The Warthog. The Best Deal the Air Force Never Wanted

Abstract

Nearly 30 years ago the United States Air Force (USAF) developed and fielded the A-10 Thunderbolt II. Nicknamed the "Warthog," the A-10 was built as a highly maneuverable aircraft, heavily armored and armed-specifically intended for the Close Air Support (CAS) mission. For those of us who came into the A-10 community during the 1980's, it was common knowledge that the aircraft was not popular among USAF senior leadership. A-10 folklore also held that the Warthog had strong congressional support on Long Island, which helped overcome opposition in the service. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the significant actors and major issues of the A-10 acquisition to answer the following question: Why did the Air Force buy the A-10 aircraft?

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA442118

Entities

People

  • Arden B. Dahl

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Army Aircraft
  • Attack Helicopters
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Helicopters
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Supersonic Aircraft
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Civilian Systems Systems Program Capability Development and Upgrade Support Activity Expense and Pay Management.
  • Educational Psychology
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies