Posted on 07/22/2025 6:46:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
A combination of budget constraints, strategic realignment, and the evolution of warfare in the decades since the A-10’s debut has contributed to the aircraft’s retirement. After four decades of service, the renowned A-10 Warthog is finally slated for full retirement. After years of indecision, the US Air Force now plans to retire the A-10 fleet before the end of FY2026. The last A-10 is expected to make its last flight before October 2026, a sad day in aviation that will mark the end of an aircraft that aviation enthusiasts and ground troops alike have adored for a generation.
The A-10 Warthog Is Still a Capable Fighter Despite finally being slated for retirement, the A-10 is now, and has been since its inception, the world’s most capable close air support (CAS) aircraft. Built to survive, loiter, and destroy, the A-10 has gained nearly legendary status for its ability to both absorb and dole out damage. With a titanium “bathtub” encasing the pilot and redundant flight systems, the A-10 has been known to survive significant damage, even having a wing sheared off, and still return the pilot safely back to base.
With a massive 30-mm GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon, capable of firing Pepsi can-sized depleted uranium rounds at a 70-round-per-second rate, the A-10 is fully capable of destroying tanks and armored vehicles. Paired with the ability to fly low and slow, almost like a helicopter, for extended periods over a battle space, the A-10 has rightfully earned a reputation as the world’s best CAS aircraft.
Indeed, the A-10 proved itself during the Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the Afghanistan War, thriving in the desert environment and serving as an invaluable asset in protecting American troops on the ground and engaging the enemy in complex and close-quarters situations. The A-10 was so effective that many proponents argued for its continued use, even as the technology became outdated and the Air Force shifted toward newer, more advanced aircraft.
The A-10 Warthog Lacks Stealth Features However, after years of delaying the inevitable, the A-10 is finally slated for retirement. A combination of budget constraints, strategic realignment, and the evolution of warfare in the decades since the A-10’s debut has contributed to the aircraft’s retirement.
The A-10 is not a stealth fighter and would struggle to survive in contested environments against modern air defense systems. In addition, the United States is pivoting away from conflict with third-world countries where the US Air Force has complete air superiority, thereby allowing the A-10 to operate without consequence despite its lack of stealth characteristics. The US Air Force is preparing for conflict with near-peer adversaries that possess air defense systems capable of rendering the non-stealth, subsonic A-10 ineffective.
The A-10 retirement process is already underway. Congress, which had previously blocked attempts to divest the platform, citing concerns over CAS capability gaps (there is no A-10 equivalent), finally began approving limited A-10 retirements.
As a result, the Air Force has been gradually drawing down its fleet. The phase-out process will continue through FY2026, when the last of the 162 remaining A-10s will be stood down.
About the Author: Harrison Kass Harrison Kass is a Senior Defense and National Security Writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.
And an F-35 would not survive a CAS environment. Stealth means nothing against AAA guns. And despite what the zoomies say, CAS from high altitude with precision weapons is no substitute for actual CAS.
CAS from 20,000 feet works.... sometimes, but not always.
Well gosh... we don’t need tanks because drones kill them. We don’t need A-10s anymore because drones can supposedly go after them when they are on the ground.
I guess we can all just sit back and lets waves of drones fight each other! We learned this in a war between two backwards groups of idiots.
If the US military ran a combined arms war they way they do so well, you would not see drone operators so free to operate in the areas they do. We would get air supremacy and have machines prowling looking for drone crews within any sane distance.
And the Ukes send out three or four random tanks with no air cover, no arty, no clear objective... no support at all.
If the 1st Armored Division attacks you, it is not random tanks piecemeal. The demise of the tank based on this WWI re-enactment by amateurs will be proven very wrong.
That and the US Military is also testing man-portable and vehicle-mounted “EMP” (directed energy/electromagnetic pulse) defensive weapons that fry even the fiber optic connected ones. Also there are some really cool ‘smart bullets’ in test that can explode near (or impact if lucky) a drone and frag them. They are fired conventionally.
Saw both of the above in test before retiring.
The offense always has the advantage over the defense though, so you combine drones with standoff platforms and smart mortar/artillery rounds and you create real problems for the defenders. Fire AND MANEUVER become real important. Ya gotta control the order of battle.
They haven’t been on a modern battlefield.
And, they won’t be.
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