I work with former Air Force maintainers. Some of them, after retiring, I’ve learned have worked on a variety of aircraft. Not one, not a single one of them will ever talk badly about the A10. Talk about F16s, F15s, F35s....yeah yeah yeah whateva whateva. Bring up the A10, they get all giddy and it’s non-stop. “I wish they’d rebuild it”. “They already have all the plans, etc, just need a manufacturer to retool a plant and they can start making them again, even better”. “Did you know the A10 can do this or that or this or that”.
With that being said....ONE 30mm round can take down any plane that can take to the air, in the world today....if the A10 were to strafe a cruise ship, from the water line up toward the top deck, the 30mm round would do so much damage to the structural integrity of the ship that it could split apart...how does the AF know that, apparently they did just that to see just how lethal the round is. That is according to one of the guys that worked on them and lots of other planes in the AF inventory.