Recent tests have shown that the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet and its 8mm GAU-30 rotary cannon remain effective against main battle tanks, even equipped with so-called Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA).
During the evaluation campaign, held February 14-25 at the Nevada Test and Training Range, two A-10Cs from the 422nd and 59th Test and Evaluation Squadrons (TES) were used. The Air Force Lifecycle Management Center's Operational Weapons and Analysis Division also participated in the tests.
Each sortie saw both jets employ armor-piercing incendiary rounds against two tanks (MBT) equipped with ERA blocks. According to Air Combat Command (ACC) of the United States Air Force (USAF), test pilots “varied the parameters of attack and direction to assess the effects of weapons against armored targets.”
“Through video analysis, photographic footage and visual inspection of targets, analysts were able to battle damage inflicted on tanks and determine that tanks were rendered inoperable.”
Major Kyle Adkinson, A-10 division commander within the 422nd TES, explains that each typical A-10 burst has 120 rounds, meaning it can fire between 9 and 10 rounds against its targets before running out of ammunition. .
“Against large forces in the field, A-10 formations are capable of engaging around 40 armored vehicles with 30mm ammunition. That's a significant amount of firepower.", says the officer.
In addition to the 30mm munitions, analysts also collected data on the use of the AGR-20E APKWS laser-guided rockets and the AGM-65L Maverick air-to-ground missile (also laser-guided) against armored vehicles.
The first studies on ERA appeared in the USSR at the end of the 1940s and the first models appeared in the 1960s, aiming to increase the shielding of MBTs against explosive anti-tank ammunition (HEAT), the so-called “hollow charge”.
The ERA works by detonating an explosive charge against the projectile that will reach the tank to be protected, mitigating damage to the vehicle. Current ERAs are also effective against kinetic ammunition, known in Brazil as arrow ammunition.
The ERA is easily identifiable in the form of blocks mounted on the tanks. Today, they are standard equipment on many western and eastern MBTs such as the M1 Abrams, Challenger II, T-90 and T-72.
“This has been an ongoing testing effort since the idea originated in 2020,” said 1st Lt. Christopher Earle, A-10C operations test analyst at the 59th TES. “Now that it has come to fruition and proven successful, we will work to test other types of anti-armor munitions in the Air Force inventory against ERA and gather more data.”
The ACC highlights that the A-10 is well suited for Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept roles, and this test proves that the A-10 can continue to deliver great rapid firepower with devastating effects on enemy vehicles in a contested environment.
