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Congress has drafted a bill that would fund the USAF's A-10 fleet in 2015, once again rejecting plans to retire the fleet. Source: USAF
Key Points
- The legislation would provide USD337.1 million to maintain the A-10 fleet in FY 2015, as well as additional funds for F-35s
- Lawmakers continue to reject USAF plans for A-10 fleet retirement
A fiscal year 2015 (FY 2015) spending bill for the US Department of Defense (DoD) would provide funds to save the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support (CAS) aircraft from retirement next year, according to a summary of the draft legislation released by Congress on 10 December.
The bill would provide USD337.1 million to maintain the A-10 fleet in 2015. The funding bill would also allocate USD224 million for two additional Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for the air force and USD255 million for two additional F-35Bs for the US Marine Corps, bringing to 38 the total of F-35 aircraft funded in FY 2015 nine more than in FY 2014 as the programme continues to ramp up production.
Additional DoD aviation funding would include USD90.5 million to continue operations of the full fleet of 31 USAF E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACs) radar aircraft; USD1.46 billion for 15 EA-18G Growlers for the US Navy; USD125 million for "competitive space launch"; USD341 million to modernise up to 12 Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters and nine Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for the US Army.
The bill also includes a provision limiting the transfer of Apaches out of the US Army National Guard in 2015 until enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015. The army's full plan, which was released earlier this year, calls for the service to retire its fleet of Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters and replace them with the Apaches, which would be complemented by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to perform the scout mission. The active-duty army would also eliminate three of its 13 Combat Aviation Brigades while the National Guard would retain all of its 10 aviation brigades. Army leaders have said they would save about USD12 billion under the plan, with the first USD2 billion coming in the first year.
ANALYSIS
The decision to fund the A-10 continues lawmakers' rejection of every overture the USAF has made on A-10 retirement. US military leaders recently warned in October that Congress' opposition to A-10 retirement is undermining the air force's goal to make its new fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter combat aircraft operationally deployable in August 2016 due to a shortage of maintenance personnel expected to be reassigned from the legacy programme. The USAF even scaled back its request to retire the entire A-10 fleet in hopes that lawmakers' resistance to the full divestment would allow a partial fleet retirement. The USAF's last proposal was for retirement of 72 A-10s, or three active-duty squadrons, in FY 2015 and then a gradual phase-out over the next five years.
The bill would provide USD337.1 million to maintain the A-10 fleet in 2015. The funding bill would also allocate USD224 million for two additional Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for the air force and USD255 million for two additional F-35Bs for the US Marine Corps, bringing to 38 the total of F-35 aircraft funded in FY 2015 nine more than in FY 2014 as the programme continues to ramp up production.
Additional DoD aviation funding would include USD90.5 million to continue operations of the full fleet of 31 USAF E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACs) radar aircraft; USD1.46 billion for 15 EA-18G Growlers for the US Navy; USD125 million for "competitive space launch"; USD341 million to modernise up to 12 Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters and nine Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for the US Army.
The bill also includes a provision limiting the transfer of Apaches out of the US Army National Guard in 2015 until enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015. The army's full plan, which was released earlier this year, calls for the service to retire its fleet of Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters and replace them with the Apaches, which would be complemented by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to perform the scout mission. The active-duty army would also eliminate three of its 13 Combat Aviation Brigades while the National Guard would retain all of its 10 aviation brigades. Army leaders have said they would save about USD12 billion under the plan, with the first USD2 billion coming in the first year.
ANALYSIS
The decision to fund the A-10 continues lawmakers' rejection of every overture the USAF has made on A-10 retirement. US military leaders recently warned in October that Congress' opposition to A-10 retirement is undermining the air force's goal to make its new fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter combat aircraft operationally deployable in August 2016 due to a shortage of maintenance personnel expected to be reassigned from the legacy programme. The USAF even scaled back its request to retire the entire A-10 fleet in hopes that lawmakers' resistance to the full divestment would allow a partial fleet retirement. The USAF's last proposal was for retirement of 72 A-10s, or three active-duty squadrons, in FY 2015 and then a gradual phase-out over the next five years.
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