Summary and Key Points: The A-10 Warthog is beloved by U.S. ground forces largely due to its powerful 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun, capable of firing 3,900 rounds per minute.

-This cannon, designed to obliterate tanks and armored vehicles, is integral to the A-10's effectiveness. Attempts to retire the A-10 face resistance because of this unique firepower. Comparatively, the Soviet Su-25 Frogfoot failed to rival the A-10 as it lacked a similar weapon.

-Without the GAU-8/A, the A-10 would lose its distinctive combat advantage, making it an ineffective platform.

The A-10’s Gatling Gun is the Plane

What makes the aging A-10 Warthog a favorite among U.S. ground forces? It’s the A-10’s primary weapon, the powerful 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun. Without this Gatling gun, the A-10 would be far less impressive and could be retired without a second thought. 

Because of the potent and unique firepower at the A-10’s disposal, the U.S. Air Force is meeting serious resistance to its effort to retire the Warthog. 

The Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War tried to develop a rival to the A-10 Warthog, which at that time was relatively new. The best the Reds could do was to build the Su-25 Frogfoot. It was an awful answer to the A-10, precisely because the Soviets failed to incorporate a cannon similar to the Warthog’s.

Some people point to the armored bathtub-like canopy that protects A-10 pilots in combat. (These planes fly low and slow over heavily contested battlespaces, taking shots from enemy ground forces.) Indeed, that is a key feature of the A-10, but the Su-25 has that defense as well. Others say that the A-10 can drop loads of bombs on enemy targets. That, too, was a key element of the Su-25’s design. 

The difference maker is the A-10’s Gatling gun. 

The Gatling Gun

The Avenger is a seven-barrel rotary cannon capable of firing 3,900 rounds per minute – there are few aircraft guns with this kind of firepower. That rate of fire equals 65 rounds per second!

In fact, the GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun is one of the most powerful aircraft cannon ever developed. It is specifically designed to obliterate tanks and other armored vehicles. 

The A-10 was designed to help halt the looming threat of its time: a Red Army invasion of Europe through the Fulda Gap. While the plane’s legend grew through its role in America’s various counterinsurgency and counterterrorism wars of the post-9/11 era, it was actually meant to fight and win a great power war.

The Warthog’s GAU-8 Gatling gun can carry an astonishing 1,174 rounds of ammunition, which is stored in the aircraft’s fuselage. This capacity allows the A-10 to engage multiple targets or to engage a single target with sustained fire. (I would hate to be that single target.) 

This gun can fire all kinds of ammunition, too – everything from armor-piercing incendiary rounds weighing up to 0.75kg, or high-explosive incendiary rounds weighing up to 0.43kg. This allows the A-10 to engage and overcome fortified targets. 

Here's What Happens If You Remove the Gatling Gun from the A-10…

The GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling Gun is the A-10. Remove that gun or modify it in any way, and you end the A-10. 

That’s why one notion floating around the internet – to make a carrier-based version of the A-10 – is such a bad idea. In order to make this possible, a U.S. Navy variant of the A-10 would have to remove the Gatling gun to accommodate reinforced front landing gear. 

Thus, the Navy would be getting a slower and far weaker A-10 than what the Air Force has.

There is no flying cannon quite like the one that the A-10 possesses. It is the beating heart of the A-10. Remove it, and the platform fails. The GAU-8/A Avenger’s high rate of fire, large ammunition capacity, and ability to blast even armored targets make it, and the A-10, a superlative system.

Without this cannon, the A-10 is useless. It’s as pathetic as Russia’s Frogfoot. 

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock. 

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