outer half of each wing has been shot off. In theory, you could lose the outer half of both wings, one vertical stabilizer, and all of the plane's hydraulics and still make it home.