# The A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog: Air Force: "We don't want it" Army: We'll take it **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483 "2014-03-24T23:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/301 "2017-11-19T20:15:58Z")
A book that may interest y’all: [http://www.militaryissue.com/Fairchild-Republic-A-10-Thunderbolt-II/productinfo/702677/](http://www.militaryissue.com/Fairchild-Republic-A-10-Thunderbolt-II/productinfo/702677/) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/302 "2017-12-04T16:52:01Z")
And a T-shirt: [American Military T-Shirts | All Branches | Medals of America](https://www.medalsofamerica.com/Item--i-T1943_Header) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/303 "2017-12-04T17:38:09Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > And the U-2. I saw that earlier today and thought of this thread, but I knew that this being the Dope, that someone would beat me to the punch. > > It’s awesome news though, especially in light of the fact that there’s really not an available replacement for the Warthog’s role (which as the article notes, is increasingly important in our current skirmishes with ISIS). > > I’ll never forget being in Germany in the US Army and being on a range near where those things were staging practice. That massive chain gun would go off and my friend at the time said “It sounds like a giant burping or farting”. It kinda does sound like that! I’m being pedantic (and a few months late), but it is NOT a chain gun. A chain gun has a single barrel. The Hughes M230 and the M242 Bushmaster are chain guns. They are single-barrelled, unlike the multi-barrel rotary canon used in A-10s. One design advantage of the chain gun is that it is relatively easy to change the rate of fire. The AH-64 Apache and the M2 Bradley use chain guns. Could you have been hearing these instead? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/304 "2017-12-04T19:25:52Z")
Here’s more on the A-10’s gun - check out the photo with the VW Bug!: [GAU-8 Avenger - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/305 "2018-03-16T19:07:26Z")
An A-10 Thunderbolt appears in _Rampage_, Dwayne Johnson’s next carefully-researched science documentary (starting at 1:52 here): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaZNFH4OORg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaZNFH4OORg) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/306 "2018-03-16T19:14:44Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I’m being pedantic (and a few months late), but it is NOT a chain gun. A chain gun has a single barrel. Nah, it was them, we could see them circling around their range. I just always erroneously called it that. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Dwayne Johnson’s next **carefully-researched science documentary** LOL!!! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/307 "2018-04-25T04:42:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Here’s CNN on the Air Force’s plans to eventually replace the A-10. The video includes a short interview with a Congresswoman who is a former A-10 pilot and squadron commander, and strong backer of keeping the plane for now: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/09/politics/a-10-warthog-replacement/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/09/politics/a-10-warthog-replacement/index.html) Congresswoman McSally is now running for the Senate in Arizona and wears an A-10 pin in her campaign website portrait, as well as being shown flying an A-10 in an ad: [https://support.mcsallyforsenate.com/](https://support.mcsallyforsenate.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/308 "2018-04-25T14:10:37Z")
My ex-girlfriend’s dad let me fly in an A-10 simulator at his military base. She’s the only girlfriend I cried when we broke up. And it wasn’t about the girl. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/309 "2018-04-25T14:24:04Z")
How was the simulator? ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/310 "2018-04-26T06:17:38Z")
It was really cool. A fully decked out cockpit was under a projected dome in a fairly large room. This was in the early 90s and I remember thinking the 3d rendered graphics weren’t quite up to par with what you’d see in a state of the art video game, but video games weren’t being projected on a huge domed screen! I got to do some basic flying with the area I lived in loaded up for familiarity. No combat or anything. It was definitely one of the more memorable dates I ever went on. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/311 "2018-04-26T14:20:07Z")
I’m envious. I would’ve wanted to fire the big gun or launch some missiles, though! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/312 "2018-04-26T14:29:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m envious. I would’ve wanted to fire the big gun or launch some missiles, though! Yes, blow up city hall. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/313 "2018-06-17T19:06:46Z")
I just finished Tom Clancy’s 1986 technothriller _Red Storm Rising_, about a non-nuclear WWIII between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. A-10s take a fearsome toll on Soviet armor in Western Europe, and are called “the Devil’s cross” by enemy tank crews for their unwelcome appearance overhead: [http://www.elec-intro.com/EX/05-14-19/A\_10\_Warthog\_002.jpg](http://www.elec-intro.com/EX/05-14-19/A_10_Warthog_002.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/314 "2018-06-19T19:49:03Z")
The latest A-10 weapons system: [https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/z1-warthog-thunderbolt-a-10-memes-600-6.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=600](https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/z1-warthog-thunderbolt-a-10-memes-600-6.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=600) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/315 "2018-06-19T20:14:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The latest A-10 weapons system: [https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/z1-warthog-thunderbolt-a-10-memes-600-6.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=600](https://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/z1-warthog-thunderbolt-a-10-memes-600-6.jpg?quality=85&strip=info&w=600) Which is the main armament? Drill Instructor Hartman: “The deadliest weapon in the world is a marine and his rifle.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/316 "2018-06-25T17:33:52Z")
At the risk of allowing this thread to devolve into A-10 porn (I’m looking at you, **Elendil** ), [these photos](https://www.nationalreview.com/photos/a10-thunderbolts-saber-strike-18) from an overseas training exercise are intended to show how “austere” runways–love that lingo!–can be used with the jet. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/317 "2018-06-25T18:00:04Z")
In tragic news, there was a crash this weekend at Holloman Air Force Base, at which the Air Force is testing two light attack aircraft that could be a kinda/sorta replacement to the ground attack role that the A-10 plays. One of the crew was killed, one injured. > **[Navy identifies pilot who died in A-29 Super Tucano crash in New Mexico](https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/06/24/navy-identifies-pilot-who-died-in-a-29-super-tucano-crash-in-new-mexico/)** > > The Navy announced that one of its pilots died when the A-29 Super Tucano he was flying crashed Friday at a bombing range in New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/318 "2018-06-25T18:21:40Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > At the risk of allowing this thread to devolve into A-10 porn (I’m looking at you, **Elendil** ), [these photos](https://www.nationalreview.com/photos/a10-thunderbolts-saber-strike-18) from an overseas training exercise are intended to show how “austere” runways–love that lingo!–can be used with the jet. Guilty as charged. The camouflaged A-10 with the red devil on the side also has the black-and-white stripes first used for the D-Day invasion in 1944: [Jelajahi Sensasi Slot Gratis dengan Demo Slot Pragmatic di JOKER99](http://www.armaholic.com/datas/users/ironfront-d-day-pc-all-screenshot001-p-47-1_4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/319 "2018-06-27T03:36:55Z")
Love all the pictures. I did not realize the spoilers were that big. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483/320 "2018-08-30T20:04:55Z")
Two A-10s are flying over the city as part of an air show as I write this! Congresswoman Martha McSally, mentioned upthread as an A-10 pilot and longtime advocate for the plane in the House, this week won the GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-a-10-thunderbolt-warthog-air-force-we-dont-want-it-army-well-take-it/684483.md?page=17)