The Army is not interested in assuming operation of the A-10 fleet if the Air Force succeeds in its divestiture efforts, Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Though he said there is essentially “no chance” such a scenario would play out, McHugh also acknowledged that “a?nything can happen … but that’s not a topic of casual conversation.” He said the Army is taking “dramatic steps” to reconfigure its own aviation assets in order to generate long-term savings and the A-10 is not “something to consider” in these reorganizations. The fixed-wing CAS mission is “an Air Force mission and it should be. And I’m sure the Air Force feels the same way,” added McHugh. In addition, the Army doesn’t really care what platform the Air Force uses to conduct the mission “as long as [ordnances dropped] are timely and effective, we are comfortable with that. And every assurance that we have received says that they will be.”
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
