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| One airplane can field the GAU-8 30mm cannon - Let's scrap it! |
The Air Force isn't planning to
mothball its 283 A-10s, but simply retire the type wholesale as part of the
Fiscal 2015 budget request, service Secretary Deborah Lee James said Wednesday.
James told a Bloomberg defense symposium in Washington, D.C., that "the
idea…is to…retire them fully" rather than put the A-10s into Type 1000
storage—meaning they could be returned to operations if needed—at the
Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., boneyard. However, she said the A-10s won't be
retired all at once, but rather over several years. "The beginning years
would tilt toward the Active component," and the Guard and Reserve A-10s
would be the last to go, she said. James emphasized that the A-10 is not the
only close air support platform in the Air Force, and that in Afghanistan, it
has actually only performed 20 percent of the CAS mission. The rest has been
done by AC-130s, F-15s, F-16s, B-52s, and B-1s; all of which will be retained.
"We have got this," James said of the CAS mission, insisting the
service won't let down its brethren in the other services. The F-35 also will
eventually take over the CAS role, she said. Retiring the A-10s will save $3.5
billion over the future years defense plan, she said.
—John A. Tirpak
Notice, just like the F-4G Wild
Weasel and the RF-4C Photo Phantom, the Air Force will intentionally scrap the
A-10 so it cannot be used in the future.
This is done so that no one can ever question their wisdom. It is also being done so that the
aircraft cannot be re-cycled as firefighting airplane so that the government
nepo-capitalists can help their buddies rip us off: http://www.aviationtrivia.info/A-10-Fire-Hog.php
What a sad day, however how so
very expected. When you want the
very best for your country, look below O-6 level for help.
