Small Wars Journal

GAO: Air Force Doesn’t Grasp Implications of its Own A-10 Warthog Decisions

Thu, 08/25/2016 - 12:42pm

GAO: Air Force Doesn’t Grasp Implications of its Own A-10 Warthog Decisions by Stew Magnuson, National Defense

The Government Accountability Office said in an Aug. 24 report that the Air Force and Defense Department don’t possess the necessary information needed to make wise decisions about the A-10 Thunderbolt II divestment.
 
“The Department of Defense and Air Force do not have quality information on the full implications of A-10 divestment, including gaps that could be created by A-10 divestment and mitigation options,” said the public version of a classified report released in July, “Better Information Needed to Support Air Force A-10 and Other Future Divestment Decisions.”
 
Both the Air Force and Defense Department in its written response sharply disagreed with the report’s findings.
 
The report said: “The Air Force has not established clear requirements for the missions the A-10 performs, and in the absence of these requirements, has not fully identified the capacity or capability gaps that could result from the A-10 divestment.”
 
The Air Force has 282 A-10s, which were built in the 1970s, but have undergone several upgrades since then. Its primary missions are close-air support, coordination of close-air support and combat search and rescue.
 
“Without a clear understanding of the capability or capacity gaps and risks that could result from A-10 divestment, it is also unclear how effective or necessary the Air Force’s and the department’s mitigation strategies will be,” the report continued…

Read on.