Defense Secretary Ash Carter today announced what has been anticipated for month: the A-10 will not be retired.

In a speech previewing next week’s budget release, Carter also highlighted new technologies his department is developing in order to meet what he called a "major inflection point" that takes "the long view" for the department.

"We're also investing to maintain more of our 4th-generation fighter and attack jets than we previously planned — including the A-10, which has been devastating ISIL from the air. The budget defers the A-10's final retirement until 2022," Carter said. "Replacing it with F-35s on a squadron-by-squadron basis so we'll always have enough aircraft for today's conflicts."