An A-10 Thunderbolt II engages in a training
mission at the Grayling Aerial Gunnery Range near Waters, Mich., April 7, 2016.
The A-10 is operated by the 107th Fighter Squadron of the Michigan Air National
Guard and are based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. (U.S. Air
National Guard photo by Master Sgt. David Kujawa)
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — As the Air Force increases its F-35 buy rate
and more joint strike fighters come online, the question is not if it will
begin retiring its legacy combat aircraft, but when.
Air Force leaders hope to have a better answer to that
question later this fall, when Air Combat Command head Gen. Mike Holmes and Lt.
Gen. Jerry Harris, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and
requirements, hash out a fighter recapitalization roadmap as part of initial
budget planning meetings for fiscal year 2020, Holmes told Defense News in a
Sept. 11 interview.
“We’re trying to work to get a fighter recapitalization
roadmap that everybody agrees on in the Air Force so that then we can take that
on to the Hill … and try to be able to show everyone that we do have a plan for
the future,” Holmes said.
The plan would lay out “where their unit would fall out
and what the plan is to replace it,” with the ultimate goal of “tak[ing] some
of that angst away.”
The Air Force knows it could be facing a political battle
as it considers how to best phase out three beloved combat aircraft: the F-16,
F-15C/D Strike Eagles and the A-10.
Holmes acknowledged that the situation has changed since
the start of the F-35 program when the joint strike fighter was considered to
be the eventual replacement of the F-16 and A-10.
“Now that Congress has directed us and we’ve decided to
keep some number of A-10s, and now that our F-15 service life is showing some
wear and some of the margin is gone there, we want to go back and just look at
that combination of A-10s, F-16s of the various blocks and F-15Cs and come up
with a plan that maintains the best mix of combat capability as we bring on the
F-35,” he said. “At the buy rates that Congress has funded for the F-35, we’re
going to be a mixed fourth and fifth gen force for a long time.”
Holmes and Harris have put together two separate fighter
recapitalization roadmaps and expect to work through the differences this fall,
said Holmes, who would not expound upon his recommendations..........Read rest of article: HERE
Related post:
A-10 Thunderbolt: Details
F-15E: HERE
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