A-10 Warthogs Are Doing Bizarrely Long Strafing Runs In Iraq

Videos have been going viral of A-10s doing strafing runs on targets in Iraq, largely focused on force protection of U.S. interests in the country. The threat from Iranian-aligned militias and other groups in Iraq has spiked since Operation Epic Fury began over four weeks ago. While seeing videos shot overseas of the Warthog using its GAU-8 30mm Avenger cannon is anything but new, the duration of some of the ‘trigger pulls’ shown certainly is.

One of these caught on camera appears to be roughly nine seconds long, with another being around six seconds long:

We reached out to various Warthog pilots to get commentary on what we are seeing with these prolonged strafing runs. They all have said the same thing, that it definitely isn’t normal or really trained for.

Dale Stark (@dalestartA10), a veteran A-10 pilot, told us that “it’s usually two to three seconds.” The A-10’s gun does its job by squirting out 3,900 rounds per minute, or roughly 65 rounds per second. It can technically deplete its 1,174 magazine drum in around 18 seconds of fire. But this is usually done in short bursts. The nine second gun run seen in the video above would have emptied half the drum. Accuracy also degrades during longer strings of fire. “Correct, bullet dispersion increases as the barrel heats up” from sustained firing, Stark told us.

Another A-10 pilot said the videos are indeed an outlier, and that they think doing such a long strafing run could only possibly make sense under very unique circumstances, such as dealing with a target dispersed over a large area, such as a group of troops, and with little time for subsequent strafing runs. Another former A-10 pilot said just the sound of the gun could be an intended effect to scare away potential attackers, but that isn’t a usual tactic.

All said it was not what they train to do.

It’s also not clear why the gun was used in such a unique way when the A-10s have other ordnance that could potentially be brought to bear for greater effects. This includes everything from 500-pound guided bombs to laser-guided rockets to AGM-65 Maverick missiles.

Regardless, for ‘hog fans’ out there, seeing the A-10 in action during the swan song of its celebrated career is surely welcome, especially when some of the videos we are seeing showcase the aircraft’s most iconic feature in truly rare form.

The A-10’s activities during Operation Epic Fury also come as it appears that dozens more of the venerable attack jets are headed to the region to partake in the conflict. The timing is of special interest as a ground operation into Iranian territory could occur in the near future.

All of this comes as the USAF has demanded the A-10’s career comes to a close by the end of the decade, and has been pushing to retire the jets well before then, mainly due to concerns over the aircraft’s survivability. Still, its special capabilities are clearly in high demand, now apparently including extremely long-duration gun runs.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com