A20

(Copied straight from .XML 'backup' file, needs formatting and corrections. ZM User (talk) 07:50, 22 April 2024 (PDT))

A20 Super Warthog

The A20 is a single-seat, twin-engined interface craft developed for the Confederacy Marines to fulfil the Close Air Support (CAS) mission. The Hog, as it was known, was not considered to be as flash as the various fighters that the Confederacy Navy were using but it had been designed following the same philosophy as the old A10 ground attack aircraft and could take a kicking and still get the pilot home safely.

It's only shortcoming, and one that the Dash-3 model was supposed to overcome was the lack of a transporter terminus for emergency use. The human designers, being unfamiliar with the technology, hadn't thought of it when they were developing the aircraft and there wasn't sufficient space to cram one in after production had started.

In an ideal galaxy production would have been suspended and the craft modified but there was a war on and the Marines needed all the help they could get. This meant that the first two hundred craft, which had already been completed, had been shipped and those already in production, call it another two hundred, would follow on before the 'safety' modification could be implemented.

The primary armament of the A20 is a pulsed laser set in the nose of the craft with the crystal drum behind. Underwing hard points provide additional weapon stations.

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General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m)
• Wingspan: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
• Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
• Wing area: 506 ft² (47.0 m²)
• Airfoil: NACA 6716 root, NACA 6713 tip
• Empty weight: 24,959 lb (11,321 kg)
• Loaded weight:
  • Standard: 30,384 lb (13,782 kg
  • On CAS mission: 47,094 lb (21,361 kg)
  • On anti-armor mission: 42,071 lb (19,083 kg))
• Max takeoff weight: 50,000 lb (23,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× General Electric TF34-GE-100A turbofans, 9,065 lbf (40.32 kN) each

Performance

• Never exceed speed: 450 knots (517 mph, 832 km/h)
• Maximum speed: 450 knots (517 mph, 833 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) with 18 Mk 82 bombs[22]
• Cruise speed: 300 knots (340 mph, 560 km/h)
• Combat radius:
  • On CAS mission: 250 nm (288 mi, 460 km) at 1.88 hour single-engine loiter at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), 10 min combat
  • On anti-armor mission: 252 nm (290 mi, 467 km), 40 nm (45 mi, 75 km) sea-level penetration and exit, 30 min combat
  • Ferry range: 2,240 nm (2,580 mi, 4,150 km) with 50 knot (55 mph, 90 km/h) headwinds, 20 minutes reserve
• Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,700 m)
• Rate of climb: 6,000 ft/min (30 m/s)
• Wing loading: 99 lb/ft² (482 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.36

Armament

• Guns: 1× 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger gatling gun with 1174 rounds
• Hardpoints: 8× under-wing and 3× under-fuselage pylon stations holding up to 16,000 lb (7,200 kg) and accommodating:
  • Mark 82, Mark 83, and Mark 84 general-purpose bombs or
  • Mk 77 incendiary bombs or
  • BLU-1, BLU-27/B Rockeye II, Mk20, BL-755[23] and CBU-52/58/71/87/89/97 cluster bombs or
  • Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (A-10C) or
  • GBU-10 Paveway II, GBU-12 Paveway II, GBU-16 Paveway II and GBU-24 Paveway III laser-guided bombs or
  • Joint Direct Attack Munition
  • AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles or
  • LAU-68 Hydra 70 mm (2.76 in) and 127 mm (5.0 in) rocket pods or
  • Illumination flares, ECM and chaff pods or
  • ALQ-131 ECM pod or
  • LITENING AT/Sniper XR targeting pods (A-10C)

<br>Above Figures Taken Straight From A10 On Wikipedia - Change When Possible

See Also

Fighters

Story Usage

A textual analysis of the story repository, current as of 2018 and performed on 2019-09-06 identified the following usage counts for A20:

• And_Mother_Reaches_The_Colonies by Duke_of_Ramus 3 instances.
• Behind Enemy Lines by deGaffer 7 instances.
• Second Extraction by Duke of Ramus 9 instances.

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