Air Force Follows Navy Playbook for A-10
26th June 2026
You probably know that the Air Force has attempted to kill the A-10 Warthog, the best close air support aircraft ever built, for many years now but has been repeatedly thwarted by Congress.
The Navy faced a similar situation with the Ticonderoga class cruisers. They attempted to early retire them, multiple times, only to be thwarted by Congress. The Navy’s solution was to agree to a blatantly bogus “modernization” program which, in reality, was a way to remove funding for the cruisers while they literally rotted pier side until the Navy could claim that they could no longer be economically upgraded.
Like the Navy, the Air Force has, yet again, been prevented by Congress from retiring the A-10 but, ignoring the intent of Congress, has settled on the tactic of simply no longer funding the operation, maintenance, and support of the A-10. As Redstate website reports,
… by the end of this year, the A-10 will be without depot support, without a training pipeline, without weapons-school instruction, and without operational-test capacity.
With no funding for support, the aircraft will rapidly fall into unflyable status. The Air Force will have, technically, kept the A-10 but will have achieved practical retirement.
Congress should fire every Air Force general and withhold all Air Force funding until A-10 support is restored.
The military seems to feel it is above the will of Congress. It is past time for Congress to re-exert its authority.