Time appears to be running out for the A-10—the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) announced June 23 that it will allow the Air Force to retire 42 A-10s as part of its 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, approved this week.
The Senate panel’s decision follows on a similar one by the House Armed Services Committee, indicating that lawmakers are prepared to let the A-10 go after years of defending the venerable close air support aircraft from divestment.
One platform it appears the committee is still not ready to let go is the F-22, despite the Air Force once again requesting to to divest 33 older Raptors.
Unlike their House counterparts, lawmakers on the Senate committee consider their version of the NDAA in secret. While they released a 34-page summary of the bill, they have yet to release the full text.
The summary states that the NDAA “reduces the total number of fighter aircraft the Air Force is required to maintain from 1,145 to 1,112.” While that reduction matches the number of F-22s the Air Force wants to divest, the law currently on the books states that the service specifically has to maintain 1,145 combat-coded fighters. The 33 Block 20 F-22s the Air Force wants to divest are not combat-coded but instead used for training.
A SASC staffer suggested the A-10 reduction would only affect the Air National Guard.
The committee also wants to block the Air Force from retiring any RQ-4 Block 40 aircraft, which have been used as Battlefield Airborne Communications Node platforms.
Soure: Air & Space Force Magazine