#23, A-10 Warthog: Built Around a Gun
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II was literally designed around its weapon, the GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm Gatling gun that fires 3,900 depleted uranium rounds per minute. The gun is so large that the aircraft's nose landing gear is offset to make room for it. During Desert Storm, A-10s destroyed more than 900 Iraqi tanks, 2,000 other military vehicles, and 1,200 artillery pieces in six weeks, proving that a slow, ugly, purpose-built attack jet could dominate the modern battlefield.
The Warthog is designed to survive. Its titanium "bathtub" cockpit can withstand 23mm cannon hits. Its engines are mounted high to reduce heat-seeking missile vulnerability. It can fly with one engine, one tail, one elevator, and half a wing missing. A-10 pilots in Desert Storm brought their aircraft home with damage that would have destroyed any other jet. The Air Force has repeatedly tried to retire the A-10, and Congress has repeatedly refused, because ground troops and military career soldiers who've been saved by its close air support won't let it go. It remains the most beloved aircraft in the U.S. military.
