This will not happen: The A-10 Warthog, renowned for its resilience and heavy ground attack capabilities, is now being phased out by the US Air Force, with discussions of sending the remaining airframes to Ukraine. Armed with a powerful GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling cannon, the A-10 was built for close air support, featuring titanium armor that protects pilots from armor-piercing shells.

-Although the Warthog’s robust firepower makes it an effective ground support tool, it was not designed for carrier operations.

-Significant structural modifications, including the addition of a tail hook and adaptations for carrier landings, would be required to make it suitable for carrier-based missions.

Could the A-10 Warthog adapt to life on aircraft carriers?

A few months ago, the Air Force sent a squadron of A-10 Warthogs has escort an American nuclear ballistic missile submarine near the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The legendary A-10 has been instrumental in the service’s aerial tactics for years, but the platform is now on the verge of retirement as the Air Force moves toward more modern platforms. Some U.S. lawmakers have suggested that Ukraine could receive the rest of the fleet. A-10 cells. But the future of this famous platform remains unresolved.

Could A-10 Warthogs be useful aboard aircraft carriers?

Presentation of the Warthog A-10

After World War II, the United States focused more on developing tactical aircraft designed to carry nuclear weapons. As the Cold War began, the Air Force placed low priority on new ground attack platforms.

While the McDonnell Douglas F-101 Voodoo and Republic F-105 Thunderchief appeared around this time, a more sophisticated ground attack airframe was not conceptualized, leaving the aging Douglas A-1 Skyraider as the service’s primary attack cell when the Vietnam War broke out. Although this platform was capable for its time, its major shortcomings led to the destruction of 266 Skyraiders during the conflict.

THE A-10 was designed to solve the US Army’s ground attack problems. Fairchild Republic designed the twin-turbojet subsonic platform in the early 1970s. It immediately earned the nickname “titanium bathtub” due to the titanium-reinforced armor all around its cockpit. With this additional protection, the crew can survive direct hits from high-explosive projectiles and armor-piercing shells at very close range.

A-10 Warthog: specifications and capabilities

Perhaps the Warthog’s most critical ability is its heavy weapon load. The hydraulically driven Avenger GAU-8/A Gatling gun located under the nose of the aircraft can fire at a rate of 3,900 rounds per minute.

As explained Military.com“The Avenger fires a mix of PGU-13/B electrically-primed 30mm high-explosive incendiary (HEI) rounds and PGU-14/B armour-piercing incendiary (API) rounds. While HEI rounds give the Avenger the ability to destroy light-skinned vehicles, the weapon’s real punch is delivered by API rounds, each of which incorporates more than half a pound of super-dense depleted uranium .

As detailed by Air Force Technology, The A-10 can carry weapons including “226 kg LDGP Mk82 series low/high drag bombs, 900 kg Mk-84 series low/high drag bombs, general purpose bombs of 226 kg, the BLU-1 and BLU-27/B Rockeye II cluster bombs, the CBU-52/71 cluster bomb unit, combined effects munitions and mine-launching munitions.

Despite the remarkable performance of the A-10 abilitiesthe platform was never built for carrier landings. Due to the narrowness of carrier landing strips and the A-10’s lack of a tail hook, among other considerations, it would require a significant redesign to create a Warthog variant capable of this feat.

About the author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlinnational security editor at The National Interest, is an analyst at the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has contributed articles to numerous publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.

All images are Creative Commons.