The US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II, flagship of the 81st Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, flies in the skies over northern Germany. Spangdahlem AB consists of the 81st Fighter Squadron, which flies the A-10 aircraft and two F-16 squadrons, the 22nd and 23rd Fighter Squadrons, which fly the F-16C Falcon (Not shown)
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The original finding aid described this photograph as:
Country: Deutschland / Germany (DEU)
Scene Camera Operator: MSGT Blake R. Borsic, 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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