Warthogs Return to England, Scarred and Storied

Eleven A-10Cs from the 75th Fighter Squadron landed at RAF Lakenheath bearing nose art and mission marks from Operation Epic Fury.

By The Defense Desk

The jets, belonging to the 75th Fighter Squadron, routed through Aviano Air Base in Italy after departing Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. [1]

Kill markings depict a pair of boats and a truck that appears to have made a giant secondary explosion, based on the mushroom cloud marking. [1]

One jet carries an F-15E tail marking alongside green footprints of the Air Force Pararescue Jumpers and the words 'So others may live.' [1]

Beyond the combat record, the aircraft wear nose art referencing Nintendo characters — Ridley, Diddy Kong, King Dedede, Samus Aran, Star Fox, and Little Mac — alongside Macho Man, Doc Holliday, and the Reaper. [1]

The images arrive at a moment when the aircraft's future remains genuinely contested — its demonstrated utility in combat pulling against institutional pressure to retire it.

An amendment in the House Armed Services Committee's version of the National Defense Authorization bill called for the Secretary of the Air Force to keep supporting A-10 training, testing, experimentation, maintenance, and sustainment efforts through to the planned retirement date — and to preserve lessons learned and operational expertise from A-10 missions to help shape future replacement systems. [1]

Regardless of what ultimately becomes of the A-10, the markings seen in these pictures shows they still provided a lot of value in this most recent fight.The War Zone