It is surprisingly maneuverable, so equipping the warbird with a nuclear weapon was plausible since the A-10 had the specs and features to deliver tactical (not strategic) nuclear ordnance successfully, as it was thought at the time. Placing a nuclear weapon on the Warthog was going to cost the Air Force $86 million, though, and that cost gave designers and engineers pause. But perhaps the Air Force thought that A-10 could deliver a lighter, low-yield battlefield tactical weapon that could eliminate an entire Soviet division should the Russians stream through the Fulda Gap to start the ground war to end all ground wars.