There is no more ungainly appearing military aircraft in the U.S. Air Force’s inventory than the A-10.

Called the “Wart hog,” this homely, subsonic airplane is nonetheless a quick-turning, well-armed fighting machine that boasts a 30mm Gatling gun in its nose, which can fire 4,000 uranium-tipped rounds per minute.

The A-10 is probably the best close-air support aircraft in the entire U.S. arsenal. The men who fly these craft, “hog drivers,” like the idea that this beast of the air will reportedly take a beating and keep on flying. (It can fly on one of its two rear-mounted jet turbines, and the pilot is surrounded by armor plating.)

If a hot war erupts in Saudi Arabia, it is expected that the A-10 will play a pivotal role against Iraq’s large tank force.

Herein lies a tale.

A few months ago, before Saddam Hussein became a household name and a glasnost peace was in the air, there was serious talk in the U.S. Air Force community and among national policymakers about mothballing the A-10. Those visionaries pondering the fate of the A-10 reportedly planned on replacing it with the faster, sleeker and more expensive F-16.

Although the F-16 can wage war against a tank column, Iraqi or otherwise, its highly sophisticated fly-by-wire design makes it much more vulnerable to ground fire, not to mention cost and pilot survivability.

A-10 pilots were incredulous that their machines were being earmarked for mothballs and their missions replaced by the F-16s.

Had the Persian Gulf remained quiet, the A-10, which has never seen baptism under fire, might have been phased out; another instance of the defense establishment basing policy on style rather than substance.

Current events in the deserts of Saudi Arabia could well change all of this.

For the foot soldiers facing an Iraqi tank column in the Saudi desert, the dull, green Hogs — like the Mustangs in Korea and the Thuds in Vietnam — could be the most beautiful machine in sight.