The U.S. Air Force has decided to indefinitely postpone the retirement of the legendary A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack plane. The venerable Warthog's increased role in the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was the Pentagon's main reason for the postponement.

First developed in the 1970s, the A-10 was designed to kill Red Army tanks on European battlefields. Heavily armored and capable of flying low and slow, the A-10 was built to make devastating low-level attacks against Soviet armored columns with missiles , bombs, and its GAU-8/A Avenger 30-millimeter gun.

Although the old plane proved effective in Iraq and Afghanistan and stayed popular with troops on the ground—who loved nothing more than the site of a Warthog or two barreling into a combat zone—the Air Force had planned to replace the A-10 with the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Air Force contends that the A-10 can no longer survive on the modern battlefield against modern air defenses. It's been trying to put the A-10 out to pasture for years, claiming the funds used to keep the tank-killers flying are needed elsewhere—particularly in the F-35 program.

Meanwhile, the Warthog's supporters, including a bipartisan team of Congressional representatives , have been fighting to save it. Critics of the retirement plan charge that the fast, unarmored F-35 isn't a real replacement for the A-10, and the limitations of the F-35's gun —which is less powerful than the GAU-8/A and carries a meager 220 rounds—make it less useful in close air support situations. The F-35 will also only be able to carry 1,000 pound GPS-guided bombs and 500 pound laser-guided bombs.

While the F-35's stealth and electronic warfare capabilities may help it survive on the battlefield longer, the A-10's ability to bring a truckload of air-to-ground weapons to the fight against ISIS is more useful. Islamic State has access to various types of anti-air weapons, including shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, but it doesn't have a coordinated air defense. The terrorist organization has yet to shoot down a single Coalition plane.

At least two squadrons of 12 A-10s each are currently flying against ISIS, from bases in Turkey and elsewhere in the Middle East. Now we know those Warthogs will remain at war.

Via DoDBuzz.com

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