A-10 retirement blocked by Congress in NDAA

Compromise defense bill blocks A-10 retirement

WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a Pentagon policy measure
that blocks A-10 retirements and greenlights plans to arm Syrian rebels, a measure that should hit the House floor this week. Senior aides from the House and Senate Armed Services committees told reporters Tuesday a compromise 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would clear the military to spend $519 billion (including $19 billion for the Energy Department) in base funds and $63.7 billion for America's conflicts.

The Air Force had proposed retiring its A-10 attack plane fleet to save billions over the jets' remaining life. But lawmakers rejected the idea, saying, among other arguments, the planes are needed now in Iraq.

Watch the A-10 Movie the U.S. Air Force Doesn’t Want You to See — War Is Boring — Medium

The U.S. Air Force has practically begged Congress to allow it to retire its roughly 300 A-10 Warthogs, those venerable twin-jet attackers that saved countless soldiers’ lives in Iraq and Afghanistan — and which recently returned to Iraq to help battle Islamic State.

The flying branch argues that the new F-35 stealth fighter is an adequate replacement for the low- and slow-flying Warthog — and the Air Force should spend its money buying F-35s instead of maintaining the A-10s and their unique 30-millimeter cannons.

In fact, the F-35 is too fast, too flimsy, and years away from front-line service, but the Air Force has its mind made up and as part of its campaign to kill the A-10, the flying branch has declined to release a short documentary that its own public affairs practitioners produced about the Warthog’s lifesaving missions in Afghanistan.