00:00In an ever evolving battlefield, troops could need support without warning and because of
00:04this the plane needs to be nearby and ready to go. This means working from forward bases
00:10that may not necessarily have all the infrastructure and equipment that other planes need to operate.
00:16It's survivability needs to be best in class. Flying this close to the ground
00:21is going to result in every man with a weapon taking potshots at the plane.
00:25As a result, the plane needs to be capable of dealing with small arms, machine guns,
00:30anti-aircraft guns and even missiles. A-10s frequently limp back to their base with damage
00:37so severe that they would have downed another plane, with parts of their wings ripped off,
00:41with an engine taken out and hydraulics unoperational. And coming with this, the plane needs to be simple
00:48and cheap to manufacture. The Air Force made it clear from the beginning, in a battle of cost
00:53versus performance, cost would be prioritised. In an all out war with the Soviets, quantity
00:59and ease of manufacturing was going to be a huge factor. Like the Sherman and the T-34 tanks,
01:06which were so influential in World War 2, a future war between the Soviets and the US
01:12was expected to be won by whoever could out manufacture and maintain their equipment.
01:17This plane was intended to be a cheap and rugged workhorse. It needed to be made with readily
01:22available off the shelf parts, so maintenance crews could easily interchange parts to repair
01:28damage quickly and at a low cost. Contractors bidding for the manufacturing contract
01:33needed to consider all of these factors and designed the entire plane around the primary
01:38armament, which was chosen before the design process started. The General Electric GAU-8A,
01:44a gun whose sound is so recognisable it has become a meme.
01:49The gun takes up a significant portion of the plane's internal volume, at nearly 6 metres long,
01:55fitting snugly below the pilot. The largest part of the gun is the ammo drum,
01:59which typically holds 1,150 30mm rounds. The rounds are delivered to the 7 rotating barrels
02:07along a linkless chute system, which also pulls the shell casings back into the ammo drum,
02:13after firing to prevent the expended shells from damaging the plane.
02:17The belt system and the rotating cam firing system of the barrels are both driven by a hydraulic
02:23motor which is powered by two independent hydraulic systems on board. There are two separate hydraulic
02:30systems to ensure redundancy in operation, and both run the gun. The left and right hydraulic systems
02:37are pressurised by two identical engine driven pumps on the left and right engine. If an engine is
02:43lost or one of the hydraulic lines is broken, then the controls powered by those hydraulics
02:48cease to work. However, the plane has been designed to allow it to continue flying on only one hydraulic
02:55electronic plug system, unless multiple airplanes blasted by the other cars are on the ground.
02:59Let's wait until that left he knew that the� Frau Charles Preston was tries to License the
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