’Tankbuster’, ‘Warthog’ or just plain ‘Hog’. Call it what you will, the A-10 lived up to its rough and rugged nicknames in the first Gulf War, as Dr Kevin Wright explains.
The A-10 Thunderbolt II was a child of the Cold War. Its job was to blunt any rush west by Warsaw Pact forces across the central European plain by providing Close Air Support (CAS) for NATO defenders. Once the Communist threat evaporated, some United States Air Force (USAF) commanders and a number of commentators predicted the death of the ‘Tankbuster’. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was the opportunity for the aircraft to earn its battle spurs.
Iraqi forces had swiftly overrun neighbouring Kuwait on August 2, 1990. America rapidly strengthened its forces in the region, fearing the Iraqi military might soon roll straight into Saudi Arabia. The initial American response was named Operation Desert Shield.
Forty-eight A-10s from the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing (353rd and 355th Tactical Fighter Squadrons) were rapidly dispatched to the region. They departed Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina, for King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) in Saudi Arabia on August 15, 1990.
Another 48 were drawn from the 74th and 76th Tactical Fighter Squadrons (TF…
