Congress to Air Force: Wrong Time to Kill Fleets

Congress cited Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an example of why it's foolish for Air Force leaders to propose killing entire fleets of aircraft such as the A-10 in anticipation future aircraft like the F-35 will take over the missions in time.

Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense asked the Air Force's top two leaders Wednesday why they chose to eliminate the A-10 Thunderbolt and the U-2 Dragon Lady fleets as near term conventional threats remain in places like Russia and North Korea.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told the committee members the flattening of the defense budget had left them little choice.

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