Video of A-10 attacking ISIS targets in Iraq emerges

The A-10 is back in Iraq doing what it does better than many other assets: attacking hostile targets that threaten friendly forces or assets on the ground.

During the week of Nov. 17-21, the U.S. Air Force moved a squadron-sized element of A-10C Thunderbolt aircraft from Bagram, Afghanistan, to Ahmed al Jaber airbase, in Kuwait, to join the fight against ISIS.

The aircraft belong to the 163rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron “Blacksnakes”, part of the 122nd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, based at Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Little was known about their activities in support of Operation Inherent Resolve until a video showing a “Warthog” (as the A-10 is nicknamed among the fighter pilots community) attacking ground targets in Al Anbar region, in western Iraq, using its GAU-8 Avenger a 30 mm hydraulically driven seven-barrel Gatling-type cannon

The Air Force planned to get rid of the A-10 but the Congress blocked the retirement in 2015 keeping part of the Warthog fleet (100 aircraft) intact.

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

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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.