A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II was built to kill tanks. Late last month it was flying cover for something far more valuable than any tank column: a submarine carrying enough firepower to end a war.
On July 28, 2026, the Navy photographed one of its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), running on the surface in the Pacific with a Warthog banking overhead. The images, released through the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service on August 3, capture one of the strangest pairings in the American arsenal: the service’s ugliest, most beloved close-air-support jet standing guard over one of its most secretive strategic assets.
Informazioni rapide
| Evento | Armed airborne escort (AAE) exercise |
| Data | July 28, 2026 (imagery released Aug 3) |
| Aeromobili | A-10C Thunderbolt II |
| Submarine | USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), Ohio-class SSBN |
| Posizione | Pacific Ocean |
| Command | Commander, Submarine Group 9 (Pacific Northwest) |
Why a tank-buster is guarding a boomer
Ballistic missile submarines — SSBNs, or “boomers” — are the survivable leg of the nuclear triad. They stay quiet, hidden and constantly at sea, precisely so no adversary can be sure where they are. Their one moment of exposure comes on the surface, near port, transiting to and from patrol. That is exactly the gap an armed airborne escort is meant to close.
The A-10 turns out to be a surprisingly logical choice for the job. It can loiter low and slow for hours, it carries the fearsome 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger cannon, and it is far cheaper to keep airborne than a fast jet. For shadowing a slow-moving submarine close to shore, endurance and firepower matter more than speed — and endurance is something the Warthog has always had in abundance.
Not the Warthog’s usual beat
The A-10 has spent almost its entire career over land, chewing up armour and covering troops in contact. Seeing one formate on a nuclear-powered submarine in open ocean is genuinely unusual, and it is why the photos spread so quickly once the Navy posted them.
It also lands at a pointed moment. The A-10 is being steadily retired, and every few months brings another “final flight” story. Images of the jet doing a new and headline-grabbing mission are a reminder of why so many people keep fighting to keep it around. Whether guarding boomers becomes a regular tasking or stays a one-off photo opportunity, it is a reminder that the Warthog still finds ways to make itself useful.
Sources: U.S. Navy / DVIDS (imagery by MC1 Ryan Riley), The Aviationist, Forbes, UK Defence Journal.
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