Small Wars Journal

Air Force Chief Explains Why He’s Retiring the A-10s

Wed, 04/23/2014 - 7:36pm

Air Force Chief Explains Why He’s Retiring the A-10s by Stephanie Gaskell, Defense One

… So that left him with the choice to cut A-10s, B-1s, F-15Es or F-16s. “And we came very clearly to the conclusion that of all those horrible options the least operationally impactful was to divest the A-10 fleet,” Welsh said. “That’s how we got there. It’s not emotional. It’s logical, it’s analytical. It makes imminent sense from a military perspective – if you have to make these kinds of cuts. Nobody likes it. Not me, nobody.”

Cutting the fleet of A-10s will save the Air Force about $4.2 billion, he said. “You just don’t make big savings unless you cut fleets,” he said. Still, it was a tough decision. “This is not about the A-10 not being a great airplane and doing great work.” But it came down to one simple fact…

Read on.