A US Air Force Reserve (USAFR) A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from the 111th Fighter Wing (FW), Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PAANG), takes off for a training exercise, at Fort Drum, New York (NY). The aircraft is armed with an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, Mk-82/BDU-50 500-pound practice bombs and AGM-65 Maverick missiles
Summary
The original finding aid described this photograph as:
Base: Fort Drum
State: New York (NY)
Country: United States Of America (USA)
Scene Camera Operator: SRA Robert Bunch, USAF
Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files
The A-10 Thunderbolt has excellent maneuverability at low airspeeds and altitude and is a highly accurate and survivable weapons-delivery platform. Called the “Warthog” for its aggressive look and often painted with teeth on the nose cone, the A-10 Thunderbolt II is the U.S. Air Force’s primary low-altitude close air support aircraft best known for its GAU-8 Avenger 30mm Gatling gun designed to fire armor-piercing depleted uranium and high explosive incendiary rounds. In the 1970s the threat of Soviet armored forces and all-weather attack operations had become more serious. Six companies submitted aircraft proposals, with Northrop and Fairchild-Republic selected to build prototypes: the YA-9A and YA-10A, respectively. General Electric and Philco-Ford were selected to build and test GAU-8 cannon prototypes. First A-10 was delivered to the U.S. Air Force on 30 March 1976. By 1984, 715 airplanes had been built.
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