Air Force Proposes Retiring 72 A-10 Warthogs In Fiscal Year 2015

摘要

The Air Force is floating to lawmakers a compromise proposal to retire 72 A-10s in fiscal year 2015 - a move that would allow the service to shift some Warthog personnel to support the F-35A's 2016 initial operational capability requirement for 1,100 maintainers. The new proposal is a temporary step back from the service's previous request to divest the entire fleet, and Air Force officials said during a Nov. 10 background briefing that some in Congress have been very receptive to the scaled-back proposal. The plan would provide a near-term solution to address the larger problem of identifying experienced maintainers to stand up the Joint Strike Fighter.