A-10s of the 81st Fighter Wing sit at Spangdahlem Air Base in 2012. At top — A-10s from the 188th Fighter Wing take part in an exercise. Air Force photos
David Axe, War Is Boring: No, the A-10 Is Not Holding Back the F-35
Fed auditors blast Air Force’s baseless Warthog retirement plan
Two years ago, the U.S. Air Force annoyed the other military branches, Congress and the general public when it announced a plan to quickly retire its roughly 300 A-10 Warthog attack jets — rugged tank-killers that have flown down-and-dirty close air support, or CAS, for American ground troops since the 1991 Gulf War.
The Air Force’s rationale for dumping the A-10s keeps shifting. Now government auditors have poked holes in the flyboys’ latest justification — that the branch must drop the ungainly Warthogs in order to free up maintainers for the slowly-growing fleet of pricey F-35 stealth fighters.
Previous Post: New Report Casts Doubt On U.S. Air Force Claims That There Will Be Savings From Retiring The A-10
WNU Editor: My advice to the Air Force brass is simple. If you want to drop this plane find a replacement that can fly the same mission for the same cost.