Cold War-era 'Warthog' plane targeted for retirement amid budget cuts

[Aristus]

6. As a tanker, I have a certain affection and respect for the "tanker's friend", the Warthog.

But it's time for it to go. It was intended to increase an American ground-force advantage in a hypothetical slugging match with Soviet forces in Europe. A battle in which the US would almost certainly be outnumbered in all respects: troops, artillery, and especially tanks. The Warthog's mission was to blast as many Soviet tanks as possible, opening up the field for the US's tanks; larger and faster than Soviet-made tanks, but far fewer in number, and carrying fewer main-gun rounds.

Whenever my tank unit would head into the field for live-fire exercises, we'd see Warthogs from a nearby Air Force base making practice runs at an adjacent range. They would fly low over the field and fire a burst of training rounds from the Gatling gun. The buzz-saw sound it made was blood-curdling, and I was always glad the thing was on our side.

But the long-expected Soviet drive into Western Europe never materialized. The Cold War ended. And the enemies we face today don't have tanks in any appreciable numbers. So it's time to retire the Warthog.

The tankers you served salute you.