A-10 Warthogs escort ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming

For the second time in recent months, A-10C fighter jets escorted an Ohio-class nuclear submarine and also took part in a live weapons exercise.

A formation of A-10C Thunderbolt II close-air support aircraft were redeployed to escort an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the USS Wyoming (SSBN 742). The footage, shared on social media by Submarine Group Ten, shows Wyoming and her escorts navigating an undisclosed location in the United States, with six A-10Cs flying overhead.

The aircraft, assigned to Moody Air Force Base, escorted the submarine and were also involved in a live fire exercise with their GAU-8 30mm gun and 70mm rockets. The U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Force Protection Unit Kings Bay, USNS Black Powder (T-AGSE-1) and USNS Westwind (T-AGSE-2) also participated in the escort of the submarine.

The rare sighting is not unprecedented, as earlier this year the USS Nebraska was also escorted by a quartet of A-10 Warthogs while navigating the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. On that occasion, however, the A-10s did not participate in any firing activity and flew without carrying external ordnance.

“Joint operations, such as those involving the Air Force, Coast Guard and Navy, ensure that the U.S. military is prepared to meet its security obligations at home and abroad,” the statements on both occasions said. The services did not elaborate on the scope of the joint operations.

The A-10C and the maritime domain

While no other details have been released, it appears the Warthogs were watching over the highly valuable strategic asset during one of the most vulnerable phases of navigation. The live-fire exercise may also have been used to simulate the USS Wyoming’s defense against surface threats.

A-10s have been used in previous training exercises to attack large groups of boats and to attack small naval vessels, demonstrating the attention that these types of asymmetric threats have attracted following recent real-world events such as the Red Sea and Black Sea attacks.

The A-10, which was born as a pure Close Air Support and anti-tank platform, was never deployed on a large scale in the maritime domain and saw only limited use. One of the most notable episodes was in 2011 during Operation Unified Protector, when an A-10 and a P-3C Orion teamed up to attack a patrol boat and several small attack craft in the port of Misrata, Libya.

The Warthog has participated in multiple Maritime Surface Warfare exercises over the past two years, conducting unit defense training. One of the exercises, in September 2023, will see two A-10s engage simulated surface threats in the Gulf of Oman with the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Stethem.

The A-10’s maneuverability at low speeds and altitudes, its highly accurate weapon launch capabilities and its long latency are all key attributes that make it highly effective in providing close air support to U.S. and coalition forces on land and at sea, the U.S. Air Force said after one of the exercises last year.

Asymmetric Threats to Maritime Assets

The events in the Black Sea and the Red Sea showed once again that asymmetric threats cannot be underestimated. In the past, the US Navy had experience in countering small fast attack craft, especially in the Persian Gulf, where Iran regularly harassed US ships in the area.

More recently, Ukraine and the Houthis have demonstrated the effectiveness and danger of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), used in kamikaze attacks on larger ships. The small, unmanned boats, packed with explosives, can exploit their small size and high maneuverability to evade detection and interception, with devastating consequences for their targets.

Heavily defended targets could be overwhelmed by coordinated swarms of USVs, challenging traditional naval strategies. The presence of multiple, rapidly approaching and maneuvering targets against a limited number of weapon systems on a naval unit could confuse defenses, forcing them to prioritize targets to maximize hit probability and avoid wasting precious munitions.

And this is where top-down protection from an aircraft like the A-10C can come in handy, as it gives naval commanders a number of options for both surveillance and kinetic effects.