The A-10 Is the Only Aircraft in History Designed Around Its Gun — A 30mm GAU-8 Avenger Gatling That Fires 3,900 Rounds Per Minute
The Air Force wanted to retire the A-10 Warthog ground-attack aircraft by the end of FY 2026; however, the current air campaign over Iran has breathed new life into the aircraft.
The Air Force has long sought to retire the A-10, and it intended to retire the remaining 162 A-10s in 2026.
A-10 Warthog. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
This decision was part of the service’s plan to retire 340 aircraft in total, aimed at realigning priorities and avoiding rising costs, alongside the cancellation of programs such as the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.
However, the scale of the proposed drawdown raised concerns among members of Congress, who questioned whether the USAF had alternatives capable of fulfilling the platform’s specialized roles. Luckily, the A-10’s service life was extended just in time.
The Air Force has always taken a dim view of close-support aircraft, despite the mountains of evidence of their necessity.
However, it was during the Cold War that the possibility of the Fulda Gap being overrun by thousands of Soviet tanks changed that way of thinking. The Air Force needed a tank-busting, low-flying aircraft that could wreak havoc on the masses of Soviet armor.
Thus was born the A-10 Warthog, the first aircraft designed around its GAU-30 mm Gatling gun.
But with the proliferation of anti-aircraft missiles facing today’s ground support aircraft, it is feared that the A-10 Warthog would not survive on a modern battlefield.
A-10 Warthog. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Iran Air Campaign And the A-10’s Mission Against The IRGC Navy
The US has been using the A-10 against Iranian Fast-Attack Craft of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“The A-10 Warthog is now in the fight across the southern flank and is hunting and killing fast attack watercraft in the Straits of Hormuz,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, said during a joint news conference with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth back in late March.
The A-10’s mission in the Gulf has allowed for fast movers (F-15Es, F/A-18s, F-35s) to concentrate on land targets at longer ranges.
“We’re flying further to the east now and penetrating deeper into Iranian airspace to hunt and kill one-way attack garrisons, destroying Iran’s ability to project power outside of its borders,” Caine added.
One A-10 was hit and damaged over the Strait of Hormuz, where the pilot was able to eject and be rescued by US military personnel. The A-10 pilot was providing ground support for the F-15E pilots who were shot down on April 3 and subsequently rescued.
Combat History Of the A-10 Thunderbolt II
The A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”) has a distinguished combat record dating back to 1991. Famous for its durability and 30mm GAU-8 Avenger cannon, it has played major roles in the Gulf War, Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and against ISIS. It excels in loitering over battlefields to destroy armored vehicles and support ground troops.
During the Gulf War / Operation Desert Storm (1991), the A-10’s combat debut proved its effectiveness, flying over 8,100 sorties and destroying 900+ Iraqi tanks, 2,000+ military vehicles, and 1,200+ artillery pieces. They also shot down two Iraqi helicopters.
During the UN’s missions to Bosnia and Kosovo in the mid-1990s, the A-10 was heavily involved in Operations Deliberate Force (1995) and Allied Force (1999), enforcing no-fly zones and targeting ground forces.
The A-10 played a valuable role during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) during the long US involvement in each. The A-10 was a workhorse in both wars, providing continuous, precise CAS for ground forces and being valued for its ability to operate from forward airstrips.
A-10 Warthog. Image: Creative Commons
A-10 Warthog. Image: Creative Commons.
Operation Inherent Resolve, the Anti-ISIS mission, A-10s were deployed to destroy ISIS targets and armored vehicles in Iraq and Syria.
The Russians Learned Their Lesson In Syria, Not In The Fulda Gap
In February 2018, in Syria, the A-10, along with other aircraft, supported a small Special Forces base that had come under attack by Russian Wagner “mercenaries” and Syrian troops that attacked with armor and armored vehicles. It was a slaughter that the Wagner troops won’t soon forget.
So, overconfident were the Russians and Syrians, outnumbering the Americans and the SDF by a 10:1 margin, that they didn’t have any anti-aircraft weapons with them. It would be a fatal mistake.
For 45 minutes, seemingly every American combat aircraft in the region took its turn pounding the mercenary force into the ground, leaving hundreds dead and dozens of vehicles smoldering in their wake.
A-10 Warthog. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
“Well, to make it short, we’ve had our asses f—ing kicked. So, one squadron f—ing lost 200 people right away, another one lost 10 people … and I don’t know about the third squadron, but it got torn up pretty badly, too. So three squadrons took a beating,” a Wagner mercenary can be heard saying in the leaked recordings.
“They beat our asses like we were little pieces of s—, but our f—— government will go in reverse now, and nobody will respond or anything, and nobody will punish anyone for this. So, these are our casualties.”
The Air Force Doesn’t Want The A-10
We can talk ourselves blue in the face about ways the A-10 can still be used effectively to support our troops on the ground. But the Air Force doesn’t want it, and eventually, they’ll finally get their wish.
In his piece for T&P, Major Grasso stated that A-10 pilots joked that the Air Force began plotting the Hog’s replacement on the day the last A-10 rolled off the assembly line in 1984. And he’s probably spot on with that assessment.
The A-10 Will Eventually Be Replaced By The F-15EX Eagle II
A formation of four U.S. Air Force F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets, assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, fly over the Gulf of America, Nov. 21, 2025. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink flew in the backseat of the lead jet as part of his visit to Eglin AFB. The flight oriented Meink to F-15EX tactics, techniques and procedures being developed and advanced by the 53d Wing to include weapons capacity, next-gen survivability, and next-generation radars, sensors and networking capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles)
President Trump made a surprise announcement that the Michigan Air National Guard, which is set to lose its A-10 Warthogs in 2026, will be reequipped with the F-15EX.
So, the Michigan ANG squadron will have to be trained on the F-15EX. The aircraft has an increased payload of 29,000 pounds plus two additional weapons stations. It can carry hypersonic missiles or up to 12 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles or AIM-120 AMRAAMs, or a combination of up to 24 air-to-ground munitions.
Plus, it carries one internally mounted M61A1 20 mm six-barrel cannon (500 rounds). The cannon is no match for the 30mm, but it is still powerful nonetheless.
It is also blisteringly fast, reaching Mach 2.5, or approximately 1,918.7 mph. The Michigan ANG pilots could also serve as teachers, training new F-15EX pilots in the finer points of ground support.
However, as the air campaign over Iran has shown, the A-10 is highly survivable. The aircraft’s design, including triple-redundant flight control systems and armor, allows it to take extensive damage and still return to base.
A-10 Warthog. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
A total of 716 A-10s were built. And only eight, including the recent one in Iran, have been shot down. That is an incredible record for an aircraft that goes “low and slow” into harm’s way. One USAF pilot, Kim Campbell, flew a severely damaged Warthog back to her base in an incredible feat of flying with an aircraft with much of its tail shot off.
And the A-10 has incredibly high mission capability. Despite being a “low-tech” plane compared to others, it maintained a 95.7 percent mission-capable rate in the Gulf War.
The A-10 is nearing its 50-year mark in service, and the Air Force still doesn’t want it, but it continues to prove its worth.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
