U.S. A-10 Warthog Just HIT Iran So HARD They Thought It Was the END OF THE WORLD!

Operation Epic Fury has seen the US unleash an unprecedented barrage of aerial force against Iran's dictatorial regime. But somehow the US still has a lot more left in the tank. It has unleashed something that Iran was hoping that it would never see in the sky, and it's hitting Iran so hard that it must feel like the end of the world for the regime. The A-10 Warthog has been officially unleashed, and it's ready to support every aspect of America's Operation Epic Fury.

So much of what we need to know comes from one ex-post. On March 15th, US Central Command, or CENTCOM, published a series of pictures on X, along with a caption that made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the A-10, also known by its nickname the Warthog, is being deployed against Iran. The US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs receive fuel in flight while supporting Operation Epic Fury. The A-10 Thunderbolt II can loiter for hours, standing by and ready to execute a mission whenever needed, CENTCOM declared.

And that loitering capability is key to what the Warthog is doing in Iran right now, as you'll discover if you keep watching the video. But for now, the pictures that CENTCOM shared are far more revealing than this caption claims. The in-flight refueling isn't the headline here, it's what the Warthog is seen carrying in the pictures. Army Recognition highlights this, noting that CENTCOM's pictures revealed the combat configuration of the Warthog, which in turn gives us some clues about how it's being used against Iran. The most immediate and notable weapons seen on the attack aircraft are APKWS guided rockets, which have been developed to provide the US with a low-cost means of striking targets such as

drones. Alongside those rockets are AIM-9LM Sidewinder missiles and AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles that when combined with the APKWS, give the Warthog an extremely versatile combat profile. This is flexibility in flight. The Warthog that CENTCOM revealed has been stacked with enough weapons to allow for a varied number of potential attack and defense options, meaning these attack aircraft aren't

being used for narrow sorties. It could be used for everything from attacking militia positions and key military nodes on the ground, taking out the drones and fast attack boats that Iran has been using to wreak havoc in the Strait of Hormuz. Add to all of this the Warthog's ability to loiter. To understand why that's important, we only need to compare this attack aircraft to the fighter jets that the US has been using to wreck the Iranian regime's military infrastructure up to this point in Operation Epic Fury.

Fighter jets, especially when attacking targets on the ground, only have one aim. They get in, strike, and get out as fast as they can. The higher up those jets can fly, the less risky these maneuvers are. A fighter jet flying low to the ground is more difficult to control while avoiding obstacles, due to its immense speed and can put itself on the radar of the scattered air defenses in Iran. A Warthog, on the other hand, can loiter. It flies slower, which offers more control for pilots flying low to the ground, and it can stay in the skies for

hours awaiting orders to strike a new target. What this means for the US is that it gets options. Fighter jets usually fly narrow sorties, whereas Warthogs can stick around in the sky waiting for orders. And when those orders come, these aircraft can get in, strike, and get back out again, just like the fighter jets. But then, and assuming they still have weapons on board, the warthogs can go back to loitering until the next orders come through.

This is the key to sustained aerial firepower. And it's been made possible because of how well the US and Israel have done in terms of destroying Iran's air defenses. The Israel Defense Force, or IDF, claimed to have destroyed 80% of Iran's air defenses within the first few days of the war. What this means is that there are now massive pockets of clear and safe air over Iran that can't be hit with anti-air missiles. Iran's air defenses are too scattered. What's left has likely been repositioned to protect the few valuable targets that remain on the Iranian mainland, and they're not doing a very good job of it. For an attack aircraft like the Warthog, the aerial superiority that the US and Israel have created over Iran

provides the perfect opportunity for it to do what it does better than fighter jets, hang around for as long as needed, then strike when a target is acquired. In a few minutes we're going to dig deeper into what the US can do with its A-10 Warthogs in Iran, and how it's likely using them already. But before we do, it's worth digging a little deeper into this attack aircraft and its varied range of capabilities. As versatile as it is, the Warthog was designed with a specific purpose in mind. That's according to the US Air Force, which says

that it's the first aircraft that was designed specifically to provide close air support to forces on the ground. That's not so much of an issue in Iran, the US hasn't put boots on the ground yet, though the imminent arrival of a Marine Expeditionary Unit of at least 2,200 US Marines to Iran might change that within the coming days. But what this means is that the Warthog is traditionally meant to attack targets in the air and on the ground that could threaten infantry and special operations groups.

Think smashing tanks and taking out choppers and you get the general idea. But in the absence of ground forces to protect, the Warthog has other capabilities that make it a perfect choice for use in Operation Epic Fury as the operation stands right now. The loitering that we mentioned earlier is key here, as are the plane's low-altitude capabilities. A Warthog can operate under a 1,000-foot ceiling, the US Air Force claims, and it still maintains visibility up to 1.5 miles in these conditions. There's so much

more. Warthogs have night-vision imaging systems, which allow pilots to conduct operations in the dark. Speaking about pilots, they're protected by titanium armor, which also guards the aircraft's flight control systems. Direct hits from armor-piercing rounds or high-explosive projectiles are survivable up to a penetration depth of 23mm in a Warthog, and there are manual systems in place to back

up the aircraft's hydraulic flight control systems, allowing pilots to land their Warthogs even if they take enough damage that they lose their hydraulic power. Then there are the weapons and range to consider. A Warthog can fly for 800 miles and is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 420 mph, which is a little over half the speed of sound. Not as fast as a fighter jet, obviously, but the range and loitering capabilities make

up for that. On the weapons front, we've already mentioned three rockets and missiles that we can see for certain are loaded into at least one of the Warthogs operating in Operation Epic Fury. Beyond that, the aircraft has a 30mm GAU-8A 7-barrel Gatlinger, and it can carry up to 16,000 pounds of mixed ordnance. Mark 82 and Mark 84 bombs can be loaded into the aircraft, as can mine dispensing munitions, flares, chaff, jammer pods, and incendiary cluster bombs. We told you that the Warthog was versatile. This massive potential

loadout proves it. Whether the US needs to hit targets on the ground or in the skies, the Warthog is capable of doing the job, as long as it can operate in an area where the threat from air defenses has been minimized. To say that this applies to Iran right now is an understatement. Oh, and the warthog is also known as the tank buster in some circles. That gives you a clue about how it fares when dealing with mobile targets on the ground. And though Iran hasn't had much reason to use any of the 2,675 tanks or 75,939 vehicles it has in its stockpiles per global firepower, it's nice for the US to know that it has the Warthog in its

arsenal if it ever does put boots on the ground. But right now, supporting ground forces isn't what the Warthogs in Iran are doing. Loiter and destroy is the goal, and there are several targets that America's A-10s can strike. But before we dig deeper into that, you are watching the Military Show. If you haven't subscribed yet, now is the perfect time to hit the button so you never miss a video. Now we've spoken a lot about what the Warthog can do, along with hinting at some potential uses for the aircraft in Iran. Let's dig into how the US might be using the A-10 as we speak.

The first potential use might sound strange, but it's also the perfect example of the versatility that comes with the Warthog. Right now the US may be using an attack aircraft, some call the Tankbuster, to protect literal combat ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf. That's another task that the A-10 isn't specifically built to execute, but it is capable of doing anyway. How do we know? On February 9th, the Warzone revealed that St. Commod published some photographs showing a Warthog conducting exercises with the USS Santa Barbara, which is a literal combat ship that is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf region.

The idea behind this exercise seems to have been to ensure that the warthog could protect the USS Santa Barbara from threats as it hunted for mines in the Gulf region. And this is a very important capability considering what Iran is trying to do in the Strait of Hormuz right now. That single waterway, through which about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil and gas sails is being used as leverage by Iran right now. We'll explain a few of the methods that Iran is using and how the A-10 could also counter them in a few minutes.

But on the mine-laying front, Iran has threatened several times to lace the Strait of Hormuz with mines in what is a clear attempt to stop the world's commercial, tanker and container traffic from passing through. By March 10th, 11th, CNN was reporting that its sources close to US intelligence were stating that Iran was starting to lay its mines, with a few already having been placed in the days leading up to the report. A few days later, Reuters reported on comments made by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth,

who said that there was no clear evidence that Iran had mined the Strait of Hormuz. We have contradicting information here, but it's clear that mines in the waterway are a concern for the US, and if they're already there, there'll be a problem that littoral combat ships with mine-clearing capabilities will need to handle. Enter the A-10. If the exercise reported on by TWZ shows us anything, it's that the US is confident in the Warthog's ability to deal with drones, fast boats, and the other threats that Iran might deploy to stop American mine-clearing ships from doing what they need to do. And again, the Warthog's loitering capabilities come into play.

The aircraft can stay in the air long enough and fly low and slow enough for it to be capable of instantly responding to incoming threats to America's mine-clearing ships. Drones and fast boats are two key problems that the A-10 can solve. Before we get into why that is beyond the Warthog protecting American mine clearers, we also can't ignore the possibility that the US is using its A-10s for more offensive purposes.

The Warthog is a stand-off precision machine. Army recognition makes that point, and it uses the AGM-65 Mavericks that we see loaded onto the Warthog in the CENTCOM photograph as proof. These missiles allow the Warthog to hit tanks and armored vehicles, sure, but they can also hit other targets on the ground, such as Iran's air defenses and its logistical assets, including fuel sites and transport infrastructure. We're going to use that word again, loiter.

What the US has in the A-10 is an aircraft that can hang around in safe airspace and can fire on ground targets from range as soon as the targets are identified. And it's not just ground targets that Iran has to worry about the A-10 tackling. Back in 2019, the national interest made the bold claim that the US could use its Warthogs to destroy Iran's Navy. It points to a mock exercise conducted in the waters near Florida back in 2017 as an example of why, as the slow-moving warthog trained to simulate attacks on literally dozens

of boats in Choctaw Hatch Bay. This sort of exercise comes back to what we were talking about with the US mine-clearing vessels a couple of minutes ago. Time and time again, the A-10 has been tested and proven to be the perfect stand-off aircraft for dealing with naval threats, up to and including small fleets of patrol ships and fast boats that a country like Iran might send out to threaten America's large warships. So what the US has here is a plane that can contribute to the ongoing destruction of Iran's

military infrastructure on the mainland, along with taking out naval assets at sea. Not bad for a plane that the US military has tried to decommission several times in favor of stealthy fighter jets and bombers. Then there are drones. One of the few threats that Iran continues to pose against the US, as well as against the commercial ships trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz,

is its drone arsenal. Iran is the home of the Shahid drone, which you may recognize as the type of drone that Russia has been launching at Ukraine in their thousands over the last few years. Naturally, Iran has been deploying these drones against the US, albeit at a far lower rate than expected. Iran's drone attacks are reportedly down 95% from the first days of Operation Epic

Fury, though that still means it's sending plenty of Shahids into the sky. Iran had launched over 2,000 of its low-cost Shahids within six days of the war starting, and the mention of the Shahids' low cost gives you a clue about why the Warthog is an effective anti-drone machine. Forbes explains more in an August 2025 article that the Fixed Wing Air-Launched Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems Ordnance, or FALCO, is cleared for use on the A-10. What this means is that the A-10 could use the APKWS system against drones in addition

to surface targets. Since it can carry such sizable quantities of such rockets, it could prove highly efficient at shooting down relatively slow-moving propeller-driven drones of the kind used in large numbers by Russia against Ukraine. Fourth Report. Those kinds of drones used by Russia are the same ones being used by Iran. And the APKWS system, which you may remember as another of the weapons seen in the CENTCOM photograph,

is key to the American counter-strategy. The US has plenty of weapons capable of destroying Iran's slow-moving Shaheed drones. A cruise missile is faster and will come out on top every time, but using that type of weapon means that the US spends hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, on taking out drones that cost Iran between $20,000 and $50,000 each to build, per Time magazine. Any investor will tell you that's a terrible return on investment. Trading one missile for one drone is bad for the US because Iran can build plenty more

Shahids very quickly while the US eats into its own stockpiles of far more expensive missiles. But with the APKWS, which can be fired from the Warthog, the US has the perfect Shahid killer. The APKWS has a per unit cost of around $35,000, which puts it somewhere in the line of what Iran spends to build a Shaheed drone. Now that the A-10 is capable of firing APKWS as proven by its FALCO compatibility, it seems logical that

the US will have these aircraft patrolling the waters of the Persian Gulf to take out Iran's unmanned aerial threat. Though it's clear that Iran's drone launches have dropped off because of constant bombardments against launch sites, you could also argue that Iran may have figured out that it's just wasting drones while the US has the A-10 in the air. Warthogs with APKWS rockets win against Shahids every single time. And the same goes for the fast boats that we mentioned earlier in the video. Iran has been using these boats, along with drones and unmanned surface vessels,

to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz ever since Operation Epic Fury began. According to the New York Times, Iran had hit at least 16 ships up to March 12th, and there may have been more since. While we might assume that America's warthogs are focused on protecting warships and aircraft carriers right now, it's very possible that these planes will soon form a key part of America's strategy for clearing the Strait of Hormuz. It makes sense. First, A-10s protect the mine-clearing vessels as they do their work.

Once the mines are gone, the warthogs patrol the Strait and serve as escorts for commercial vessels as they are perfectly positioned to take out fast boats and drones. But perhaps as important as anything that we've covered so far is the message being sent to Iran now that the A-10s are in the mix. One of the purposes of Operation Epic Fury is the dismantlement of the Iranian regime's entire security apparatus. But showing an A-10 refueling near Iran, the US is telling the regime that it's engaging in a layered aerial assault campaign

that is seeing it bring different types of airframes into the battle, as the situation allows. Iran's air defenses are now so shattered that the A-10 can do its job of loitering and striking, and that means that more bad days are in the future for Iran. US President Donald Trump has already said as much. On March 13th, he was reported as claiming that Iran is going to be hit very hard over the coming week. Iran's regime will be wondering how much harder it can get hit. Hegzeth says that the US has already hit 15,000 enemy targets during Operation Epic Fury.

Now that the Warthog is in play, yet more ground, naval, and aerial targets are at risk. Plus the US has a versatile aircraft that can help it move deeper into the next phase of its operation, which is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, stripping away the last piece of leverage that Iran has. The Warthog may be old. To some in the US military, it may even seem obsolete. But Iran hoped that it would never see the A-10 in the sky, and the sheer variety of

uses for this airframe presented in this video is the reason why. Before Operation Epic Fury, a war with Iran might have been seen as a potential trigger for World War III. Iran's collapse in the wake of America's firepower means that may no longer be the case. However, there are five other conflicts that could trigger global war in 2026,

and we covered all of them in our video. Check out that video to learn more. And if you enjoyed this report, be sure to subscribe to The Military Show for our analysis on the latest moves that the US makes in the Middle East.

that the US makes in the Middle East. And thank you for watching.