Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog)

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970's. The A-10 Thunderbolt II was designed exclusively to fulfill the Close-Air Support (CAS) for ground forces by attacking tanks and other armored vehicles. This aircraft was designed with a hull that incorporates over 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of armor with survivability as a priority with protective measures which enable the aircraft to continue flying even when severe damaged has been made.

The A-10 is a practical, simple design. The dual General Electric turbofans are quite simple to maintain and relatively cheap to replace. It can also operate on tarmac runways, asphalt roads or dirt airstrips with the same amount of ease. In addition to armor, the Warthog carries specialized electronic equipment, and was design to execute evasive maneuvers. Due to many A-10's continuing to serve in the late 2000's, despite their expected retirement being long overdue, it was decided to upgrade the existing A-10A and OA-10A models to the new A-10C variant. Although a YA-10B version was proposed, it never escaped prototype stage and wasn't adopted by the USAF. The A-10's being upgraded to C standard will be the first "Warthogs" to receive advanced equipment.

Avionics

• AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs
• Head-up display (HUD) for improved technical flying and air-to-ground support. 

SPECIFICATIONS: 
General characteristics

• Crew : 1
• Length :  53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
• Wingspan :  57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
• Height : 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
• Wing area :  506 ft² (47.0 m²)
• Empty weight :  24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
• Loaded weight :  30,384 lb (13,782 kg) | On CAS mission : 47,094 lb (21,361 kg) | On anti-armor mission : 42,071 lb (19,083 kg)
• Max takeoff weight :  50,000 lb (23,000 kg)
• Aerofoil :  NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
• Power plant :  2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) each

Performance

• Max speed :  381 knots (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean
• Range :  2,580 mi (4,150 km) with 50 knot (55 mph, 90 km/h) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
• Speed : Never exceed : 450 knots (518 mph,833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mk 82 bombs | Cruise : 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h) | Stall : 120 knots (138 mph, 220 km/h)
• Service ceiling :  45,000 ft (13,700 m)
• Rate of climb :  6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
• Wing loading :  99 lb/ft² (482 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight : 0.36
• Combat radius : On CAS mission : 288 miles (460 km) at 1.88 hour single-engine loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat | On anti-armor mission : 290 mi (467 km), 40 nm (45 mi, 75 km)) sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat

Armament

• Guns :  1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger gatling cannon with 1,174 rounds
• Hard-points : 11 (eight under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg) | Missiles : 1) Six AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles 2) Two AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense | Bombs (any one): 1) Mark 80 series of unguided iron bombs 2) Mk 77 incendiary bombs 3) BLU-1, BLU-27/B Rockeye II, Mk20, BL-755 and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs 4) Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs 5) Joint Direct Attack Munition (A-10C) 6) Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C) | Rockets : 1) Four LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19× / 7× Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively) 2) Four LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19× CRV7 70 mm rockets)LRASM 3) Six LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4× 127 mm (5.0 in) Zuni rockets)RASM | Others (any one) : 1) SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod 2) AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods 3) Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or LITENING targeting pods (A-10C) 4) Two 600 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loitering time