{"id":39422,"date":"2017-09-18T02:30:32","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T02:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/18\/fate-of-a-10-f-15-to-be-decided-this-fall\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:11:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:11:26","slug":"fate-of-a-10-f-15-to-be-decided-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2017\/09\/18\/fate-of-a-10-f-15-to-be-decided-this-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Fate of A-10, F-15 to be decided this fall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 As the Air Force increases its F-35 buy rate and more joint strike fighters come online, the question is not if it will begin retiring its legacy combat aircraft, but when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force leaders hope to have a better answer to that question later this fall, when Air Combat Command head Gen. Mike Holmes and Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, hash out a fighter recapitalization roadmap as part of initial budget planning meetings for fiscal year 2020, Holmes told Defense News in a Sept. 11 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to work to get a fighter recapitalization roadmap that everybody agrees on in the Air Force so that then we can take that on to the Hill \u2026 and try to be able to show everyone that we do have a plan for the future,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan would lay out \u201cwhere their unit would fall out and what the plan is to replace it,\u201d with the ultimate goal of \u201ctak[ing] some of that angst away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force knows it could be facing a political battle as it considers how to best phase out three beloved combat aircraft: the F-16, F-15C\/D Eagles and the A-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holmes acknowledged that the situation has changed since the start of the F-35 program when the joint strike fighter was considered to be the eventual replacement of the F-16 and A-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow that Congress has directed us and we\u2019ve decided to keep some number of A-10s, and now that our F-15 service life is showing some wear and some of the margin is gone there, we want to go back and just look at that combination of A-10s, F-16s of the various blocks and F-15Cs and come up with a plan that maintains the best mix of combat capability as we bring on the F-35,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the buy rates that Congress has funded for the F-35, we\u2019re going to be a mixed fourth and fifth gen force for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holmes and Harris have put together two separate fighter recapitalization roadmaps and expect to work through the differences this fall, said Holmes, who would not expound upon his recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrankly I don\u2019t want to get ahead of the chief or the secretary\u2019s decision space by getting too far into the pros and cons of which one you might take next,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Air Force is working through that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the state of play of the legacy combat aircraft fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The A-10 Warthog<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of trying to divest the A-10, The Air Force doubled back on plans to mothball the venerable Warthog, announcing during the FY2018 budget release that it intended to keep the A-10 throughout the next five fiscal years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t