A-10 Warthog: 50 Facts About This Legendary Aircraft

Fairchild Republic Answered The Required Actions Directive

Pennsylvania Air National Guardsmen flying in a KC-135 from Pittsburgh’s 171st Air Refueling Wing refuels an A-10 aircraft March 5, 2017.

In 1966 the U.S. Air Force issued a Requirements Action Directive, outlining its needs for a ground attack aircraft and inviting manufacturers to submit a potential design. The requirements were simple but challenging to fulfill. The new aircraft needed to be inexpensive, robust, with payload of 16,000 lbs, a takeoff runway distance of 4,000 feet or less, a long loiter time, excellent low-speed maneuverability and extreme survivability. A company named Fairchild Republic answered the call, and began working on prototypes that would become the A-10 Warthog.