The Air Force is hoping to retire more A-10 Warthogs in 2025, as the service continues to readjust its overall strategies and future aircraft based on China's growing threat in the Pacific.
In their 2025 budget request, Air Force officials are hoping to retire 250 aircraft — with 56 of those divestments being A-10s. If passed, it would mark the largest number of the close-air support stalwarts sent to the boneyard — the final resting place for scrapped aircraft.
Congress allowed the service to part with 21 A-10s — the first such retirements approved in the 21st century — as part of its 2023 defense policy bill, Military.com reported. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act “eases current restrictions on retiring A-10 aircraft to allow the Air Force to retire 42 A-10 aircraft” in fiscal 2024, according to a Senate fact sheet.
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The close-support aircraft, with a 57-foot, 6-inch wingspan, has been in service since the 1970s. The signature “brrrttt” noise emitted from its 30mm Gatling-style guns, which aided troops extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan in addition to playing a key role in the first Gulf War, helped garner a fanatic following among service members, as well as Washington lawmakers who have fervently protected it from retirement.
But that support seems to be fading. More A-10 squadrons are starting to…
