Here’s How the A-10 Thunderbolt Does Agile Combat Employment

That’s the official explanation, but one we can more easily understand tells us ACE is America’s capability of rapidly deploying aircraft, striking, and making use of things like available bases, aircraft refueling, and other such elements to really throw the enemy off balance.

For that to happen, a lot of training has to be done, as is the case with pretty much everything in the military. We can see a glimpse of how that’s going in the video attached below, published by Military in Action and showing A-10 Thunderbolts on ACE missions.

In a video just six or so minutes long, we get to see an unspecified unit of pilots and Warthogs going through all the stages of a mission, from briefing and plane checks to taking off and landing, and even an elephant walk.

Because this is a clip showing the A-10, the plane is of course the one getting all the attention. That’s because there’s no other machine like it anywhere in the world, and we like the ugly beast so much we’ll probably jump at any chance of bringing it into the spotlight.

In service since the 1970s, the airplane established itself as the go-to platform for ground support. That’s probably due to the fact it packs a seven-barrel Gatling gun called Avenger, among other weapons. This thing can fire rounds from 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) high into an area on the ground measuring just 40 feet (12 meters), while howling with incredible rage.

The plane is powered by two General Electric turbofan engines that give it a top speed of 420 mph (676 kph), and if need be, it can even land on highways, as recently demonstrated.