Why Is The A-10 Thunderbolt Called The "Warthog" By Many?

Summary The A-10 Thunderbolt II is known as the "Warthog" due to its distinctive GAU-8 Avenger 30mm Gatling gun. Warthogs are omnivorous mammals with tusk defenses, while the A-10 warbird is equipped with offensive weaponry. The Warthog demonstrated its deadly effectiveness in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The US Air Force's fleet is replete with warbirds that have both an official moniker and an unofficial nickname that tends to resonate better with the men and women who fly and maintain them (and, in some cases, resonate better with the general public as well). Among them: The General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon , AKA the "Viper" The Rockwell B-1 Lancer, AKA the "Bone" (as in "B-One") The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress , AKA the "BUFF" ("Big Ugly Fat F*cker") And last but not least, our current subject, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, AKA (and much better known as) the "Warthog" But beyond the oversimplified answer about the supposed "ugliness" of the plane, why exactly is the A-10 known as the "Warthog." Simple Flying now takes a deeper dive into this arguably most famous of combat aircraft monikers.

Attack aircraft continue to be used in the war in Ukraine, but they are out of production and their days may be numbered. The Warthog's zoological namesake The original warthog is a flesh-and-blood animal, namely wild pigs belonging to the family Suidae and the genus Phacochoerus . The "wart" half of the warthog name derives from.