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The USAF is planning to phase these wonderful platforms out starting 2026.

WHY!!!!!

The Pentagon says they will use F-35s, F-15EXs, and F-16s. I thought they were upgrading the Warthogs!

Say it isn't so, folks.

The USAF has been trying to get rid of them for 20 years. It's congress that's forced them to keep them.

In that case, maybe I was overreacting...

Ha! Yeah, they've been on and off the block for years.

Anybody remember the 90's game A-10 Tank Killer? Really great game for its time and the graphics were far superior than many games. Also gained a lot respect for the SA-8.

Mike

Send them to Ukraine before rotting in a desert.

Perhaps they are not adequate for the front line.

But they will hunt down many of the Shaheds.

This has been a political struggle for many years now.

I personally don't support retiring the A-10 without a comparable follow-up aircraft. The airframes are aging, and they can't serve forever.

I'd rather see them sold to an allied nation, like Ukraine, Germany, Poland or South Korea, than have them scrapped or rusted in the Boneyard.

HalfLifeExpert wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 9:01 pm This has been a political struggle for many years now.

I personally don't support retiring the A-10 without a comparable follow-up aircraft. The airframes are aging, and they can't serve forever.

I'd rather see them sold to an allied nation, like Ukraine, Germany, Poland or South Korea, than have them scrapped or rusted in the Boneyard.

Send them to the boneyard. Normally I don't agree with the divest to reinvest mentality but in the case of the A-10, sooner they're gone the better.

Nikel wrote: Fri Dec 19, 2025 12:32 pm Send them to Ukraine before rotting in a desert.

Perhaps they are not adequate for the front line.

But they will hunt down many of the Shaheds.

That may actually be a genuinely good idea, especially if they're able to carry 6x LAU-68 pods filled with APKWS II A2A. The low speed, easy handling and good loitering capability would be suitable for the role. The main problem would be fast cueing to targets from off-board, since they cannot do volume search on their own.

Indeed, the A-10 has no radar and needs to be told where the drones are.

But the Ukrainians manage to locate them and destroy many with everything at their disposal. The A-10s would be another layer.

In the test a Saab 340 is used for the location, and the cannon is more than enough to do the job, the drones are like ducks.

In CMO the A-10 will see the drone, but how will a cueing of a Saab be presented to a A-10 pilot in a dark night without a radar with only NVG's in real life?
Those drones don't have navigation lights...
And what will the A-10 windscreen look like when you BRRRRT a explosive drone... at short range?

I love the plane myself, but time has moved on, and, emotions aside, we need other solutions.