Close-up view of the (rather bumpy) A-10 Warthog nose. With serpentine noseart around the 30mm gun

Taken from a KC-135R Stratotanker during a training flight over Michigan on Jul. 11, the following close up image shows the nose of an A-10 Thunderbolt (affectionately known as the Warthog) from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan.

The Warthog features serpentine noseart around the 30 mm GAU-8/A Gatling Gun, able to dispense 3,900 rounds per minute.

Interestingly, the nose of the A-10 has some bumps possibly caused by the impact of the refueling boom or by some the shell casings (provided they are expelled for some reason, since the Warthog normally cycles its casings back into the ammo drum).

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

About David Cenciotti
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.