After being thwarted by Congress this year, the Pentagon wants to plow ahead next fiscal year with plans to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II close air-support jet, a mainstay of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
According to budget documents released Monday, the Air Force plans to mothball 164 A-10s in fiscal 2016 and devote future cost savings to procurement of F-35 stealth fighters and force readiness.
The Pentagon last year proposed retiring the entire fleet of A-10s — nearly 300 overall and more than 80 at D-M — between 2015 and 2019 to save more than $4 billion. The Air Force says that although the A-10 is the nation’s top ground-support plane, it is vulnerable to advanced air defenses and other, more survivable aircraft including the next-generation F-35 can perform that mission.
But A-10 supporters in Congress, including Sen. John McCain, rallied, arguing there’s no ready and effective replacement for the revered “Warthog.” The 2015 defense authorization bill prohibits the Air Force from retiring any A-10s in the 2015 fiscal year ending Sept. 30, but it allows the Air Force to put a small number of A-10s on standby status as a study of close air-support options is completed.
People are also reading…
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, a Tucson Republican and a former A-10 pilot, criticized the proposal to retire the A-10 Warthog, citing its recent deployment to fight Islamic State militants.
“Not only will this decision weaken our defense capabilities and jeopardize our national security, it will endanger the lives of American troops deployed in harm’s way,” McSally said in a new release Monday.
“Cutting back a one of a kind capability with no clear replacement is an example of a budget-based strategy, not a strategy-based budget, which is what we need to meet our defense needs," she said.
In other areas of the defense budget of interest in Southern Arizona:
- The Army wants to start moving on its plan to transfer all of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from National Guard units to active-duty units, mainly to fill a gap left by the retirement of aging Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters. That plan could affect hundreds of Army aviators at the Silverbell Army Heliport in Marana. Congress objected to the plan last year but under a compromise is allowing the Army to transfer 48 Apaches from Guard units in fiscal 2016.
The Army said in budget documents it plans to inactivate or transfer four National Guard AH-64 Apache battalions in fiscal 2016, and begin converting seven Guard and Reserve aviation brigades into a new aviation combat brigade structure that includes multiple functions such as attack, reconnaissance and medical evacuation, according to budget documents. - The Pentagon’s 2016 budget would retire seven EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, radar- and communications-jamming planes flown by electronic-warfare squadrons at D-M, under a previously announced restructuring plan. One of the newest EC-130s would be converted to a much-needed test platform.
- The 2016 budget fully funds the legacy fleet of HH-60G Pave Hawk combat-rescue helicopters, flown by several units at D-M, while a next-generation version being developed by Sikorsky is readied for initial operational capability by 2021.
- The proposed 2016 Navy budget includes $210 million to procure 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles, made by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems. Last year, the Navy had proposed a hiatus in Tomahawk production.