The Pentagon has switched course and now plans to keep the A-10 fleet operational until 2022, when it will replace the aircraft with F-35s on a squadron-by-squadron basis, said Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday during a speech previewing the department’s Fiscal 2017 budget request. The decision caves to congressional pressure to keep the aircraft flying, and abandons the Air Force’s previous plan to replace A-10s with fourth generation aircraft, such as F-15s, or to convert A-10 squadrons to other aircraft, such as C-130s and KC-135s, until the F-35 comes online. Carter acknowledged the aircraft has been “devastating” ISIS as part of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. It’s also helped recently to deter further Russian aggression in Europe. Instead, he said, the budget will maintain more of the Air Force’s fourth generation fighter and attack jets than previously planned so “we’ll always have enough aircraft for today’s conflicts.” (See also: A Little to the Right… and Delaying Retirement)
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
