A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog). Built for One Reason: The Savage History of the Warthog | 4K

This is the untold story of the aircraft they never wanted, but the troops on the ground desperately needed. Dive deep into the history of the Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, an airplane that wasn't designed, but forged. A machine built not for speed or glamour, but for one brutal purpose: to kill tanks and protect the soldiers below. In stunning 4K, we reveal the political firestorms, the revolutionary design, and the sheer force of will that brought the Warthog to life. Our story begins in the shadow of the Cold War, with NATO forces staring down a terrifying sea of Soviet tanks poised to pour through the Fulda Gap. The US Air Force, obsessed with high-flying, supersonic interceptors and strategic bombers, had a critical blind spot: Close Air Support (CAS). Their existing jets were too fast, too fragile, and ill-equipped to survive the lethal, low-altitude battlefield. The Army's own solution, the AH-56 Cheyenne helicopter, had crashed and burned in a mire of technical failures and cost overruns. A new solution was needed, and it came from a group of rebellious thinkers known as the "Fighter Mafia." At the heart of our documentary is the core philosophy that birthed the A-10: this is not a plane with a gun; it is a gun with a plane attached. That gun is the GAU-8 Avenger, a seven-barrel Gatling cannon the size of a small car, firing 30mm depleted uranium shells at a blistering 3,900 rounds per minute. The entire aircraft was designed around this fearsome weapon. This documentary exposes the intense bureaucratic battles waged by the Air Force brass to kill the A-10 program. They saw it as a technological step backward, a "single-purpose" aircraft that stole funding from their prized F-15 and F-16 programs. But the vision of a cheap, resilient, and deadly tank-buster, championed by reformers like Pierre Sprey, ultimately won out. The A-10 wasn't just an engineering challenge; it was an ideological war. To support/join the channel ➤ @dronescapes ➤ More aircraft and history videos: @dronescapes ➤ Join the channel: @dronescapes ➤ THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@dronescapesv... ➤ FB: Facebook: Dronescapesvideos ➤ Reddit: Reddit: Atellani ➤ IG: Instagram: dronescapesvideos ➤ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dronescapes.... ➤ Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dronescap... ➤ X/Twitter: https://dronescapes.video/2p89vedj 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 sq ft (47.0 m2) Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg) Gross weight: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg) CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg) Anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg) Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) Fuel capacity: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg) internal Powerplant: 2 × General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) thrust each Performance Maximum speed: 381 kn (439 mph, 706 km/h) at sea level, clean Cruise speed: 300 kn (340 mph, 560 km/h) Stall speed: 120 kn (138 mph, 220 km/h) at 30,000 lb (14,000 kg) Never exceed speed: 450 kn (518 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mark 82 bombs Combat range: 220 nmi (250 mi, 400 km) CAS mission, 1.88 hour loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat Ferry range: 2,240 nmi (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knots (58 mph; 26 m/s) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m) Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s) Wing loading: 99 lb/sq ft (482 kg/m2) Thrust/weight: 0.36 Armament Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon with 1,174 rounds Hardpoints: 11 (8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations) with a capacity of 16,000 lb (7,260 kg), with provisions to carry combinations of: Rockets: 4× LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19×/7× Hydra 70 mm/APKWS rockets, respectively) 6× LAU-131 rocket pods (each with 7× Hydra 70 rockets) Missiles: 2× AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for self-defense 6× AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles Bombs: Mark 80 series of unguided 'iron' bombs or Mk 77 incendiary bombs or BLU-1, BLU-27/B, CBU-20 Rockeye II, BL755 and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs or Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) (A-10C) or Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser Other: SUU-42A/A Flares/infrared decoys and chaff dispenser pod or AN/ALQ-131 or AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or Lockheed Martin Sniper XR or Litening targeting pods or 2× 600 US gal (2,300 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for increased range/loiter time. Avionics AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny laser tracker pod (mounted beneath right side of cockpit) for use with Paveway LGBs (currently the Pave Penny is no longer in use Head-up display (HUD) Anti-armor mission: 252 nmi (290 mi; 467 km) with sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat. #a10 #aviation #warthog