Amid a high global demand for air power, as well as domestic hurdles in Congress and the White House, the service is racing to rebuild its fighter fleet.
To prepare for far more contested airspace, the U.S. Air Force is laying the groundwork for a series of radical transformations in how it approaches air combat that could cost at least tens of billions of dollars over the next two decades.
The A-10 systems manager said the Air Force has “resourced the A-10 to divest yet flew it like an enduring fleet, rapidly accelerating [the] decline toward today’s hollowing fleet."