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History of the A10
The first Thunderbolt, built in 1975, required low altitude flying capability, range and loiter capability, low speed maneuverability and weapons delivery accuracy (A-10/0A-10 1). The A-10 had many specific survivability features considered in the design of the aircraft (1). Some of these included a titanium armor plated shell surrounding the aircraft which allows the A-10 to take a lot of punishment from enemy fire and still stay in the air (1). ... Peter Smith refers to the A-10 as “The ultimate NATO tank buster” (161). ...
Miller 2
Mission of the Thunderbolt II
The A10 is a twin engine aircraft flown exclusively by the Air Force providing close air support for troops on the front lines, with a secondary mission of supporting search and rescue and special Forces operations (A-10/0A-10 1). ... Bombs, 1,350 rounds of 30-mm ammunition, and 10,650 pounds of internal fuel (Smith 163). ... The A10 has excellent maneuverability at low speeds and altitude, and highly accurate weapons-delivery platforms (A-10/0A-10 1). ...
The First Gulf War
No airplane- not even the F-117 stealth bomber or the Navy’s F-14s- received more attention during Operation Desert Storm than the A-10, the least sophisticated airplane that operated in the Gulf (Hallion 210). At first the Air Force was skeptical about the A-10 because of questions about it’s ability to survive in the face of today’s air-to-ground threats, although in the past the fighter proved a more survivable airplane than other aircraft of that time (210). ... Also used on road reconnaissance missions, the A-10 proved effective on ground targets, mostly because its pilots used binoculars to aid in identifying enemy targets (211). The principal weapon for the A-10 proved to be the Maverick missile, rather than the much talked about 30-mm rotary cannon (211).
Approximate Word count = 1573
Approximate Pages = 6.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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