US Air Force (USAF) Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Kent Yohe, Pilot, 303rd Fighter Squadron (FS), Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri (MO), performs pre-flight checks prior to a night mission at Kirkuk Air Base (AB) in northern Iraq. LTC Yohe logged his three thousandth hour aboard the A-10A Thunderbolt II during this mission in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
Summary
The original finding aid described this photograph as:
Base: Kirkuk Air Base
Country: Iraq (IRQ)
Scene Major Command Shown: CENTCOM
Scene Camera Operator: SSGT James A. Williams, 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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