A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" Gulf War Statistics

DoD sources credit A-10’s:
    Destroying:
        - more than 1,000 tanks
        - 1,200 artillery pieces
        - 2,000 other military vehicles
    Confirmed kills include:
        - 967 tanks
        - 926 artillery pieces
        - 1,306 trucks
        - 501 armored personnel carriers
        - 28 command posts
        - Successfully hunted and destroyed SCUD missiles
        - Suppressed enemy air defenses
        - Attacked early warning radars

A-10 aircraft drawn from the following USAF organizations:
  23d Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), England AFB, LA (48 A-10 aircraft)
  354th TFW, Myrtle Beach AFB (48 A-10 aircraft)
  10th TFW, RAP Alconbury, U.K., (18 A-10 aircraft)
  926th Tactical Fighter Group, Naval Air Station, New Orleans, LA (18 A-10 aircraft)
  602d Tactical Air Control Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (12 OA-10 Forward Air Control aircraft)

Most recognizable and feared aircraft: Interviews with captured Iraqi military personnel underscored the overall effectiveness of the A-10, a seemingly ubiquitous threat, that delivered its weapons with deadly accuracy.

According to an Iraqi captain captured by American forces on 24 February 1991, the single most recognizable and feared aircraft at low level was the A-10.  Not only did the actual bombing run of the A-10 evoke terror, but also the plane's ability to loiter around a target area prior to its attack caused additional anxiety, since Iraqi soldiers were unsure of the chosen target.

Many Damages: Approx 70 A-10 aircraft suffered some type of battle damage during Desert Storm.  Many of the damages were undocumented cases of relatively minor problems.  Some were even caused by their own aircraft such as a bomb lanyard slapping a wing flap, or a bomb fragment flying up and embedding into it's engine cowling.  But most was caused by small arm fire and surface to air missiles.

We had put together "Quick Fix" teams to deal with all these damages.  At first we would go out to the revetment the aircraft parked in after returning from a mission, and give it a quick once over inspection for any damage.  However, with the large number of minor damages we were finding, this process soon turned into tertiary inspections performed out at EOR itself, which gave us time to radio ahead for a Quick Fix team to be waiting for the aircraft to park.

I remember too many nights out at EOR, waiting in the EOR tent, warming up MRE's on the light-all engine, and hoping we didn't find too much big damage.  It was an excellent spot to be in to watch Scud missiles as they flew over... hopefully over that is.