[Photo] Twelve A-10C Warthogs make stopover at Lajes Field on their way to Afghanistan

Between Sept. 24 and 27, 12 A-10Cs made a stopover at Lajes Field, Azores, on their way to Bagram airfield, in Afghanistan.

The Warthogs, belonging to the 75th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron “Tiger Sharks”, 23rd Fighter Group, 23rd Wing (ACC), from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, will replace the 74th EFS “Flying Tigers” in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

As usual, the planes used their 600-gallon fuel tank, an external fuel store that will probably be flown in a combat environment: currently, the A-10 doesn’t carry any fuel tank in combat but tests have been conducted recently to expand the fuel carriage limits and use the centerline tank to allow the attack plane to perform longer combat sorties limiting the number of air-to-air refuelings.

Image credit: André Inácio

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About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.