The U.S. A-10 attack aircraft is being retired early due to losing its survivability against modern air defense systems.

It's like throwing a grenade at China, the US fighter jet loses its survival space and is retired early.

The US Air Force is accelerating the retirement of the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft, planning to completely retire it from active service by 2027.

This old aircraft, which was developed in the 1970s, has been in service for nearly half a century and has achieved many military successes in the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Syria.

However, the 2026 fiscal year budget clearly lists a special fund of $57 million to support the retirement of the remaining 162 A-10s.

According to the Pentagon's plan, the original deadline for retiring the A-10 set by the Biden administration was 2029, but the Trump administration moved it up by two years.

The reason is simple: after Trump returned, he pushed for a large-scale equipment upgrade, wanting to accelerate the retirement of all old platforms and concentrate resources on current mainstays and next-generation projects.

Whether it's the F-35, F-15EX, or the NGAD and F/A-XX projects, they are more in line with the future strategy of the US military than keeping the A-10.

In fact, the retirement of the A-10 had already been evident, but it has been indecisive in recent years.

The A-10 was originally designed for low-altitude, low-speed, close air support for ground operations, which was very practical in the Cold War era for dealing with Soviet armored columns.

But the problem is that this design concept is almost completely ineffective in modern high-intensity conflicts.

Against an equal opponent like China with advanced air defense systems, the A-10's low speed and protection capabilities can't survive at all. The S-400 and HQ-9 long-range air defense systems have made low-altitude close-range platforms almost impossible to operate, and the US military continuing to send the A-10 into action is equivalent to giving targets for free.

That's why the Air Force chose to shift to the F-35 and F-15EX, which not only have multi-role capabilities but can also complete missions more flexibly in high-threat environments.

From a strategic adjustment perspective, the A-10's withdrawal is closely related to the changes in the US military's deployment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last November, the US Air Force announced that it would withdraw the A-10 from key regions such as South Korea to make way for fourth- and fifth-generation fighters.

The core idea of the Trump administration in reshaping the air force structure is to concentrate limited resources on platforms that can survive in high-intensity confrontations.

This is not just about equipment upgrades, but also a change in strategic focus: the Indo-Pacific region is seen as a high-priority battlefield, and the US military hopes to use the F-35 to dominate the air, use the F-15EX to fill the firepower gap, and bet on the NGAD and F/A-XX next-generation aircraft.

Although the A-10 had its moments of glory in counter-terrorism wars, there is no place for it in great power competition.

Original source: www.toutiao.com/article/1841674625364995/

Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.