After the rejection of the earliest iteration, simply called the Firestorm III, due to it's poor performance and ineffective armament, Helsing's engineers went back to the drawing board and redesigned it into the Firestorm IIIC. The several unused Firestorm IIIs that were produced before the design was declined had their wings stripped and replaced with the new design's wings, and a portion of the front was internally stripped to make room for the singular M134D acting as it's main weapon. The result of their efforts was a highly successful ground attack aircraft which capable of Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) and easily operable from carriers of most sizes. The IIIC was introduced in to combat in 1972, and remained in service until it was replaced by the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the "Warthog".