The Air Force defended its decision to cut the A-10 from its inventory in a meeting with lawmakers last week:

Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., suggested the Air Force has more work ahead to convince Congress that retiring the A-10 is a smart move.

“So for about $3.5 billion over the next five years, if [Congress] could find the money, could you afford to keep the A-10 on board?” Graham said.

Welsh said money wasn’t the only problem…

In an interesting twist, the US Army — which has traditionally been “accused” of wanting the A-10 and criticizing the Air Force for wanting to get rid of it — actually seems to be supportive of the decision: 

“The A-10 is a great close air support aircraft, as far as we’re concerned, the best close air support aircraft,” [Army Chief of Staff General Ray] Odierno responded.

However, Odierno said, other aircraft such as F-15s and F-16s also provide close air support, and the Air Force has assured the Army that other aircraft will be sufficient.

For its part, Congress seems to have recognized that the budget it passed has “forced” the services into these financial decisions. How Congress reacts — by changing funding or passing bills to prevent certain actions — could be interesting.

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