US Air Force to retire 42 legendary A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in 2024

The United States intends to increase the pace of decommissioning Fairchild-Republic's legendary A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. The fiscal year 2024 budget calls for the retirement of more than 40 aircraft.

Here's What We Know

The US Air Force will retire 21 A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in 2023. The service has also submitted a request to decommission 42 aircraft in fiscal year 2024, which begins on October 1.

If the proposal is accepted, only 218 attack aircraft will remain in service with the US Air Force. Earlier, the chief of staff of the US Air Force, General K. K. Brown, stated that the service wants to decommissionall attack aircraft (281 units) by 2029.

This is because the A-10 Thunderbolt will not be as effective in future conflicts as it was in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, where it proved to be very effective, not least because of weak enemy air defenses. The US Air Force believes that it would be more profitable to spend the money on more promising projects.

It should be noted that at the end of 2022 part of the A-10 Thunderbolt II flights were stopped. The reason was the emergency landing of the B-2 Spirit nuclear bomber, which closed the only runway at Whiteman military base. But flights were resumed a few days later.

Source: Defence News