The odd-looking Fairchild Republic A-10 is the US Air Force's dedicated anti-armor close air support aircraft, built around the most powerful cannon (the huge seven-barreled 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger) now flying. It is designed to carry a large number of ground-attack weapons and be as tough and survivable as possible versus antiaircraft fire. The first production aircraft flew in 1975, and the design entered service in 1977. It's not fancy, lacks the sophisticated avionics found on other USAF aircraft, and has a non-pressurized cockpit, but it hits hard and is well protected. Built like a tank with wings, the "Warthog" (as it is affectionately but unofficially known) can continue to fly after having a tail or even an entire engine shot away. A titanium "bathtub" surrounds the pilot and is impervious to 23mm cannon hits. Despite its superb performance against Iraqi units in Desert Storm, the A-10 is considered to be too slow (which may have contributed to the comparitively large number of A-10's lost in that operation) and there are plans to replace it with an attack-optimized version of the F-16.
