A-101 Thunderchild

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Fairchild A-101 'Thunderchild' Attack Plane

The A-10 Thunderbolt II or 'Warthog' was first made by the Fairchild Aircraft Company to provide a powerful attack craft capable of defeating Soviet armour in the Cold War, and created an ugly yet very effective craft fitted with one of the most powerful 30mm cannons in existance.

With the coming of Cluless and the 23 Hours, the A-10 was upgraded to make use of super-technology but many thought the A-10 was on its last legs, a Cold War relic that couldn't match the weapons and armour brought by alien races and more advanced iterations of human weapon technology.

Fairchild was purchased by LA corporation Militech-Crye and the first thing they did was begin a revamp of the aging Thunderbolt II design. The result was the tri-engined A-101 'Thunderchild', known to those that fly it as 'The Razorback' in affectionate terms.

In appearence, the 101 is simply an A-10 with a third engine attached to an elongated tail. They would be correct, if that was the only difference.
Visually, many would notice that the 101 is 50% larger and wider than the A-10. Also, the 101 is faster and a great deal more agile than the A-10, making it a worthy successor.
In terms of armaments, the General Electric GAU-8 is replaced by the Heckler and Koch/Rheinmetall 'Vindicator' 30mm Caseless Electro-Thermal Gattling-type Rotary Cannon, an eight-barreled, liquid nitrogen-cooled weapon firing custom-tool rocket-propelled 30mm shells.

Currently, the Los Angeles National Guard is the main user of the A-101, with the United States Army and Marines using the aircraft in OPEVAL (Operational Evaluation).

Statistical Information:
Crew: 1 Pilot
Armour: MDC nano-alloy armour with energy-reflective nano-chemical treatment.
Height: 4.4 meters
Wingspan: 26.1 meters
Length: 24.24 meters
Weight: 34,425 kg fully loaded.
Power System: Plasma-Electric, Three GMLA PEF62-GMLA-700 Pulse-detonation engines (90065 lbs thrust each), uses plasma-electric fuel cells.
Cargo: Minimal (Storage for small equipment), does not include hard points.
Sales Cost: 3.7 million Dollars

Weaponry:
Weapon load taken from LA National Guard aircraft.
-30mm 'Vindicator' Hybrid Gattling Gun fitted with 4200 rounds of caseless electro-thermal MDC shells.
-9 Hardpoints typically armed with the following:
-2x Micromissile pods for air-defence.
-2x Hardpoints fitted with four Hellfire V missiles fitted with MDC plasma warheads.
-2x Hardpoints fitted with six MDC Earth-penetrating Fusion Bombs for bunker-busting.
-1x Belly Hardpoint fitted with 7.62mm Minigun in gunpod for anti-infantry strafing.
-1x Hardpoint fitted with targetting pod.
-1x Hardpoint fitted with electronic warfare pod.