the u.s air force is testing a new super a-10 warthog
the first aircraft to achieve a successful flight as you most likely know was invented
by the wright brothers on december 17 1903 after several other unsuccessful attempts by the two
it was an unprecedented and monumental scene at the time and marked the achievement of
a significant milestone in the history of humanity of course the popularity of
aircraft has only increased with time and there is now a wide range of aircraft available today
these modern aircraft come with exceptional and unique capabilities
indeed the wright brothers making the once dreamy concept of flight a reality was a big move
today when we talk about aircraft almost everyone will have something to say talk of helicopters
airliners airships bombers drones and the list is virtually endless in this video however
we will be talking about one particular aircraft that has made quite the name in the us military
it has not only aided the military in war but gained popularity and earned a name and a title
if you're already curious stay tuned you are at the right place
this incredible aircraft is known as the warthog but is officially called
the us air force thunderbolt 2. the nickname warthog is quite commonly known to africans
the warthog is a member of the wild pig family found in places like ethiopia
kenya and somalia in africa warthogs are identifiable by two pairs of tusks
protruding from their mouth and curving upwards but i really have to say these
animals look thoroughly pissed off every time and you'd be better off keeping your distance
it is only befitting that the a-10 thunderbolt 2 was given the name considering the wars it has won
now let us move on to the good stuff the u.s air force a-10 thunderbolt 2 popularly
known as the warthog is by far one of their most efficient and reliable weapons since the 1970s
the aircraft features a single seat straight fans and a twin turbofan engine the aircraft's
primary purpose is to provide close air support to friendly ground troops by attacking enemy armored
vehicles and battle tanks however its secondary ability to provide forward air controller
airborne support by directing other aircraft in attack on ground targets earned it the 0a-10
the warthog has been used in several battles including the gulf war and grenada
afghanistan and iraq with its titanium armored airframe it is durable and could sustain some
considerable amount of damage and while still remaining in flight it is easy to maintain
and its short takeoff and landing abilities gave it an advantage in battles atan is highly
recognized among the military personnel and the air force news for its name and accuracy
it is even tested and proven to have good air refueling capabilities
it is pretty accurate to say that the a-10 is doing well so far
given the available evidence and it's fulfilling its reliability functions as an aircraft
one of a10 thunderbolt 2's pilots first lieutenant giddings
once said in a tone of admiration the sound of the a-10 you just know that
whistle when it is flying over and you know that means someone's got your back
it goes without saying that most pilots that have got the chance to fly the a-10 thunderbolt 2
are indeed head over heels in love with the fleet
you could say that they have developed a deep trust in the capabilities of the aircraft
the a-10 has received several upgrades since it entered into service
the pave penny laser receiver pod in 1978 an inertial navigation system in 1980 the
low altitude safety and targeting enhancement upgrade in the 1990s are just a few examples
these upgrades were aimed at improving the combat capabilities of the fleet
the air force newscast reported live that the a10 warthogs precision engagement modification program
would combine multiple improvement projects strengthening the a-10s war fighter missions
in 2007 casting one of air force report news
henry revealed that the a-10 wartog is a bridge between the numerous roles and
numerous missions and continues to be the most suitable agent of close combat
he says that even though they get criticisms about how attractive the a10 is
he believes that forms do not matter when the function is a priority
with that in mind it is only fair to say that the a-10 was doing its job
in its design the aircraft has superior maneuvering capabilities
but unfortunately at only low speeds and altitude due to its wide wing area
the a-10s primary built-in weapon is a 30 by 173 millimeter gau-8 slash a auto cannon which
can fire up to 3 900 rounds per minute one of the very best of its kind to be precise
also it can carry other ammunitions as well as fire a significant amount
of depleted uranium armor-piercing shells
it is designed explicitly for tanks for that matter and has a high rate of fire
between 2006 and 2010 during the precision engagement modification program
all a10 and 0a10 aircraft in the fleet were updated to a10c
over the years there has been a rumor that the military wants to retire the a-10
despite its great features and capabilities that revelation however turned out to be inaccurate
this time stories have it that the u.s air force service plans
to build the best super a-10 thunderbolt yet
the u.s military service initially wanted to retire the a-10 wartog in the hopes of
considering the other alternatives of war aircraft at their disposal
for years this plan had been delayed for several different reasons
and this prevented the retirement of the wartog
one pilot russ meyers in his opinion said as soon as we are not in close contact with the
enemy then i suppose you can retire the a-10 but i do not think that is ever going to happen
there has been a revelation and an announcement this year following the subsequent delay in
retiring the 810 by pentagon leaders that the a-10 will serve rather than retire until at least 2024
while the alternatives to replace the a-10 were undeniably good
the a-10 remains a loyal one to its kind its remarkable capabilities cannot be taken lightly
why risk lives at the hands of war in the name of testing out something new
when there's a perfectly safe option that is tried and true
some months ago this year the u.s air force began
projects to assess the capacities of the a-10 wartog aircraft
and delve deeply into how best it can be advanced in terms of durability
speed fire rate and other vital factors
higher service officials in charge of aircraft engineering
have started researching the kind of avionics and advancement procedures
that should come into play if there should ever be a new super a-10
this news indisputably comes as no surprise as the world is expanding along with its
threats and technology it only fits that the u.s air force will take on such a task
the a-10 wartog has been one of the most successful aircraft in delivering adequate
close air support and its ability to carry and fire a wide range of bombs is the best out there
it is safe to say it remains a potential weapon whose abilities can still be put to good use
former air force chief of staff mark welsh even added when lawmakers asked that despite the
initial plan to retire the a-10 warthog the air force hire service did not want to retire the a-10
it is known that the service has begun evaluating
what it takes to either improve on the combat capabilities of the a-10 warthog
or build a new powerful a10 warthog we mustn't forget that the a-10 was one of the most expensive
aircraft used by the us military a cost of about 28 million to 38 million dollars for the f-35
program even though it has not built a single jet compared to 13 million dollars for an a10 warthog
it is explained that the prior decision to retire the a-10 was budget-driven
due to this the service is looking for a powerful way to expand the a-10 warthog's capabilities
without bearing a huge cost given that there are alternatives to the a-10 like the f-35 or the a29
although this is true the u.s military service cannot deny that the attributes of the a-10
are ones that will be most remembered for ages to come
as of now us aircraft senior officials are contemplating whether to build upon the
already effective a10 warthog into something far better or developed a new fully powered
a10 warthog that will provide an even more efficient and reliable close air support
this will be decided based on the assessment and findings they make
so that's it for today guys i think the a10 should be improved and worked on since building
something more potent from scratch would require a lot of work and increase costs
and with the a10 already in existence improving on its features would be a much simpler option
either way the a-10 must continue its legacy flying on
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