Aviation Week & Space Technology - 30 March-12 April 2015

CLOSE AIR SUPPORT

I

n the fall of 2001, when the Pentagon issued what would

become the largest development contract ever for a combat

aircraft for the Lockheed Martin F-35, the close air support

(CAS) mission was not at the forefront.

But timing played a hand; the 9/11 at-

tacks occurred only weeks before that

contract was signed and CAS missions

in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria became

common. At that point, the fact that

the F-35A would handle CAS in con-

tested environments was a footnote in

briefi ngs as the Air Force focused on

its virtues as a deep-strike counterpart

to the twin-engine F-22, built for air su-

periority. Now lawmakers are weighing

in on how to handle the mission as the

Air Force struggles to argue that the

A-10 retirement proposal is not a bi-

nary A-10 versus F-35 choice. After

last year’s failed attempt to retire

the A-10, the service is locked

in a campaign to

“energize” the

discussion, says

Air Force Chief of Staf

Mark Welsh, toward a

future CAS fleet including a bevy of

fi ghters and bombers, not just the F-35.

The issue is growing in urgency for

the Air Force. In Washington, signifi -

cant defense spending cuts are being

planned as fiscal pressure mounts

across the government. And the Air

Force has once again offered up the

A-10 for retirement, stating there is no

longer enough money to keep single-

mission aircraft in the fl eet.

Having conducted a summit on the

future of CAS with its sister services,

the Air Force is now focusing on how

to handle the mission without the A-10

or total dominance of the skies.

THE POLITICS

Last year’s attempt to retire the

A-10 fl opped; Congress agreed to the

mothballing of 36 aircraft—a small

dent compared to the hoped-for sav-

ings. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee

James last month approved placing 18

into backup inventory; retiring all 36

would have resulted in the stand-down

of an entire squadron. Maintainers sup-

porting those 18 A-10s will be shifted

to training for the F-35A ramp up,

but many more new maintainers

are needed fast to support plans to

declare the fi ghter operational by De-

cember 2016.

Resistance is still strong. A vocal

A-10 constituency includes some in

U.S. ground components who directly

benefi t from the aircraft’s mis-

sion and others in Con-

gress out to protect A-10

bases in their districts.

But there are signs

of change. Last

year Army Chief

of Staff Gen. Ray

Amy Butler Nellis AFB, Nevada; Orlando, Florida, and Washington

Danger Close

U.S. Air Force’s campaign to reinvent CAS

Odierno was a strong proponent of the

A-10. But this year Army Secretary

John McHugh came out in favor of the

retirement. “What the soldier wants to

see and what the command structure

in the U.S. Army wants to happen [is

placing] explosive ordnance on enemy

positions... in a timely and ef ective”

manner, he told reporters last month.

“We know there are some members

who just do not agree with this pro-

posal,” James said. “It comes back to

‘if not this, then what?’ Or will you lift

sequestration and give us more mon-

ey?” Keeping the A-10 for fi scal 2016

would cost about $520 million, Welsh

told Congress; keeping it through fi s-

cal 2020 would require $4.2 billion.

“There are circumstances where you

would prefer to have an A-10, but we’ve

priced ourselves out of that game.”

The A-10 retirement argument was

not helped when Maj. Gen. James Post,

vice commander at Air Combat Com-

mand ( ACC), recently equated A-10

support from of cers with treachery :

“Anyone who is passing information

to Congress about A-10 capabilities is

committing treason,” the military blog

John Q Public quotes him as saying.

Ever since the controversy broke,

the service has been attempting to

steer the conversation away from an

A-10 versus F-35 debate, hosting two

major media events focused solely on

CAS. At issue, according to Welsh, is a

need to plan for a future beyond A-10.

“We’re not trying to reset the message

on anything,” the USAF chief of staf

avers. “We’re trying to reset the CAS

mission for the future, but we’ve been

trying to do that for the last two years.

This is nothing new.”

THE STATISTICS

From 2006-13, 67% of the CAS

missions in Operation Enduring

Freedom in Afghanistan and

Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq

JTACs train with A-10 pilots on separating friend from foe

in air support missions. The A-10’s low-and-slow fl ying

characteristics have made it a visible sign of safety

for ground troops locked in fi refi ghts.

USAF AIRMAN FIRST CLASS CHRIS MASSEY

54 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/MARCH 30-APRIL 12, 2015 AviationWeek.com/awst