The A-10 Warthog, an infantryman's best friend.

[gridlore]

U.S. Army Paratroopers from 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, "The Rock", 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, call in an A-10 Warthog to engage Insurgent position with 30mm gatling gun in Korengal valley, Afghanistan. Additional info: "The distance was no more than 500 meters and this is after we had just gotten attacked from multiple positions, this being only one of them, and in a village we visited frequently and were shot at on the way in and on the way out just about every fucking time and in a place where we took contact on a daily basis, some from far some from close."

Sweet.

Comments

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

The A-10 is indeed awesome.

[dalen-talas.livejournal.com]

Just how effective would this be against a target in a building?

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

What building?

[kengr]

Have you ever *seen* a 30mm round? I have an empty *20mm* casing. You can almost drop an entire .50BMG *cartridge* into it.

Gatlings like the one the A-10 has can reduce a concrete bunker to rubble if they fire at it for a bit.

Non-explosive rounds are around 10 *ounces*. That's the part that's hitting the target. Explosive rounds are a bit lighter. But make up for it by exploding.

And a "burst" like we saw in that video was *hundreds* of rounds.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

That 30mm round was designed to pierce the front armor of Soviet tanks. Anything shot of a meter or so of stone is going to barely slow down that round. That one burst that hit the building sounded like about 200-300 rounds. Anything still alive in that building is seriously considering a career change.

That's just the gun. A Warthog also has eleven hardpoints for weaponry. Had the pilot been pressed for time, one AGM-65 Maverick would have leveled the place.

[dalen-talas.livejournal.com]

Actually, I am quite aware of the awesome killing power of an A-10. I was just really surprised to see the building still standing at the end of the run. Cue the wondering whether 30mm @ 4200 RPM has any weird effects on mud shacks.

[dalen-talas.livejournal.com]

Also, speaking of eleven hardpoints...

How about eleven barrels of hell (http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb291/CountessRavenstein/warhammer/40kBaneblade03.jpg)?

Throne almighty, I do so love the Imperial Guard.

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

wasnt there a superheavy under the old rules that was designed for urban combat and anti-infantry? Stormhammer maybe?
it was all battlecannons, autocannons, and stormbolters

[nojay.livejournal.com]

Actually the DU penetrator round isn't that good against anything other than steel plate or ceramic armour suites. Any kind of solid penetrator will go through concrete somewhat but the DU round lights up through friction as it penetrates the armour and starts burning as it bounces around inside the vehicle cabin. Buildings and bunkers can absorb DU penetrators without them lighting off or they overpenetrate without damaging the target much.

A-1Os have been used before against buildings in Afghanistan, mission-loaded with cannonshells but the preferred building-cracker is a JDAM free-fall bomb or Ubique (artillery). The incident that made the press headlines a few years back was the attempt to "get" a particular Bad Guy who was, intelligence reported, holed up in a building on the outskirts of a small town. The A-10 pilot reportedly made a nap-of-the-earth approach to avoid detection and walked fire into the target building. Unfortunately the pilot was not briefed on the bunch of Afghan kids playing football in a field next to the building who he accidentally slaughtered... Still, shit happens in a war and boy do you get great video clips out of it.

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

depends on the building and what you load the A-10 with.

she can carry assorted laser guided bombs, maverick missiles
old fashioned iron bombs, small diameter bombs for avoiding collateral damage in urban areas. how big a crater do you want?
this article doesnt begin to cover all the ways an A-10 can hurt things you want removed.

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/a-10/
urban pest control at its finest.

http://www.harpoondatabases.com/Platform.aspx?DB=1&Type=Plane&ID=1633

although for a big heavy construction building you might want to hit it with something bigger

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

I remember the "snarling" being lower pitched. Is my memory faulty, or is it an artifact of the recording process?

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I'm betting it's a recording artifact. I remember a much-lower "growl" as well.

It could also be a Doppler effect. All my experiences with witnessing Warthogs firing had me behind the planes as they fired. This cameraman was positioned somewhat in front of the plane.

[claidheamhmor]

I love the Warthog...and the sound that gun makes, just like a V8 revving.