HASC OKs $600B in 2015 DoD Spending, Nixes A-10 Retirement Plans

A-10 Thunderbolt II, popularly known as the Warthog

Earlier this morning the House Armed Services Committee “approved a measure that would authorize just over $600 billion in 2015 US defense spending and block plans to retire the A-10 attack plane” states John T. Bennett of Defense News. Earlier in 2013, the Air Force initiated plans to retire the ‘Warthog’ given substantial defense budget cuts. However, there has been significant pushback opposing the thought of ridding the military of the A-10, one of the most trusted and effective combat air assets. DefenseTech quoted Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh having said that the service needs to retire older, single-mission aircraft in order to fund newer projects, namely the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will take up the A-10’s mission. Bennett goes on to note that the amendment to put a hold on the A-10 retirement passed with a 41-20 vote. The committee measure also poses a movement to stop the shift of Army Apache helicopters from the National Guard to active service.

F-35 Lightening II, or Joint Strike Fighter

This measure has numerous logistical concerns should the bill pass on the floor of Congress. First, with the downsizing of US military forces and combat operations winding down in Afghanistan, redeployment of the A-10 Warthog back to the United States as an operational, opposed to retired, aircraft will pose an issue for flightline space, fuel consumption, and pilot usage. The previous plan for retiring the A-10 was to wrap them in plastic (literally) and packed away, freeing up space both on the tarmac and in the budget, for the F-35. Secondly, the A-10 serves one mission: close air support. Due to such a specific mission and complex aircraft, the A-10 needs many hands on the ground dedicated solely to ensuring that these aircraft remain operational and able to support ground operations. With the mission of close air support becoming faster and more accurate in strike capability with UAVs and more mission diverse aircraft (F-35), the air force is keen on decreasing the personnel needed to sustain air assets that can fulfill the close air support mission. Continued operations using the A-10 would force more personnel and fiscal assets to be pumped into the program, and would take away from the development of the F-35. With a takeoff weight (51,000 lb) slightly heavier than the F-35, as well as half the range of the Joint Strike Fighter (1,200 miles), the A-10 would require more midair refueling missions, which leads to more Air Force assets being dedicated to Warthog operations. Compared to the F-35, which will take up the CAS slack left behind with the retirement of the A-10, the Warthog is much more costly regarding supplies and support personnel for CAS missions.

 

Logistically speaking, if the F-35 is fully integrated into the Air Force and US military operations, the Joint Strike fighter would be less costly and would improve the CAS mission as well as fulfill its other missions. This being said, the F-35 is still relatively new to the skies which pose serious fiscal concerns as research and development has been costly and ongoing. Considering sequestrations and the current draw down of the military, decision makers struggle to determine the cheapest and most efficient course of action regarding aircraft usage in the Air Force. Despite being slow, ugly, and very conspicuous, the A-10 comes with a trusted reputation of mission success and reliability. With a bombardment of pushback from the Air Force community and within Congress, it seems that the Warthog refuses to give up its CAS mission without a fight.