In 1966, the USAF formed the Attack Experimental (A-X) program office. The effective, but aging, A-1 Skyraider was the USAF's primary close air support aircraft. Fast jets such as the F-100 Super Sabre, F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantom II proved for the most part to be ineffective for close air support because their high speed did not allow pilots enough time to get an accurate fix on ground targets and they lacked sufficient loiter time.
In addition, the UH-1 Iroquois and AH-1 Cobra helicopters of the day, which USAF commanders had said should handle close air support, were ill-suited for use against armor, carrying only anti-personnel machine guns and unguided rockets meant for soft targets. In the Vietnam War, large numbers of ground-attack aircraft were shot down by small arms, surface-to-air missiles, and low-level anti-aircraft gunfire, prompting the development of an aircraft better able to survive such weapons. Air Force did not take close air support (CAS) seriously prompted a few service members to seek a specialized attack aircraft. With a variety of upgrades and wing replacements, the A-10's service life has been extended to 2040.Ĭriticism that the U.S. Aircraft used primarily in this role are designated OA-10. It also has a secondary mission, where it provides airborne forward air control, directing other aircraft in attacks on ground targets. The A-10 is more commonly known by its nicknames "Warthog" or "Hog". The A-10's official name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II, a fighter that was particularly effective at close air support. The A-10's airframe was designed for survivability, with protective measures such as 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of armor to enable the aircraft to continue flying after taking significant damage. The A-10 was designed around the GAU-8 Avenger, a rotary cannon that is the airplane's primary armament and the heaviest such cannon mounted on an aircraft.
The only United States Air Force aircraft designed solely for close air support of ground forces, the A-10 was built to attack tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets with limited air defenses. The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970s.
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