United States Air Force's first close air support aircraft. This is the result of beating YA-9 in the A-X plan, a "short-range aerial support plan" that began with the need for an attacker to support dangerous targets held by the enemy at close range.

The official name, Thunderbolt, is the "II" named after the P-47 Thunderbolt, a fighter/attack aircraft that was very active in World War II. It is also called a "tank killer." However, as shown above, it is usually called "Warthog" or "Hog" for short. So the nickname of A-10C is Digital Hog.