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Posted on 07/12/2025 9:19:36 PM PDT by george76
Some A-10 Warthogs could get a reprieve from total retirement as Congress moves to reverse some of the Pentagon’s most dramatic Air Force cuts in its proposed fiscal 2026 budget.
The Pentagon’s budget, which the department released in June, calls for the Air Force to retire its remaining 162-plane fleet of A-10 attack aircraft in 2026, two years earlier than originally intended. It also calls for canceling the E-7 Wedgetail program in favor of E-2D Hawkeyes and space-based sensors, and cutting the planned purchase of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters down to 24, or nearly in half.
The proposed E-7 and F-35 cuts sent shockwaves through the Air Force community and prompted 16 retired four-star generals — including six former chiefs of staff — to speak out against the changes. They sent top congressional leaders a letter Monday urging lawmakers to change course.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday announced it had approved its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which would mitigate some of the A-10 and F-35 changes.
The committee’s NDAA would require the Air Force to keep at least 103 Warthogs in 2026. And it would add 10 more F-35As to the service’s procurement list, to buy 35 of the advanced fighters.
The chairman’s mark of the House Armed Services Committee’s NDAA, also released on Friday, would restore funding for the Air Force’s E-7 program. The E-7 is a Boeing-made airborne battle management that would replace the aging E-3 Sentry, or Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
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Thank you very much and God bless you.
They’ve been dodging retirement since the 80’s!
What replacing the A-10s?
Given the cuts being proposed it doesn’t seem to me that the Neocons at DOD feel very threatened by ‘Russian Aggression’. I do know that in the late 1930s FDR did feel threatened and did sharply ramp-up our military.
“What replacing the A-10s?”
Doesn’t really matter, we’ll all die of old age by the time something gets developed.
They sure have outlasted a bunch of generals that tried to get the plane canned.
What is replacing the A-10s?
A $100,000,000 dollar F-235 that no colonel or general will order to conduct low-level close air support.
The DOD needs to force the Air Force to give the A-10s to the Army and let them fly the CAS missions. There is STILL nothing better to do that than an A-10.
There may be several aircraft, possibly one is the MQ-9 Reaper. There may be others as well.
The A-10 is a classic like the B-52, and the SR-71. There is no replacement.
Exactly! Such an awesome weapon too! Videos of them spraying bullets at enemies is truly something to behold. The enemies sure knew what the sound of them meant- death! The gunships wi5h the same guns on them were awesome too! They flew higher, and could wipe out buildings and enemy from a long ways up with those guns. BRRRRRRRT!
My son’s best friend in Iraq was an A-10 or Apache Gun Ship, but mostly the Apache.
Why in the hell would we retire a flying tank, the A-10?
The only thing wrong with the A-10 is it does not have painted on its side United States Army.
Easy solution: For every A-10 that the USAF retires, it loses one golf course. For every air-worthy A-10 that is removed from service but is not transferred to the Marines or National Guard, the USAF loses one flag officer.
Stupid move if the A-10s are cut loose...IMHO...
Leave A-10 alone!
(meme kid reference)
The A-10 is a crowd favorite because everyone loves the BRRRRRRRRRT.
Ask the Ground Forces if they want to keep the A-10 Warthog in service. I’ll bet they will say YES !!!
First show Us the ACTUAL REPLACEMENT AIRCRAFT.
Then ask the Ground Forces to Opine on the choices.
STUPID ARMCHAIR DO NOTHINGS.
Wasn’t there a fight between the USAF and Army in the Vietnam era where the Air Force thought the Army had too many fixed wing aircraft? If my memory is correct, the Army had the Caribou which the Air Force managed to get transferred to them.
I believe that mentality still exists. The Army will never get the A-10’s.
“...The DOD needs to force the Air Force to give the A-10s to the Army and let them fly the CAS missions. There is STILL nothing better to do that than an A-10....”
^THAT^ would be the common sense thing to do. But alas, common sense and DOD just don’t seem to mix too well; especially, when it comes to the Air Force.
Transfer em to the service that benefits the most from em: Army, Marine Corps, etc. The A-10 is in a class by itself. There’s nothing out there that can do that job better than an A-10. Don’t think so? Just ask the guys on the ground about em....
....”..The proposed E-7 and F-35 cuts sent shockwaves through the Air Force community and prompted 16 retired four-star generals — including six former chiefs of staff — to speak out against the changes.”....
....I wonder how many of these retired generals have financial interests in keeping this F-35 boondoggle afloat....how many are on the boards of directors of these defense [sic] contractor companies....??
The thing that made the A-10 great was the pilots that flew it.
They always made the A-10 too useful to die and they are a huge asset.
It's going to get really hard to find the new planes to fly if the shut the A-10 program down cold turkey instead of a phased draw down. Same thing can be said for the ground crews.
Recent events in Ukraine and the Middle East demonstrate that the A-10 is not going to be an effective or survivable asset in any future war.
The life expectancy of the A-10 in the kind of a peer or near peer war we expect to fight is going to be nil and that up close and personal is not the most effective way to perform the CAS function to support troops on the ground in today's warfare so the decision makes sense. The A-10 does not make sense for the US in any future conflict scenario with China which is our current focus and it would face the same fate as the Russian Su -25 in a European NATO style conflict.
The kind of low intensity, counter insurgency war against far from near peer forces that the A-10 excels in is the kind of wars that President Trump has pledged to keep America out of so the A-10 has kind of lost it's mission.
Even in Afghanistan, the A-10 was a very effective weapon but it was a way too expensive over kill solution to be a perfect fit for the mission but it was all we had. It is really hard to justify the cost of keeping the A-10 flying due to lack of mission in today's tight budget environment.
Of course, we will probably end up needing the A-10 and will be regretting this decision in the future but that is life
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