There have been serious flaws in the information officials have used in the push to retire the A-10 fighter jet, a report released today by the Government Accountability Office says.
Among the findings in the 69-page report: the Air Force lacks a replacement aircraft to perform combat search and rescue missions; it has not adequately identified how mothballing the A-10 fleet could impact military capabilities; and the timeline for grounding the fleet of jets comes before its replacement, the F-35, would fully be in service.
The A-10 is a mainstay of operations at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
The GAO report recommends that the Air Force "fully identify mission gaps, risks, and mitigation strategies, and also develop high-quality, reliable cost estimates of the savings from divestment before again proposing to divest its A-10 fleet."
Amid the move to retire the A-10, D-M in April was pegged as a finalist to house F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft. In December 2015, the Air Force also announced D-M as a potential site for expanded remotely piloted aircraft missions.
Both Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Martha McSally issued statements on the today’s report. Each advocated against the A-10's retirement.
“The nonpartisan GAO has concluded what we’ve been arguing for years: there is no justification for the Air Force to prematurely retire the A-10 fleet, and doing so could leave the military with a serious capability gap our military needs to confront complex security challenges around the world," McCain’s statement said.
“Today’s report confirms what I’ve argued continuously – the Air Force’s flawed and shifting plan to prematurely retire the A-10 is dangerous and would put lives in danger,” said McSally in her statement.
Both the House and the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act that prevents the retirement of the A-10 fleet for next year.
