Respectfully, you are mistaken.
See my post #20.
Given the massive budget "bill" the Air Force and the rest of the DoD is forced to "pay" so we can keep the ObamaCare subsidies, EBT cards, and Social Security Disability dollars flowing, the only way to save Billions is by cutting entire line fleets. Thus, the A-10 and KC-10 are targeted for termination.
The amount is paltry compared to the actual size of the budget.
The Air Force indeed hates it. What they love is electronics, stealth, and above all -procurement-. They have a very poor record for providing quality ground support and have become big believers that they ARE the main effort. Supporting the Army is a distraction from what they believe war is.
If you were correct, the AF wouldn’t be pushing that dog the F-35, that is less capable than a 16 or 15. The 15SE makes it a total embarrassment.
You cant scream tight budgets as a justification to drop the most effective machine we have while pursuing the “F-35 replaces everything” idea.
Cut the number of F-35 by the number of A-100s we have and pocket the money.
Of course, contractors and congressfools really hate that.