National Defense Authorization Act fully funds A-10 Warthog upgrades

National Defense Authorization Act fully funds A-10 Warthog upgrades

By Dario Leone
Jun 15 2019
Share this article

Over the past several years the A-10 Warthog received little support from the USAF that pushed to retire the Warthog from FY15 onward.

Full funding for A-10 Warthog upgrades next year — including re-winging them — passed the House Armed Services Committee with nary an objection. The panel approved its proposed version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act in a marathon session that concluded early Thursday morning.

Arizona Reps. Ruben Gallego and Ann Kirkpatrick applauded the A-10 funding in a statement.

“The A-10 Warthog has immeasurable value to our U.S. troops on the ground and plays a critical role in our military strategy in the Middle East and around the world,” Gallego said. “I’m glad that we were able to keep this fleet fully operational, and I will continue to fight to preserve this aircraft to ensure that the warfighter on the ground gets their air support.”

As reported by Air Force Times, Gallego and Kirkpatrick noted that the Air Force said in 2017 that nearly half of its A-10 fleet, which consists of 283 aircraft, could be permanently grounded unless funding came through to restart production and re-wing them.

“The A-10 Warthog has been a vital fixture to Southern Arizona for over 40 years and is instrumental to our military operations around the globe,” Kirkpatrick said. “The Warthog is a primary mission at Davis-Monthan Air Base [which is in Kirkpatrick’s district], employing hundreds of airmen and it contributes millions of dollars to our local economy.”

This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. A-10C Thunderbolt II 355th FW, 354th FS Bulldogs, FS/82-684. Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ – 2015

General James Holmes, Air Combat Command (ACC) chief, revealed last year that the USAF aims to maintain the A-10 fleet out into the 2030s. Approximately 350 A-10s are currently in the inventories of the active USAF, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard, although a number have already been sent for mothballing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona.

Since the A-10 Warthog is a legacy platform, it is supported equally by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.

As we have previously explained, over the past several years the A-10 received little support from the USAF that instead pushed to retire the Warthog from FY15 onward. In FY18, the service decided to retain the aircraft but kept the procurement of new wings out of its budget, bumping it instead into the unfunded wish list given to Congress every year.

National Defense Authorization Act fully funds A-10 Warthog upgrades
This model is available from AirModels – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force


Share this article

Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this article


Share this article
Share this article

Always up to date! News and offers delivered directly to you!

Get the best aviation news, stories and features from The Aviation Geek Club in our newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.



    Share this article
    Back to top
    My Agile Privacy
    This website uses technical and profiling cookies. Clicking on "Accept" authorises all profiling cookies. Clicking on "Refuse" or the X will refuse all profiling cookies. By clicking on "Customise" you can select which profiling cookies to activate.
    Warning: some page functionalities could not work due to your privacy choices