By Staff Sgt. Steve Thurow – A-10 Thunderbolt II, Public Domain, Link

By Travis Smola

When soldiers in our armed forces need air support, they welcome the sound of an A-10 Thunderbolt II, AKA the A-10 Warthog. This awesome plane and her pilots have been in service since 1972, despite repeated efforts over the years to kill it.

The Warthog is a favorite of pilots and troops alike because of its ability to support soldiers on the ground. It’s been called a gun with a plane that was built around it because of the devastating 30mm autocannon in the nose can fire armor-piercing depleted uranium shells at up to 3,900 rounds a minute.

That’s a lot of firepower to the rescue when ground troops are in a pinch. In the video below, a convoy comes under heavy attack when the A-10 comes to their rescue. [NSFW: there’s some harsh language in the video.]

You can hear the relief in the voices of these soldiers at the distinctive sound of the A-10’s cannon pounding the enemy position.

The sound of the A-10 is intense. The rounds hit the ground before you hear the BRRRR buzzing sound of those 30mm cannons. There’s a common saying: “If you hear an A-10 shooting, you weren’t the plane’s intended target.” Imagine the psychological effect this plane must have on anyone on the receiving end of its fire.

By USAF – nationalmuseum.af.mil, Public Domain, Link

Seeing raw combat footage like this reminds us that the movies aren’t accurate when it comes to portraying how things often play out in real life on the battlefield. It just makes us even more thankful for the dangerous job performed by our brave service men and women in uniform.