A-10 Thunderbolt II, Warthog by Gert Hilbink

About "A-10 Thunderbolt II, Warthog"

by Gert Hilbink

About the artwork

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a fighter aircraft from Fairchild which is primarily in use with the United States Air Force. It is the only USAF aircraft which was primarily developed for providing air support on the battlefield (close air support). It is specially equipped to destroy armored vehicles and other ground targets. The aircraft can also be used against ground targets which are further away from the own troops (air interdiction).
A secondary task of the aircraft is to act as a flying forward air controller; the pilot talks other aircraft to the targets on the ground.
The official name for the A-10 is Thunderbolt II. It was named after its predecessor from the Second World War, the P-47 Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt II was soon nicknamed "Warthog" or nodding pig. This because of the ugly appearance, the relatively low speed and flying height, rigidity and the many armaments.
Production stopped in 1984 after a total of 715 aircraft were built. The A-10 is very easy to handle at low speed and low altitude because of its long straight wings with downward bended wingtips. The aircraft can operate from temporary forward operating bases close to the front.
The aircraft has the ability to cruise above the battlefield for a considerable time and can operate under a low cloud cover of 300 m with a visibility worse than 2500 m and with the very low speed of 320 km/h.