US 'Tank Hunters' arrive at Turkey's İncirlik Air Base

Designed specifically for destroying tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets, the A-10 aircraft, known as “Tank Hunters," arrived at İncirlik Air Base as a part of the US-led coalition fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Turkish security sources said on Tuesday.

The arrival of the aircraft was described as the largest deployment of US forces to İncirlik since Turkey granted permission for the US-led coalition forces to launch airstrikes against ISIL positions.

In early August, the US deployed six F-16 fighter jets, a C-5 transport plane, a KC-135 refueling aircraft and 300 personnel to the base.

The A -10 Thunderbolt II is an American twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft designed solely for close air support, including attacking tanks, armored vehicles and other ground targets. The tank destroyers were first used in combat during the first Gulf War in 1991. In that conflict, they were credited with destroying more than 900 Iraqi tanks, 2,000 other military vehicles and 1,200 artillery pieces.

The latest aircraft deployment came a week after a double suicide bombing in Ankara, the Turkish capital, in which more than 100 civilians were killed and over 200 injured in the deadliest attack in the history of the Turkish Republic.