U.S. Air Force To Cut The A-10 Fleet

An A-10 Warthog over Afghanistan. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. William Greer

Good Bye, A-10. We Hardly Knew Ye. -- Wings Over Iraq
Okay, US Air Force, we get it. You never really liked the Close Air Support mission to begin with. (Just look at how few pictures of A-10s and UAVs appear on the US Air Force’s Flickr page, as opposed to F-22s, F-35s, and CV-22s) But if there’s one thing you hated more, it’s ceding bureaucratic turf to the Army even more (RIP AH-56 Cheyenne). And now, we’re left with this:

Step 1.) Cut costs by

Okay, US Air Force, we get it. You never really liked the Close Air Support mission to begin with. (Just look at how few pictures of A-10s and UAVs appear on the US Air Force’s Flickr page, as opposed to F-22s, F-35s, and CV-22s) But if there’s one thing you hated more, it’s ceding bureaucratic turf to the Army even more (RIP AH-56 Cheyenne). And now, we’re left with this:

Step 1.) Cut costs by deactivating five squadrons of A-10 Warthogs, the US Air Force’s venerable close air support aircraft.

Step 2.) Give the close air support mission to the new F-35 Lightning II, a Pentagon boondoggle expected to cost over one trillion dollars–more than the entire GDP of Australia–over its proposed 50-year career.

Step 3.) Profit!

Read more ....

More News On Cutbacks In The A-10 Fleet

Proposed A-10 cuts total 29% of inventory -- Air Force Times
Defense Cuts Include A-10 Warthog -- Weekly Standard
5 A-10 squadrons to be cut -- Air Force Times
Will the A-10 `Lazarus’ Cheat Death Once Again? -- Time
Air Force to park most A-10s -- Sky Talk

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