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WASHINGTON — The US Air Force will request a total of $188.1 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, part of a budget submission that asks lawmakers to greenlight the retirement of 250 aircraft, officials revealed today. In a Friday briefing with reporters ahead of the budget release, Kristyn Jones, who is performing the duties of the Air Force Undersecretary, said that the service’s budget would grow by about 1.6% compared to the FY24 request of $185.1 billion, an increase of $3 billion. For the Department of the Air Force (DAF), which includes the Space Force, the DAF’s topline would grow...

The US Air Force has been trying for years to retire its aging fleet of A-10 Warthog planes. During a Thursday hearing, the service secretary said the aircraft "doesn't scare China." "It still has some limited utility, but we have to get on with things," Frank Kendall told Congress. The US Air Force has long butted heads with Congress over plans for the retirement of its aging A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft — flying cannons also known as Warthogs, and on Thursday, service leadership stressed to legislators that it's time to move on because the warplane is less useful than...

The Crazy Process of Landing US Massive A-10 in the Middle of Highway Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel for a feature on the A-10 aircraft and several other important jets in the US Air Force.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Wednesday that some of America's aging A-10 Thunderbolt combat jets could potentially be given to Ukraine as part of continued efforts to help that country repel Russian forces. "That's largely up to Ukraine," Kendall said. "Older U.S. systems are a possibility. ... We will be open to discussions with them about what their requirements are and how we might be able to satisfy them." "I'm not aware of any current plan or even a discussion of a current plan to field or provide A-10s to the Ukrainians," Kendall said at the time. The A-10,...

Lyra describes Javelin missiles bouncing off Russian tanks, NATO replacing good weapons with fragile junk (follow the money) and other things that nazi soldiers are not allowed to complain about...

Will no one rid us of this troublesome A-10 ‘Warthog’? The United States Air Force (USAF) has spent almost two-thirds of its existence as an independent service trying to get rid of the A-10, one of its most well-known aircraft. But has the Air Force finally given up? It is odd to think that a fifty-year-old aircraft might have more job security now than at any time in its long history, but it does seem that the Warthog now has a relatively secure space in the USAF fleet.

Despite multiple efforts to push the iconic A-10 Warthog's retirement date further into the future, the U.S. Air Force is now slated to shelve dozens of the Cold War-era ground-attack planes in the upcoming fiscal year, according to the service's budget request.

Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore blasted the Democratic National Committee (DNC) over what he described as its "disgusting" rule changes, saying they might pave the way for billionaire Michael Bloomberg to land a spot on the next presidential debate stage. On Friday, the DNC announced its requirements for the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas, increasing the polling threshold in addition to allowing any candidate who has earned delegates in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries -- but it also eliminated the donor threshold that was previously set for its Democratic candidates. That means Bloomberg, who has been self-funding his campaign,...

Project 401, "Son of Ares" Some speculate this testbed aircraft might be a more modern, low-cost, stealthy option for a ground-attack platform similar to the A-10. No one knows the reason for the extreme dihedral of the wings, a feature not made clear by the photo at left, maybe some freepers can do some meaningful speculation. The video at link shows this feature in quite some detail. .. Sometimes called "Son of Ares", this aircraft is built around the GAU-12 25 x 137 mm (see photo at right), so this round is not nearly the monster carried by the Warthog....

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- While all members of Davis-Monthan AFB have maintained our mission of sustaining attack airpower, a select group of Airmen have been preparing for an additional mission; demonstrating the capabilities of the A-10C Thunderbolt II. The A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team will perform demos for the first time in seven years for the 2018 air show season. The A-10 will be one of three single-ship aerial demonstration teams in Air Combat Command. “It’s humbling to be selected as the team to bring back the A-10 demo,” said Master Sgt. Derek Allen, A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration...

The new JT15D-5 turbofan-powered "401 Jet" of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif is a small, stealthy, single-engine jet variation on the very novel, 30 year-old "Ares" light attack jet. Never having entered production, Ares was actually an acronym, standing for Agile Responsive Effective Support: Experts note that the X401 would have piloted and drone versions, leading to speculation that the pair could work together synergistically in a "loyal wingman" arrangement, possibly with some form of laser or directed energy weapon occupying the weapons bay, partially visible in the landing flare photo below. A 6-minute YouTube vid explains...

Known as the 'flying gun', the A-10 Warthog plane was a hero during Operating Desert Storm – but has since been deemed vulnerable and costly to operate. Now, a Minnesota-based startup has unveiled designs for a new attack plane called the 'Machete' that consists of a new metal foam developed in conjunction with the US Department of Energy. The metal foam is lightweight and strong - and is capable of stopping bullets and other projectiles in much less space than traditional armor, while the plane boasts the same 30mm cannon as the Warthog it could replace.

Alex LockieJanuary 11, 2017 USAF In another positive sign for the beloved A-10, Air Force maintainers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona have outfitted the Warthog with an upgrade for combat search and rescue missions (CSAR). Dubbed the lightweight airborne recovery system, the upgrade helps A-10 pilots "communicate more effectively with individuals on the ground such as downed pilots, pararescuemen and joint terminal attack controllers," according to an Air Force statement. Of all the fixed-wing aircraft in the US Air Force's inventory, no plane carries out CSAR missions like the A-10. CSAR missions jump off with little warning and...

At the height of the Cold War, the world's two superpowers created a new pair of battlefield aircraft, similar in both power and purpose. One was the U.S.'s revered A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known affectionately as the Warthog. Its Soviet cousin, originally revealed in 1981, was the Sukhoi Su-25 Grach. While the Soviet call sign "Grach" means "rook," the USSR's adversary NATO gave the Su-25 a much less imposing designation: the "Frogfoot." The A-10 has become a legend—an iconic aircraft that can change the course of a battle with a strafing blast of its 30mm GAU-8 cannon, and fights on...

The custom-designed F-35 striker jets cost more than $100 million each ... It is a military showdown that could prove to be very embarrassing. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the world's most expensive weapon, is set to face off in upcoming testing with the Air Force's 40 year old A-10 Thunderbolt II... The F-35 is supposed to to take over the A-10's 40 year role of supporting ground forces with its titanium armor and powerful nose cannon. However, now experts believe that for many missions, the older aircraft may actually perform better - and say the two could even fly...

Meet the tankbuster's mean cousin from Moscow.... However, as the Afghan rebels began to acquire Stinger missiles from the United States, Su-25s began to suffer losses and the Soviet pilots were forced to fly higher to avoid the man-portable surface-to-air missiles. In all, some fifteen Su-25s were shot down in Afghanistan before the Soviet withdrawal.... While it’s fun to admire high-performing fighters like the MiG-29 or F-22 Raptor, the unglamorous Su-25 has so far had a greater impact on a wide range of conflicts. We can draw a few lessons from its recent combat record.

If the aircraft loses all of its electronics including its digital displays and targeting systems, the pilot of an A-10 can still fly, drop general purpose bombs and shoot the 30mm cannon, Haden explained. “So when I lose all the computers and the calculations, the targeting pod and the heads up display, you can still point the aircraft using a degraded system at the target and shoot. We are actually trained for that,” he said.

Sarah SicardJune 16, 2016 Since the A-10 Warthog, recently seemingly destined for the scrap yard, is now engaging enemy Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Taliban forces in Afghanistan in the form of a new weapon with a badass name - the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System. Manufactured by BAE Systems, the APKWS is equipped with laser-guided rockets, giving A-10 aircraft in Afghanistan a "deep magazine of high-precision weapons," according to Popular Mechanics. One of the biggest advantages to using this system is the minimal collateral damage left when fired, which is a result of its tiny warhead. In addition,...

A-10 retirement delayed for six years There is good news for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The Air Force will not retire A-10s until the year 2022. Tuesday Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the A-10 has been such a powerful tool in the fight against ISIS that plans to retire the warplane are on hold for another six years. That's what a lot of Southern Arizona was hoping to hear. The A-10 is a huge part of the local economy. More life for the A-10 is good news for the local economy but bad news for ISIS. The plane is...

The Pentagon "is finally coming to its senses," said U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, welcoming reports Wednesday that the military is backing off plans to retire the Air Force's A-10 fleet, including planes based at Tucson's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The plans, leaked from the Pentagon, indicate a change of policy from the Obama administration's last two budget requests, which called for retiring the entire A-10 program, McSally said. Congressional pressure, including support from McSally and her predecessor, Rep. Ron Barber, kept the planes on active duty. "It appears the administration is finally coming to its senses and recognizing the importance...