A-10 Thunderbolt Quick Review
The American built A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed for the United States Air Force by Fairchild-Republic. This aircraft would provide close air support (CAS) of ground forces. They would accomplish this task by attacking tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets with a limited air interdiction capability. This aircraft was the first U.S. Air Force aircraft designed specifically for close air support.
“Warthog” or simply “Hog” are the nicknames for the A-10 Thunderbolt. As a secondary mission, it provides airborne forward air control, guiding other aircraft against ground targets.
The A-10 has superior maneuverability at low speeds and altitude, thanks to straight, wide wings with downturned “droop” wing tips. These also allow short takeoffs and landings, permitting operations from rugged, forward airfields near front lines. The aircraft can loiter for extended periods of time and operate under 1,000 feet (300 m) ceilings with 1.5-mile (2.4 km) visibility. It typically flies at a relatively slow speed of 300 knots (345 mph or 555 km/h), which makes it a much better candidate for the ground-attack role than fast fighter-bombers, which often have difficulty targeting small and slow-moving targets.
A-10 Warthog General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 506 ft² (47.0 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
Loaded weight:
Standard: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg)
On CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
On anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (23,000 kg)
Powerplant: 2× General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) each
Performance
Never exceed speed: 450 knots (518 mph, 833 km/h)
Maximum speed: 450 knots (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mk 82 bombs[35]
Cruise speed: 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h)
Stall speed: 120 knots (220 km/h) [36]
Combat radius:
On CAS mission: 250 nmi (288 mi, 460 km) at 1.88 hour single-engine loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
On anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi, 467 km), 40
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