Air Force to Retire A-10's in FY26

[AWP]

All. 100% is the proposal, but not surprising.

US Air Force to retire all A-10s, cancel E-7 under 2026 spending plan

Also, it is cancelling the E-7 program which is a bit surprising given the AWACS is basically dead right now. The solution?

In a June 26 briefing with reporters, an Air Force official said the cost of an E-7 airborne battle management aircraft had grown from $588 million to $724 million, helping prompt its cancellation. The official said the department had concerns over whether it would survive in a contested environment.

Instead, the Pentagon is looking for ways to accomplish the mission that would have been done by the Wedgetail with space-based assets, and adding more Northrop E-2D Hawkeye aircraft.

Space-based assets and a Navy airframe? The E-2D would have to be changed up a bit, but if the E-7 couldn't survive in contested airspace neither will the E-2. Fuckery is afoot with that logic.

That would also significantly reduce or end an existing officer and two enlisted AFSCs. I'm also curious how it jumped by 150 million an airframe considering the Aussies already use it. Were our requirements and changes that significant?

 

[Kraut783]

*Salute* A-10....rest in peace, you were a hellava CAS.

 

[Marauder06]

Well, there are plenty of other uses for them ;)

Air Force Converts A-10s for Air Defense, Declares “There, Army, We Kept Your Stupid Airplane”​

Air Force Converts A-10s for Air Defense, Declares “There, Army, We Kept Your Stupid Airplane” • The Havok Journal

 

[Gunz]

The E2s have been around forever. Since I was in high school. And they’re going to upgrade it into FY 2040?

I figured by then we’d have something like the SR-72.

After all, it is the Future.

 

[AWP]

The E2s have been around forever. Since I was in high school. And they’re going to upgrade it into FY 2040?

I figured by then we’d have something like the SR-72.

After all, it is the Future.

Our acquisition process is so broken every single airframe out there will serve well beyond its planned service life. FY2040 for the Hawkeye? Maybe, but they will need to start working on a replacement in the next 3-5 years max to meet that deadline.

 

[TLDR20]

Our acquisition process is so broken every single airframe out there will serve well beyond its planned service life. FY2040 for the Hawkeye? Maybe, but they will need to start working on a replacement in the next 3-5 years max to meet that deadline.

I’m curious if they will even do a carrier based variant. They don’t for our main ASW work now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t for the AEW work as well.

 

[AWP]

I’m curious if they will even do a carrier based variant. They don’t for our main ASW work now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t for the AEW work as well.

Maybe, though the Navy has had a better attitude about the Hawkeye than it did with the Viking. I've read several accounts where the CAG would push Vikings to a base if they could in places like the Med and Arabian Gulf, but I don't know if they did/do the same with the E-2.

But if you cut the E-2 then you need to start working a replacement sooner rather than later, and procurement is so screwed up right now. Besides, the Wedgetail was too expensive to keep, so we trashed that and would try to find a replacement in a few years?

Military aviation is in a weird place these days.

 

[TLDR20]

Maybe, though the Navy has had a better attitude about the Hawkeye than it did with the Viking. I've read several accounts where the CAG would push Vikings to a base if they could in places like the Med and Arabian Gulf, but I don't know if they did/do the same with the E-2.

But if you cut the E-2 then you need to start working a replacement sooner rather than later, and procurement is so screwed up right now. Besides, the Wedgetail was too expensive to keep, so we trashed that and would try to find a replacement in a few years?

Military aviation is in a weird place these days.

I’m not sure how many they carry, but knowing the Navy they will just try and put a dome on top of their Super Hornets

 

[DA SWO]

The E-7 cancelation doesn't make sense, but canceled doesn't mean no.
ARRW was canceled, and FY26 bill has procurement money for the system.
E-7 could have been COTS , but big blue constantly adds requirements ( see the KC-46 Remote Viewing System).

 

[AWP]

E-7 could have been COTS , but big blue constantly adds requirements ( see the KC-46 Remote Viewing System).

Some of our ABMs flew on the Wedgetail over Iraq/ Syria and wanted the plane yesterday. They said it was a major upgrade to the AWACS, even the new model, they would happily fly it as is.

100% agree Big Blue probably added stuff the community didn't want or felt was a luxury. To that, I'm not saying the Lockheeds and Raytheons of the world were involved, but what are the odds they didn't whisper in some ears?

Those large airframes have so much upgrade potential as well, so why not field the Wedgetail with minimal changes and then worry about the big-ticket stuff later? The P-8 is constantly adding capabilities.

Sometimes I think the services make too much of an effort during acquisition to "future proof" the system and they price themselves out of modern equipment.

 

[BloodStripe]

Our acquisition process is so broken every single airframe out there will serve well beyond its planned service life. FY2040 for the Hawkeye? Maybe, but they will need to start working on a replacement in the next 3-5 years max to meet that deadline.

Maybe if we had a smaller defense industrial base they could fix their delays and production issues. This model worked so well when DOD pushed for consolidation in the 90s….

 

[AWP]

The E-7 cancelation doesn't make sense, but canceled doesn't mean no.

A memory broke loose about how the AF is approaching C2. Back about...2018/2019 the AF stood up a lab to test VR instead of traditional flat screens. "A 3D image would make their jobs easier, faster, safety of flight" blah, blah, blah. Some wunderkid VR fanboi hyped up the capability and got some stars on board. Our outgoing commander was tasked to stand up the lab as a CC or DO or something equivalent. Dude was ALL about using VR, he drank the Kool Aid. Some of us politely pointed out that motion sickness (cyber sickness) would cause major problems. Sure enough, it did and I think the concept was quietly shelved.

An E-3 using 15-ish folks in the back and an E-2's 3 1/2 person crew (the co-pilot in the D model can perform some control functions) just isn't the same.

I think someone served up a fresh batch of Kool Aid and priced the plane out of existence for now at least. Using satellites sounds like the new VR. Mode 5/ ADS-B all of the traffic, including civilian deconfliction? Nah. Besides, an adversary capable of downing an AWACS probably has the capability to blast a satellite.

I think you're on to something.

 

[DA SWO]

A memory broke loose about how the AF is approaching C2. Back about...2018/2019 the AF stood up a lab to test VR instead of traditional flat screens. "A 3D image would make their jobs easier, faster, safety of flight" blah, blah, blah. Some wunderkid VR fanboi hyped up the capability and got some stars on board. Our outgoing commander was tasked to stand up the lab as a CC or DO or something equivalent. Dude was ALL about using VR, he drank the Kool Aid. Some of us politely pointed out that motion sickness (cyber sickness) would cause major problems. Sure enough, it did and I think the concept was quietly shelved.

An E-3 using 15-ish folks in the back and an E-2's 3 1/2 person crew (the co-pilot in the D model can perform some control functions) just isn't the same.

I think someone served up a fresh batch of Kool Aid and priced the plane out of existence for now at least. Using satellites sounds like the new VR. Mode 5/ ADS-B all of the traffic, including civilian deconfliction? Nah. Besides, an adversary capable of downing an AWACS probably has the capability to blast a satellite.

I think you're on to something.

AF, ( and now Space Force) have been all in on Space based systems for a long time.

Good thing China doesn't have an ASAT capability.

 

[The Quartermaster]

So what are they planning to replace them with? An F35 self identifying as CAS because the fighter mafia believes in DEI?

 

[AWP]

So what are they planning to replace them with? An F35 self identifying as CAS because the fighter mafia believes in DEI?

AFSOC has a crop duster and Big Blue has the F-35. Thanks to PGMs, everything is considered a CAS platform these days from a cropduster to a B-1 or B-52.

 

[TLDR20]

So what are they planning to replace them with? An F35 self identifying as CAS because the fighter mafia believes in DEI?

While everyone has to love in the A-10 because yes it is awesome, it is not designed to be a CAS platform. It is designed to hunt and kill tanks. An F-35 has the potential to be an amazing CAS platform. Just the SA that the pilot has is so much better than in an A-10. Like VR internet porn vs a magazine.