A pair of lawmakers said Thursday they would introduce legislation to prevent the Air Force from divesting the A-10.
Senate Armed Services (SASC) readiness subcommittee Ranking Member Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and House Armed Services Committee (HASC) member Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) announced their intentions during a Capitol Hill press conference. Ayotte said she is working with SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on plans to offset the $4.2 billion the Air Force says it will save over five years by retiring the A-10, which is used during close air support (CAS) missions, starting in fiscal year 2015. Ayotte declined to offer specifics on which programs she was considering for the offset, but added that she’d be working with her colleagues on this over the “next coming days.”
Ayotte spokeswoman Liz Johnson said Thursday the senator’s amendment would come up when SASC marks its version of the FY ’15 Defense Authorization Bill. SASC subcommittee markups begin May 20 while the full committee will mark its bill on May 21. HASC subcommittees mark their version of the defense authorization bill April 30 and May 1 while the full committee will mark its bill May 7.
Air Force brass proposes using other fighter aircraft, including the upcoming F-35, to perform close air support missions in place of the A-10. Lawmakers are critical of a two-year gap between total retirement of the A-10 by 2019 and the 2021 initial operational capability (IOC) goal for the Air Force’s conventional F-35A variant. Lawmakers Thursday also argued for the A-10’s “superior” capabilities like larger ammunition.
This isn’t the first time the Air Force has tried to retire the A-10. Lawmakers successfully blocked the move in the FY ’14 NDAA by prohibiting funds to be used to retire the aircraft, also known as the Warthog.