Modern, sophisticated air defense systems have made the A-10 more vulnerable than before. But throwing in the towel on one of America’s most effective warplanes is not the answer.
The United States Air Force has announced that it will retire its entire fleet of Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft by next year. These planes, better known as “Warthogs,” have defined America’s close-air support (CAS) mission since the 1970s. Their service record is impeccable, and the decision to retire them is a travesty.
The A-10 Warthog Has Had a Glorious Service History
Originally designed to blast apart Soviet Red Army armor formations invading Western Europe via the Fulda Gap in Germany, the Warthog blessedly never needed to fight such a war, as the USSR collapsed and the Cold War ended before things ended badly between Moscow and Washington.
Instead, the A-10 cut a swath through the heart of various enemy forces in the decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The A-10 annihilated Saddam Hussein’s tank force during Desert Storm. From there, the Warthogs cut hard against entrenched al Qaeda and Taliban positions in Afghanistan during America’s 20-year-long war there.
A-10s again assisted in the downfall of Saddam Hussein in the Iraq War in 2003, and tore apart insurgents during the ensuing civil war. In fact, the A-10 provided CAS to US forces in a variety of other combat theaters, too.
The A-10 could easily be considered the Air Force’s most successful warplane. It still has many years of life (and relevance) left in it. Yet rather than adapt these systems for the demands of the modern battlefield, the Air Force, in its infinite wisdom, has chosen to unceremoniously relegate the 126 remaining A-10s to the scrap heap.
Of course, the Air Force supposes that by canceling this incredibly successful program, they will have more money to afford more next-generation birds, such as the F-35 Lightning II, the B-21 Raider long-range stealth bomber, or even the F-47 sixth-generation warplane. Never mind the fact that the Pentagon has already cut its order of F-35s because Lockheed Martin’s sclerotic production lines simply could not handle it. Or that the Air Force quite literally cannot afford any significant numbers of the B-21 Raider or the even more expensive F-47.
But the Air Force is trying to force a square peg into a round hole by cutting whatever existing capabilities it has, and simply hoping that it can outmaneuver the hard math that makes so many of the Air Force’s dream systems unobtainable.
Yes, the A-10 Is Vulnerable. So What?
While it is true that the nature of modern warfare, as evidenced by the conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Iran, are fundamentally different from the war that the A-10 was designed to fight, the fact remains that the bulk of the wars that America has fought since the end of the Cold War—to say nothing of the covert missions involving special operations groups—have relied heavily on the CAS function that the A-10 was designed for.
The Pentagon is correct to suppose that sophisticated air defense systems make the A-10 vulnerable in ways that it was not 20 years ago. But throwing in the towel on one of America’s most effective warplanes is not the answer. To give the plane a fighting chance, would it not be far better—and cheaper than buying new planes—to simply augment the 126 A-10s to make them able to carry drones to complicate enemy air defenses and allow for these birds to continue functioning in the CAS mission in the heavily contested airspace of the modern battlefield? Why is this not something that the Pentagon is seriously considering?
The Air Force is about to make a grievous error in retiring its legendary A-10. One must hope that America’s soldiers and marines, who have relied on the CAS capabilities of the A-10 for decades, do not pay for this shortsighted decision with their limbs and lives.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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