A-10 Thunderbolt II

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic and operated by the United States Air Force to provide close air support (CAS) of ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets with a limited air interdiction capability. It is designed from the ground up around the massive GAU-8 avenger 30mm cannon, And is armored to withstand Incoming fire up to 23mm. It is also designed to be incredibly durable, able to fly while missing sections of its wings, an engine, or half of its tail. The A-10's official name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II, a fighter that was particularly effective at close air support. The A-10 is more commonly known by its nickname "Warthog" or simply "Hog" (All US ground attack aircraft since WW2 have had "thunder" names, and "hog" nicknames) The A-10 is expected to be replaced in 2028 or later.

Battlefield 2
The A-10 Thunderbolt II featured in Battlefield 2: Armored Fury as the United States Marine Corps' ground attack aircraft. The A-10 can use up to four unguided bombs at a time, has 500 rounds of ammunition for its main cannon and flares to stave off enemy missiles. However, it lacks afterburners for a speed boost, making it incredibly slow in comparison to fighter jets. It also lacks air-to-air missiles and must rely on is GAU-8/A Avenger gatling cannon to take out other air vehicles. For these reasons, it is best for pilots to avoid air combat and rely on either allied anti-air vehicles and emplacements, or allied fighter jets if they are pursued by enemy fighter jets.

The A-10's armament suits it very well in ground-attack operations, as it can destroy up to two main battle tanks with its four bombs, or easily clear a control point of attacking infantry by a combination of strafing and bombing the area around the flag. Although not recommended, the A-10 can be used in dogfights, but the player is severely at a disadvantage due to lower speed and maneuverability over fighter jets, and lack of heat-seeking missiles - though some prefer using only guns in a dogfight.

Appearances

 * Operation Road Rage
 * Midnight Sun

Singleplayer
The A-10 appears in the level Heavy Metal, and targets TOW launchers and RPGs that the player is told to take out.

Multiplayer
The A-10 Thunderbolt II does not appear in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as an in game playable vehicle. It does appear, however, as an AI controlled vehicle that perform strafing runs with its GAU-8 Avenger cannon on pre-set patches of terrain. They appear as either one aircraft or two. The A-10 Thunderbolt II can be seen on the first and fourth base of Arica Harbour. One appears to delay the Russian advance in Port Valdez after the second base is taken.

These jets also appear on White Pass, occosionally making low flying passes near the cliff side of the level heading off toward the Russian spawn.

On the Rush variation Valparaiso the A-10s can be seen launching an airstrike after some radio conversations. The radio traffic begins after the attackers destroy the first set of M-COM stations.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 iPhone
The A-10 Thunderbolt II makes an appearance in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 iPhone in the second mission, Search and Retrieve. If the player successfully defends the downed Black Hawk, the player must call in a airstrike on two T-90's. After the player designates the targets, an A-10 will destroy the tank; the process is repeated with the second T-90.

Battlefield Play4Free
The A-10 Thunderbolt has yet to appear, if at all, in Battlefield Play4Free as a usable vehicle. However a crashed and unusable A-10 can be seen on the map Basra, on the main road between points C and B. It might be an easter egg from another Battlefield game. It is mentioned in the map's description as a "crashed American plane".

Singleplayer
A-10 Thunderbolts are seen providing close air support for the player's unit during Thunder Run. They make strafing runs on a PLR compound after it is designated by the player through a MAV's live feed. They are also part of the strike package in Going Hunting involved in an air raid on the Mehbrabad Airport.

Multiplayer
The A-10 Thunderbolt is featured on the Rush versions of Caspian Border, Kharg Island, Operation Firestorm, Alborz Mountains, Death Valley and Bandar Desert, and is used for close air support against incoming Russian tanks. Its Russian counterpart is the Su-25TM Frogfoot. Both the A-10 and Frogfoot feature a powerful cannon. In the case of A-10 it is the devastating GAU-8 30mm autocannon.

The low speed makes it an easy target, especially for AA-vehicles. But the low speed gives it an heightened turn-speed and low turn radius.

The player can equip any earned specializations for jets on the A-10.

Trivia

 * The strafing run from the A-10 in Port Valdez and Arica Harbor cannot damage players or anything else and is purely cosmetic.
 * In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, if looking closely at the strafing runs, you will notice the A-10 Thunderbolts never actually stop firing.
 * Another appearance of the A-10s in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 occurs on the map Valparaiso. After the attackers capture the first base, the fishing port, before going up the next hill, dialogue between two pilots over the radio can be heard. The two pilots are receiving and confirming coordinates for an airstrike, where they can be heard using callsigns and announcing the moment of the airstrike. Some of the dialogue includes them saying "Angel-four, your targets have been verified. Three, two, one, splash", followed by the sound and sight of two A-10 thunderbolts flying overhead and carpet-bombing the hillside, creating a large explosion. Like the other appearances, the airstrike does not affect gameplay whatsoever, and is just "eye-candy." A similar event can be observed involving helicopters on Panama Canal.
 * On BF3, the A-10 used to be bugged and did not count as a vehicle in-game. As a result, no Disable/Destroy Vehicle bonuses would be received upon inflicting enough damage on vehicles, and any kills with it would count toward the kit the player is using instead of counting as jet kills. It is not currently possible to add to the A-10's kill count and time stats in Battlelog. This was fixed with patch 1.04.
 * In the beta stage of Battlefield 3, the A-10 had an unusable second seat noted by it's icon.
 * On BF3, if you shoot its wing tip, the tip itself will blow up, leaving only the flap intact. this doesn't affect its maneuverability
 * The tail code for Battlefield 3 is BD, Which is the tail code for Barksdale AFB, Louisania, United States.