So Long and Thanks for All the Targets

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That sound you hear, the one like Satan’s zipper, is an A-10 Warthog firing its absurdly deadly 30mm Gatling gun at 1,200 depleted-uranium rounds per second.

But not for much longer:

Long disliked by the US Air Force, the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack jet may finally be heading for the chopping block due to budget constraints.

The “Warthog,” first designed as a tank buster to target Soviet armored vehicles in the middle of the Cold War in the early 1970s, is shunned by many aviators.

Although the twin-engine aircraft is slow, it is incredibly efficient at providing close air support for ground forces, making it an appreciated asset for the US Army.

But the US Air Force “never had a whole lot of interest in a subsonic close-air support plane,” explained Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with consulting firm Teal Group.

“This is a plane for large land combat engagements and for the foreseeable future, you probably won’t face too many of those and there’s also the budget pressure.”

We’ll come to regret this decision.

Hat tip, Max K.