After years of fighting with lawmakers to retire the A-10, an Air Force general said Tuesday that new demands in combat are forcing the service to consider delaying the plane’s retirement by several years.
Gen. Herbert Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said the retirement of the “majority” of the aircraft would likely be delayed at least two to three years, according to reports.
“We have to retire the airplanes, but I think moving it to the right and starting it a bit later and maybe keeping around the airplane a bit longer is something that’s being considered based on things as they are today and what we see in the future,” Carlisle said at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.
For several years, the Air Force has demanded to retire the Northrop Grumman aircraft in its annual budget request, saying its close-air support mission can be met by the newer F-35 joint strike fighter, which is produced by Lockheed Martin.
But troops have credited the A-10 with saving lives in combat and said it’s uniquely capable at swooping in close to the ground and firing on enemy soldiers, referred to as close-air support missions. Members of Congress have also pushed back against the service’s requests to scrap the aircraft.
Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a former A-10 pilot, has lead the charge to protect the plane in Congress and worked to ensure this year’s annual defense bill included language to keep the planes in service for at least another fiscal year.
“As the best close-air support weapon in our arsenal, the A-10 is actively engaged in the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and in NATO’s effort to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe,” McSally said in a statement last month after the Pentagon announced 12 A-10s were deploying to Turkey. “Despite this and the expressed position of the congressional defense committees, the Obama administration continues to attempt to prematurely divest the Air Force of this aircraft — a move that the U.S. Government Accountability Office recently confirmed would not only fail to achieve cost savings, but also leave us with a serious capability gap that could put the lives of American soldiers in danger.”
Carlisle said an increased demand for air power combined with the slow procurement of the F-35 have contributed to a revision of the retirement schedule, The Hill reported.
“What’s happening in Yemen, what’s happening in the Horn of Africa, what’s happening in Libya, combined with the fact we’re not leaving Afghanistan … for at least one more year there, has all put a greater demand on the capacity of the United States Air Force across all the mission areas,” Carlisle said.
