Post

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
Click again on or Share Via icon
Click on Copy Link to Tweet
Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
More info at Twitter Help

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Mar 14, 2022 • 10 tweets • 11 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

A 10 tweet thread on the indomitable Fairchild Republic A-10 Warthog, the "flying tank". Enjoy! 1/10 #avgeeks #aviation #aviationdaily #USAF #Warthog

A Warthog pilot sits in a "bathtub" of titanium armour, at places up to 38 mm thick and weighing 544 kg. This is proof against direct hits from 23-mm cannon. 2/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

The GAU-8/A's barrel is some 80 calibres long, resulting in a length of nearly 2.5 meters. It's one of the largest weapons of its type in the world. 3/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

The GAU-8/A is a seven barrel rotary cannon. Each of the barrels has its own independent breech block and firing pin. 4/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

1,350 linkless rounds are held in the massive ammunition drum. This has a Helix arrangement inside, with the rounds mounted around a central core. 5/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

A-10's survivability is further enhanced by the carriage of ECM pods such as the ALQ-131 and countermeasure dispensers. Four antennae provide 360° coverage for the ALR-69 RWR, which monitors enemy radar activity, providing the pilot with situation awareness. 6/10 #avgeeks #USAF

The A-10's flight controls are not only duplicated but spatially separated, so a hit disabling one of the systems is unlikely to affect the other. 7/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

A-10s fuel is carried in the wing and in the central fuselage area. Wing fuel is used first as it is vulnerable. 8/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

The A-10 is designed to fly with many of its airframe sub-assemblies shot away. For instance, it can sustain the complete loss of one engine, one side if the twin-fin assembly, one set of flaps/ailerons or one wingtip. 9/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

The GE TF34-GE-100A turbofans are mounted in such a way that they are shielded from most angles by the wings, tailplane or fin. This makes them less vulnerable to direct fire as well as from IR-homing missiles. 10/10 #avgeeks #aviation #USAF #Warthog

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @RealAirPower1

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Sep 11

In March 2025, the U.S. ran a wargame simulating the defence of air bases against drones. As the Pentagon digested the results, Ukraine’s "Operation Spiderweb" in June made that scenario real. 117 FPV drones destroyed or damaged up to 40 Russian aircraft. Here's a 🧵 on the growing drone threat. 1/5

Ukraine’s "Operation Spiderweb" showed how small, inexpensive drones can destroy high-value targets worth millions. If Russia’s hardened airfields, thousands of miles from the front, were vulnerable, so are U.S. bases, both domestic and abroad. 2/5

Since 2022, the USArmy and RAND have run six wargames on countering drone threats, highlighting Pentagon concerns about asymmetric warfare. The March 2025 exercise tested electronic jammers, directed-energy weapons, and a critical policy gap: who has authority to act when drones enter U.S. airspace - military, law enforcement, or FAA? The lack of clarity, plus the speed of drone swarms, exposes major vulnerabilities. 3/5

Read 5 tweets

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Sep 4

In Vietnam, the USArmy ran into an old problem, one that had bled the French before them: guerrillas hidden under jungle canopy, striking then vanishing. The answer was bold and colourful - and the colour was the hunter-killer pink! 1/4

The “hunter” was the OH-6 Loach. Tiny, fast, and agile, it skimmed the treetops looking for trails, bunkers, or sudden muzzle flashes. Loach crews often flew low enough to draw enemy fire - sometimes the only way to spot a hidden threat. 2/4

Overhead waited the “killer”: the AH-1 Cobra. Armed with 2.75-inch rockets, M134 miniguns, and 40 mm grenade launchers, it dived in the moment the scout marked a target. The Cobra turned fleeting ambushes into quick destruction. 3/4

Read 4 tweets

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Sep 1

The Fairchild A-10 Warthog was born out of a Cold War problem: NATO faced thousands of Warsaw Pact tanks in Central Europe, but had no dedicated aircraft to stop them. Fighters were too fast, bombers too costly, and close support was left to outdated types. Something new was needed. So here's a 🧵 on the wondrous Warthog. 1/7

By the mid-1960s, the Pentagon wanted an aircraft that could loiter near the front, absorb punishment, and kill tanks, and kill them by the dozen. An aircraft that was better than the piston-engined A-1, but cheaper and tougher than the A-7. Requirements emphasized survivability, simplicity, and the ability to fight from rough forward fields. 2/7

In 1967, the USAF launched the A-X program, receiving 21 proposals. By 1970, the specs were clear: a 16,000 lb warload, heavy armour, redundancy to survive severe damage, and short takeoff ability from meadows or improvised strips. In the end, two finalists remained: Northrop’s A-9 and Fairchild’s A-10. 3/6

Read 7 tweets

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Aug 22

Everyone knows Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. But fewer remember the bomber and crew who carried out the second, and last, atomic strike in history. Here's a short thread on Bockscar. 1/6

Bockscar (B-29-36-MO, Sr. No. 44-27297) was built in 1944 and named after its original commander, Capt. Frederick Bock. Assigned to the 393rd BS, it arrived on Tinian in the summer of 1945 - just in time for the mission that would seal its place in history. 2/6

On August 9, 1945, Bockscar took off from Tinian, piloted by Maj. Charles W. Sweeney. Its payload: Fat Man, a plutonium bomb 30% more powerful than Little Boy. The assigned target? Kokura. Yes, Nagasaki was only the backup. 3/6

Read 6 tweets

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Jul 28

In 1944, Japan faced a new kind of war: the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Flying at 30,000 ft, doing 350 mph, bristling with remote-controlled .50 cal guns, and carrying 20,000 lbs of bombs, it was a fortress in the sky. And now hundreds were coming for Japan’s cities. 1/5

Japan was caught off guard. Defending the homeland had never been a priority. But as B-29s began taking off from the Marianas, Tokyo rushed to build a “metropolitan air defense zone.” Radar stations went up. Fighters were reassigned. Flak guns were installed. Even suicide ramming squadrons were formed. 2/5

The first clashes were brutal. The Ki-44 and Ki-61 fighters struggled to reach the bombers, while flak bursts exploded too low to do real damage. Many B-29s returned with only scratches. As the raids intensified, new fighters like the Ki-84 were thrown in - fast, well-armed, and capable at high altitude. But there were too few of them, flown by pilots with too little training and too little fuel. 3/5

Read 6 tweets

Air Power

@RealAirPower1

Jul 11

A short thread explaining the various defensive Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) or “magic tricks” used by aircraft to dupe enemy radars. First up, "Noise Jamming". 1/4