Old, Ugly ‘Flying Tank’ US Wanted To Scrap Shines In Hormuz Missions

New Delhi: The A-10 Thunderbolt II was built to kill Soviet tanks rolling through European plains. Decades later, it is hunting fast-attack boats in one of the world’s most strategically fraught waterways, Strait of Hormuz. General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that A-10s are now conducting strafing runs against small watercraft in the strait as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, now in its fourth week. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has separately noted that the aircraft can loiter for hours over a target area, ready to…