Like the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Republic Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II (known much better and more affectionately as the “Warthog”) is a quinquagenarian, having already celebrated its golden anniversary, i.e. its 50th birthday. One might think that, other than the fact that they’re both US Air Force (USAF) aircraft, the similarities between the “reptilian” Viper and the “mammalian” Warthog end there. After all, the former is a sleek, supersonic air superiority fighter plane, whilst the other is an ungainly-looking (I prefer that label to “ugly”) subsonic ground attack aircraft.