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A-10/OA-10 Thunderbolt II

The A-10/OA-10 Thunderbolt II, nicknamed and universally known as the "Warthog", is the first US Air Force aircraft designed for close air support (CAS) of ground forces. It is a simple, effective and hardy single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft designed to attack tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets. It is named after the P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II, a plane that was particularly good at the CAS mission.

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The A-10 was developed in response to the increasing vulnerability of ground attack-planes as evidence by the large number that were shot down to small arms fire, surface-to-air missiles, and low level anti-aircraft gunfire during the Vietnam War. This led to a need for a specialized, heavily armed, heavily armored aircraft. Previous aircraft used in the CAS mission had been bombers or fighters pressed into the job.

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