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#A10Warthog #MilitaryAnalysis #MilitaryTechnology The geopolitical tension in the Middle East has just reached a boiling point as Iran's asymmetric strategy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz spectacularly backfires. Attempting to trigger a global energy crisis, the IRGC deployed Maham-class sea mines, kamikaze drones, and fast-attack boat swarms to choke the world’s most vital oil transit route. But the United States and its allies were ready. In a devastating two-phased military campaign dubbed "Operation Epic Fury," the U.S. Navy and Air Force completely dismantled the Iranian blockade. The response was brutal: GBU-72 bunker-buster bombs obliterated underground missile silos, while legendary A-10...

There is a particular species of institutional error that only becomes visible in hindsight, and only then at considerable cost. It is not the error of building the wrong weapon. It is the error of discarding the right one because it does not fit the threat you expect to fight. The US Air Force spent the better part of a decade trying to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, requesting $57M in its fiscal year 2026 budget submission to decommission the remaining 162 aircraft, two years ahead of its own previously stated schedule. Congress blocked the effort, mandating a minimum fleet...

As tensions grow between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Air Force has launched A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircrafts to target boats that are ambushing ships through the essential waterway. During a Pentagon briefing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said, “The A-10 Warthog is now engaged across the southern flank, targeting fast-attack watercraft in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The United States has intensified operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, launching low-altitude airstrikes against Iranian vessels and deploying Apache helicopters to intercept incoming drones. At the center of the campaign is a new addition: the A-10 Thunderbolt II. America’s top general, Dan Caine, confirmed that the heavily armed A-10s—better known as the “Warthog”—have officially entered the conflict and are now flying combat missions along Iran’s southern flank. Built for close combat and designed to destroy ground targets with brutal efficiency, the aircraft are now being used to hunt Iranian fast-attack boats in the narrow, strategically vital waterway. “The...

U.S. forces in the Middle East have begun deploying A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, commonly known as the “Warthog,” to counter Iranian strike drones, according to data released by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), News.Az reports. The aircraft, traditionally used for close air support and battlefield strike missions, are now being integrated into operations aimed at protecting U.S. forces and allied assets from drone threats across the region. CENTCOM data indicate that the A-10 jets are being used to provide direct fire support to ground forces while also intercepting and destroying Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles and their launch teams. The move...

A combination of budget constraints, strategic realignment, and the evolution of warfare in the decades since the A-10’s debut has contributed to the aircraft’s retirement. After four decades of service, the renowned A-10 Warthog is finally slated for full retirement. After years of indecision, the US Air Force now plans to retire the A-10 fleet before the end of FY2026. The last A-10 is expected to make its last flight before October 2026, a sad day in aviation that will mark the end of an aircraft that aviation enthusiasts and ground troops alike have adored for a generation. The A-10...

A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft are among the growing number of U.S. military aircraft types that have now refueled from privately owned tankers. A KC-135 from private aerospace firm Metrea refueling Warthogs during an exercise last year also marked the first time a contractor-operated tanker had ever linked up with U.S. Air Force tactical jets. The Air Force, specifically, has been increasingly making use of private aerial refueling services in the past year, which will help it reduce the burdens on its own tanker fleets. A US Air Force A-10 Warthog ground attack jet receives fuel from a KC-135 tanker...

Some A-10 Warthogs could get a reprieve from total retirement as Congress moves to reverse some of the Pentagon’s most dramatic Air Force cuts in its proposed fiscal 2026 budget. The Pentagon’s budget, which the department released in June, calls for the Air Force to retire its remaining 162-plane fleet of A-10 attack aircraft in 2026, two years earlier than originally intended. It also calls for canceling the E-7 Wedgetail program in favor of E-2D Hawkeyes and space-based sensors, and cutting the planned purchase of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters down to 24, or nearly in half. The proposed E-7 and...

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday that its forces conducted dozens of precision air strikes targeting known Islamic State (ISIS) camps and terrorists in central Syria. “The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” CENTCOM said. It added that the operation struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s,...

WASHINGTON — The US Air Force will request a total of $188.1 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, part of a budget submission that asks lawmakers to greenlight the retirement of 250 aircraft, officials revealed today. In a Friday briefing with reporters ahead of the budget release, Kristyn Jones, who is performing the duties of the Air Force Undersecretary, said that the service’s budget would grow by about 1.6% compared to the FY24 request of $185.1 billion, an increase of $3 billion. For the Department of the Air Force (DAF), which includes the Space Force, the DAF’s topline would grow...

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The US Air Force has been trying for years to retire its aging fleet of A-10 Warthog planes. During a Thursday hearing, the service secretary said the aircraft "doesn't scare China." "It still has some limited utility, but we have to get on with things," Frank Kendall told Congress. The US Air Force has long butted heads with Congress over plans for the retirement of its aging A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft — flying cannons also known as Warthogs, and on Thursday, service leadership stressed to legislators that it's time to move on because the warplane is less useful than...

Pierre Sprey, a 1960s Pentagon “whiz kid” who was a formidable intellectual force in military analysis and weapons development, often tangling with top defense officials to improve U.S. military readiness and weapons development, died Aug. 5 at his home in Glenn Dale, Md. He was 83.The cause appeared to be a sudden heart attack, said his son, John Sprey.The French-born Mr. Sprey (pronounced “spray”) was a multilingual polymath whose interests encompassed history, engineering and literature. A Baltimore Sun profile declared that he “may well be the most fascinating person you’ve never heard of.”[ August 20, 2021 ]

...Lt. Col. Mike "Vago" Hilkert, a pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross last month for heroism during what has been described as "one of the most intense combat rescue missions of the Afghanistan war." During that six-hour fight on April 23, 2011, Hilkert not only coordinated the warfighting efforts of 21 aircraft over dozens of frequencies, but he also intentionally put himself and his plane in harm's way repeatedly to draw enemy fire away from rescue helicopters. The Air Force said Hilkert also helped save the lives of more than 30 people....

Will no one rid us of this troublesome A-10 ‘Warthog’? The United States Air Force (USAF) has spent almost two-thirds of its existence as an independent service trying to get rid of the A-10, one of its most well-known aircraft. But has the Air Force finally given up? It is odd to think that a fifty-year-old aircraft might have more job security now than at any time in its long history, but it does seem that the Warthog now has a relatively secure space in the USAF fleet.

The planes landed on a four-lane stretch of Michigan State Highway M-32 The Michigan Air National Guard took off and landed multiple planes on a four-lane stretch of State Highway M-32 Thursday, which is the first time that modern combat aircraft have intentionally landed on a U.S. civilian road, the Selfridge base said. Part of M-32 near Alpena in the northwestern part of the state was closed down for the training exercise, which was dubbed "Thunder Landing Zone (LZ)." "Thunder LZ gave the pilots the opportunity to land in an austere environment that they’re not used to," U.S. Air Force...

A typical misconception is that the military always seeks to enlarge its force, obtain more equipment and keep what it has – while it is lawmakers who want to cut budgets and force a downsizing of ships and planes as cost-cutting measures. However, when it comes to the A-10 Thunderbolt II – known affectionately as the Warthog – it is the United States Air Force that is being “forced” to retain an aircraft the service would like to retire.

Pilots discuss how the A-10 Warthog's tight turning radius coupled with its big gun means it can sting even the best fighters in a dogfight. While the “Warthog” isn’t optimized for the air superiority role and lacks key capabilities, such as high-speed, radar, and radar-guided long-range missiles that make its fighter brethren such air-to-air supremos, even the greatest fighter pilots are rightfully wary of getting into a close-in turning dogfight with a ‘lowly’ mud-moving A-10. the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, actually teaches the art of Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM) in its bi-annual...

The GAU-8 Avenger is one impressive weapon system and the foundation of the A-10 Warthog, despite its age, won’t go away anytime soon. Used for combat during the time of the Gulf War in 1991, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt – also known commonly as the “Warthog” – destroyed more than 900 Iraqi tanks, some 2,000 other military vehicles, and approximately 1,200 artillery pieces. The aircraft also reportedly shot down two Iraqi helicopters.

Air Force Special Operations will have to adapt to major changes in mission and organization while coping with tighter budgets in the new era of great power competition, Lt. Gen. James Slife said Monday. "One thing that's clear to us is that the future doesn't look a lot like the present to us," Slife, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, said in a virtual discussion with the Center for Strategic and international Studies.