Free Republic

Congress to Air Force: You Can't Retire the A-10 Until the F-35 Proves It's Better Legislators want proof the F-35 can take over the aging tank-killer's job Congress threw down the gauntlet at the Air Force on Monday, introducing legislation to mandate keeping the A-10 Thunderbolt II—affectionately known as the Warthog—in service until the service can prove the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can take over its job. As reported by DefenseNews, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mack Thornberry has introduced legislation to forbid the Air Force from retiring the plane. Thornberry's proposed law would prohibit the Air...

The U.S. military has grounded all its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters following an incident on June 23, when one of the high-tech warplanes caught fire on the runway of a Florida air base. The no-fly order — which affects at least 50 F-35s at training and test bases in Florida, Arizona, California and Maryland. F-35 is on track to become by far the military’s most numerous warplane. It was designed to replace almost all current fighters in the Air Force and Marine Corps and complement the Navy’s existing F/A-18s.