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A-10 Thunderbolt: SpecificationMANUFACTURER: Fairchild-Republic WEIGHTS: DIMENSIONS: PERFORMANCE:
A-10 Thunderbolt :OverviewThe A-10 Thunderbolt was designed specifically for Close Air Support (CAS) operations. It was especially designed and armed to engage tanks and other armored vehicles and to operate from austerely equipped forward bases, a mission it carried out effectively during Operation Desert Storm. (The World War IIera Soviet 11-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft and the more recent Su-25 Frogfoot were designed for a similar mission.) The A-10 Thunderbolt originally had only a visual targeting capability but subsequently was upgraded with a laser spot seeker. A-10 Thunderbolt :CharacteristicsThe design and construction of the A-10 Thunderbolt was governed by the desire to deliver a heavy weapons load, require little maintenance, and remain survivable in an intensely antiaircraft environment; speed and ceiling were deemphasized. The low wing is a thick-sectioned airfoil with little taper. The center section has no dihedral or taper; the outer panels, which are attached just outboard of the leading-edge landing-gear "knees," have dihedral, some taper, and turned-down tips. Highlift devices include slats on the centersection leading edge and trailing-edge double-slotted flaps inboard of broadchord ailerons. The tail group has low-mounted, rectangular horizontal tailplanes, each with an upright endplate fin and rudder. The fin and rudder have converging taper. All movable tail surfaces are left/right interchangeable; the aircraft can fly with an entire vertical tail missing. Hydraulic control systems for the control surfaces are duplicated, with each system taking a different path through the airframe; there is also a mechanical backup system. The A-10 Thunderbolt is also fitted with a General Electric two-axis, two-channel Stability Augmentation System (SAS). The two TF34 turbofans are housed in large nacelles mounted on short stubs on the fuselage flanks ahead of the tail group. The engine position reduces vulnerability to small-arms fire while the Infrared (IR) signature is blanketed by the wing and tailplane. Engine-out control asymmetry is reduced because the engine thrust lines are relatively close to the centerline. Internal fuel tankage consists of tear-resistant, self-sealing, foam-filled cells. The fuselage is relatively slender, with the cockpit placed well ahead of the wing leading edge. As part of the aircraft's ballistic protection, the pilot sits in a 700-lb (318-kg) titanium tub designed to resist 23-mm antiaircraft artillery fire. Further passive protection is provided by Electronic Support Measures (ESM), such as the Litton AN/ALR-46/69 radar-warning receiver, and 16 Tracor AN/ALE-40(V)10 chaff cartridge dispensers mounted in groups of four in each wingtip and wheel well; Westinghouse AN/ALQ-119, AN/ALQ- 131, or Raytheon AN/ALQ-184 active jammer pods can also be carried on wing pylons. The main landing struts retract forward into "knees" located at the dihedral break of the wing leading edges. The wheels are partially exposed when retracted. The nose gear is offset to port to provide clearance for the 30-mm cannon barrel; it retracts forward under the cockpit. The cockpit is enclosed by a singlepiece canopy that is hinged at the rear. Avionics include a Kaiser Head-Up Display (HUD) with a MIL-STD-1553 multiplex digital databus system, a Litton LN-39 Inertial Navigation System (INS), and the Martin Marietta AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny day/night laser tracker. The Pave Penny is mounted on a small pylon attached to the port side of the fuselage below the cockpit. For the A-10's offensive ground-attack capability, a General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger 7-barrel 30-mm Gatling gun is mounted in the forward fuselage. The installation, including the 1,174-round ammunition drum, is 19 ft 10 in (6.05 m) long and weighs 4,029 Ib (1,829 kg). The cannon has a maximum rate of fire of 70 1.5-lb (0.68-kg) rounds per second. Fuselage weapons stations include three side-by-side ventral hardpoints. Either the outer two, each with a 3,500-lb (1,588-kg) capacity, or the centerline 5,000-lb (2,268-kg) capacity hardpoint can be used, but not all three simultaneously. The center-section wing pylons have a 3,500-lb (1,588-kg) capacity. Outboard of the landing gear on each wing are three pylons, the inner one capable of a 2,500-lb (1,134-kg) load, the middle one 1,200 Ib (544 kg), and the outer pylon 1,000 Ib (454 kg). The maximum weapons load of 16,000 Ib (7,258 kg) can include AGM-65 Maverick TV- or IR-guided air-to-ground missiles, conventional and laser-guided bombs, rocket pods, gun pods, submunitions dispensers, AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missiles (AAM), and fuel tanks. A-10 Thunderbolt :DevelopmentThe A-10's official name was originally Thunderbolt II in honor of Republic's P-47 fighter-bomber of World War II; the "II" was later dropped. Pilots and ground crew more commonly refer to the A-10 Thunderbolt as the Warthog or Hog; the latter nickname has been applied to most Republic Aviation aircraft since World War II. The Warthog's initial operational capability was in 1977, and its first flight was on May 10, 1972. Production ended in 1984 after 707 aircraft, and six preproduction aircraft, were delivered. The A-10 Thunderbolt has served for the Air National Guard in addition to the active US Air Force. Thailand announced plans to purchase 25 A-lOs in the early 1990s. The FY1991 Defense Authorization bill required that A-lO's replace US Army OV-1 Mohawks and US Marine Corps OV-10 Broncos over a five-year period. A-10 Thunderbolt :VariantsYA-10 A : The first two prototypes. A-10 A:Single-seat close air support, ground-attack version. OA-10 A:Single-seat forward air control version. Night/Adverse Weather A-10 : Two-seat experimental prototype, for night and adverse weather work. Later redesignated YA-10B. Two aircraft only, one of which crashed, the other is on static display. A-10 C : Updated version of A-10 featuring a glass cockpit, and all-weather multi-mission precision weapons and laser targeting capability. A-10 upgrades: Low Altitude Safety and Target Enhancement (LASTE) program, Close- Air Support/Batdefield Air Interdiction (CAS/BAI) program, OA-10. A-10 Thunderbolt :Combat ExperienceThe A-10 Thunderbolt participated with distinction in Opera tion Desert Storm, attacking tactical and theater targets in Iraq and Kuwait. Before the ground war began on February 24, Warthogs attacked a variety of targets including Scud mobile ballistic missile launchers, radar sites, and surface-to-air missile positions. When preparation for the ground war began, most A-10 Thunderbolt sorties were directed against Iraqi armored and unarmored vehicles. In all, A-lO's flew approximately 8,100 sorties. Limitations imposed by the lack of a radar or FLIR were overcome by using the AGM-65D Maverick's IR seeker to search for targets. The 30-mm cannon proved effective against a variety of targets, including two helicopters shot down over Kuwait. Accounts credited pairs of A-lO's with destroying 20 or more tanks in a single day. Altogether, Warthogs were credited with over 1,000 tanks, 2,000 military vehicles, and 1,200 artillery pieces destroyed.Five A-10's were shot down during the seven-week war. |
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