The A-10 is uniquely designed for life-saving missions such as close-air support (CAS) <\/span>and combat search and rescue (CSAR)<\/span>.\u00a0The former protects troops in harm\u2019s way while the latter involves rescuing downed pilots or other isolated personnel from enemy territory before they become prisoners of war (POWs)<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pentagon\u2019s confusing and inconsistent statements about the future of CAS and CSAR raise questions about how serious leadership is about their seriousness of <\/span>preserving these missions. The Defense Department budget, Its budget <\/span>released in February, begins replacing the A-10 with the F-35 on a squadron by squadron basis starting in Fiscal Year <\/span>fiscal 2018, just a little more than over <\/span>a year from now. Yet, in contradiction to of <\/span>that plan, on March 3, Chief of Staff of the Air Force <\/span>General Mark Welsh, Air Force chief of staff,\u00a0said March 3 that the mission capability of the A-10 would not be replaced by the F-35, but with the F-16 and F-15E. All of this this<\/span> becomes moot when considering that the Pentagon plans to eventually replace all our remaining legacy air-to-ground fighter planes \u2014\u00a0the A-10, F-16,<\/span> and F-15E \u2014\u00a0with the F-35.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we send a crucial mission capability to the boneyard forever<\/span>, we must ensure we can replace it. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve fought to make the A-10\u2019s retirement condition-based, not time-based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four A-10 squadrons have been mothballed in the past four years, and the nine remaining warfighting squadrons, of which only four are active duty, have less aircraft than before. Over the previous two years, I led the fight in the House to fully fund the remaining A-10s and prohibit any funds to be used to retire or plan to retire the current fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, in this year\u2019s defense authorization billNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)<\/span>, I successfully advocated for inclusion of a provision mandating a fly-off between the F-35 and A-10 before one more A-10 can be retired. This legislation, which included with <\/span>my provision, passed the House Armed Services Committee on a\u00a0on Armed Services <\/span>60-2 vote,\u00a0and passed the House with strong bipartisan support. I also worked with S<\/span>senators to ensure that the Senate version of the bill\u00a0NDAA <\/span>included similar fly-off language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., says she is fighting to make the A-10’s retirement condition-based, not time-based.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Air Force<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the House\u2019s version of the defense billNDAA<\/span>, we specifically outline what capabilities the Air Force must test in an A-10\/F-35 fly-off. \u00a0For example, the testing must demonstrate how the two aircraft can perform missions in realistic combat settings, such as when pilots are required to visually identify enemy and friendly forces in close proximity, both during the day and\u00a0at night in day and night conditions<\/span>. It must include armored targets, \u00a0and <\/span>scenarios requiring continuous weapons delivery, comparisons of\u00a0\u00a0and compare <\/span>extended time over target, survivability from simulated direct hits, and low-altitude employment, including \u2018\u2018shows of force\u2019\u2019 and strafe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, CSAR missions specifically need to test the critical R<\/span>rescue M<\/span>mission C<\/span>commander role that A-10s fill today, which includes locating and protecting the isolated personnel while coordinating all aspects of a potentially complex CSAR mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The language requires the fly-off to happen as part of the O<\/span>operational T<\/span>testing and E<\/span>evaluation of the F-35A. After the test results are delivered to Congress, the S<\/span>secretary of the Air Force must report on the risks of replacing the A-10 CAS and CSAR missions with the F-35 before any moves can be made to mothball another Warthog.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right now, tT<\/span>he A-10 is currently <\/span>deployed to four 4 <\/span>theaters \u2014 in the fight against ISIS, in to <\/span>Europe as a response to \u00a0in the face of <\/span>Russian aggression, along the Demilitarized Zone DMZ <\/span>in South.<\/span> Korea, and in to <\/span>the Philippines\u00a0\u2014 showing the high demand for its abilities. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n With American lives at stake, we don\u2019t have room for error. We must base our decisions about critical life-saving missions on assessments ofr<\/span> capabilities and risks, not speculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second-year Republican\u00a0Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona, a retired A-10 pilot, was the first female fighter pilot to fly a combat mission and command a fighter squadron. The opinions expressed her do not necessarily represent the views of Military Times or its editorial\u00a0staff.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ‘With American lives at stake, we don\u2019t have room for error.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":18,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1859],"class_list":["post-29876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CHKDAD2QYZFALAZ2DBRJJDSR4Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/2016\/06\/14\/why-we-need-an-a-10-f-35-fly-off\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635581383547046479-photo-mcsallyjpg.jpg\")
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