Air Force Sunsets the famous A-10 “Flying Tank”

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By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Widely revered as an unstoppable, resilient “flying tank,” the famous A-10 Warthog can absorb small arms fire, fly slowly at low altitudes to support ground troops under enemy fire and literally decimate groups of aggregated, advancing enemy fire with its extremely lethal 30mm nose cannon. 

The success stories related to the A-10, and quite simply the number of lives it has saved and battles it has won, has earned it a distinct and timeless place in history. One of the key attributes of the A-10 is built-in redundancy, meaning the aircraft is built to keep flying even if key parts are destroyed by enemy fire. The A-10 can lose an engine, certain electronics or even part of a wing and continue to fight. I once talked to a Gulf War pilot who survived a battle during the Gulf War by flying his damaged A-10 with one wing. The aircraft’s lethality is yet another unique attribute, as the 30mm cannon is aligned in a linear way beneath the fuselage, giving pilots a straight ahead view of targets below. 

A-10 Sunset?

All of these reasons are why some members of Congress and Pentagon advocates have pushed back in recent years on Air Force plans to divest the aircraft. However, is the aircraft now finally reaching close to its ultimate sunset? The Air Force plans to divest as many as 21 A-10s in 2023, according to the service’s budget request. This would make sense, given the rapid arrival of newly built F-35s. 

Could the advent of new air-attack technologies render it less impactful? More vulnerable and eventually obsolete? For years many have insisted the answer is no, as the aircraft is arguably unparalleled when it comes to providing combat crucial, time-sensitive close-air-support. For several years now the Air Force has largely maintained that many aircraft, especially the F-35 are extremely well suited to perform the CAS mission. 

The discussion of the importance of CAS is so vital to the military services that the Pentagon at one point conducted a specific Close Air Support “fly off” or competition between the F-35 and the A-10 to determine which platform might best be suited for the future of Close Air Support. Interestingly, while thought of as a 5th-generation multirole stealth fighter, the F-35 is tactically very well positioned for close air support.