A-10 under fi re
USAF outlines plans for close air support
U
S AIR FORCE chief of
staff Gen Mark Welsh and
Secretary of the Air Force
Deborah Lee James testifi ed
before the House Armed
Services Committee on
March 17 and the following day before the
Senate Armed Services Committee. Both
hearings involved direct questioning of
their controversial plans to cut the A-10C
Thunderbolt II fl eet. Former A-10 pilot Gen
Welsh said that the US Air Force was at the
‘front edge of ugly decisions’. He said that
the recommendation to retire the A-10 had
been made as a result of conversations with
combatant commanders and a thorough
operational analysis, stressing that this
analysis had indicated that the F-16 had
actually been the ‘workhorse of CAS (close air
support)’ in recent operational situations.
Responding to Arizona Congressman Ruben
Gallego, Gen Welsh said: ‘There are scenarios
where you’d prefer an A-10, others where
you’d prefer an AC-130. [But we need to] look
at how we transition to a future capability
for low and high threat battlefi elds.’ He also
said there is ‘no question’ as to the USAF’s
commitment to the CAS mission.
The A-10 argument is set against a backdrop
of the US Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year2016 budget request that adds 4 per cent over
the previous appropriation. US Secretary of
Defense Ash Carter is pushing to increase
defense spending and scrap laws such as
sequestration that hamstring the US military.
Testifying to the House Armed Services
Committee on March 18, he said: ‘I strongly
support the President in requesting a defense
budget above artifi cial caps of the Budget
Control Act’. He also voiced his concerns over
the constraints of sequestration and the ability
to conduct reform. ‘We at the Pentagon can
and must do better with getting value for the
defense dollar,’ he asserted.Move to the F-
Despite the backlash against the USAF plan,
18 A-10s have already been placed into
back-up aircraft inventory (BAI) status with
the possibility of another 18 to follow. The
FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) permitted the USAF to move 36
aircraft into BAI status. The air force says this
will allow more personnel to be transferred to
the F-35A program. Another effort to keep the
F-35 transition on track is the news that the
388th Fighter Wing’s 4th Fighter Squadron
at Hill AFB, Utah, will convert to the F-35A
earlier than planned. This will allow its
current F-16s to go to the ANG.Although the F-35A will be ‘basic’
CAS-capable when it achieves initial
operational capability in September 2016,
full capability for the mission will not
be realized until the Block 4a software is
fi elded in 2022. That software will make
the aircraft able to use the 250lb (113kg)
GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II).
Equipped with a tri-mode seeker that allows
the weapons to be guided using millimeter
wave radar, uncooled imaging infra-red
guidance and semi-active laser technology.
The weapon can track and hit moving targets
from a distance up to 40 miles (64km) away.
Scheduled to enter full-rate production later
this year, SDB II will come into service by
2017.
When fi elded with Block 3i software, the
F-35A’s capabilities will include ‘limited’
suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD)
and destruction of enemy air defenses
(DEAD), and air interdiction weapons and
capabilities. The latter include both 500lb
(227kg) GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and
2,000lb (907kg) GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack
Munitions (JDAMs). Additional capabilities
that will be incorporated in 2018 with Block
3F software will add the ability to fi re the
internal 25mm GAU-22 cannon and deliver
additional munitions such as the 1,000lb
(454kg) GBU-32 JDAM and the 250lb (113kg)
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb I.A lower-cost alternative?
While the USAF views the F-35A as its
primary CAS platform for the future, it is clear
that the acquisition of a low-cost light attack
platform to supplement the F-35 might be
coming onto the table. This is a new stanceThe USAF may need to procure a new,
lower-cost close air support platform if
it is to placate staunch opponents to the
plan to retire the A-10C eet. Rick Llinares6 May 2015 http://www.combataircraft.netNEWS Headlines
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