A-10 Thunderbolt II
ICAO A10The Warthog: an aircraft built around a gun, and repeatedly saved from retirement. Live A-10 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No A-10 Thunderbolt II is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Fairchild Republic
- Role
- Close air support
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 1
- First flight
- 10 May 1972
- In service
- 1977
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the A-10 Thunderbolt II
The A-10 was designed backwards from its weapon. The GAU-8 Avenger cannon is over five metres long, and the airframe was built to carry it — which is why the nose wheel sits off to one side, because the gun occupies the centreline.
Everything else follows the same logic: a titanium bathtub around the cockpit, engines mounted high and far back where the wing and tail shield them, and control surfaces duplicated so damage does not become loss. It is slow, ugly and extremely hard to shoot down.
It appears on this feed rarely. Close air support units train on ranges rather than in civil airspace, and the type is now being retired, with the fleet due to be gone by around 2029. Transits and ferry flights are the most likely sightings.
Callsign prefixes
- HOG
- A recurring A-10 block, from the type's nickname
- MISTY
- Frequently seen on Thunderbolt sorties
How to recognise it
- —Two engines mounted high on the rear fuselage, between a straight wing and a twin tail.
- —A twin fin, which almost no other Western attack aircraft has.
- —The nose wheel offset to the right of centreline, because the cannon takes the middle.
Common questions
+ Why do so few A-10s appear on the tracker?
Close air support training happens on military ranges, not in civil airspace, so there is little reason to transmit. Most sightings are ferry flights and transits between bases.
+ Is the A-10 being retired?
Yes. Congress resisted for years but retirement is now under way, with the fleet expected to be withdrawn by around 2029. Its missions pass to the F-35 and F-16.
+ Why is the nose wheel off-centre?
The GAU-8 cannon runs down the aircraft's centreline and there is no room for the nose gear there, so it was moved slightly to one side. It is the quickest way to identify the type on the ground.