⚡️🇺🇸 Some more things coming out for the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Under the preliminary drafts of the bill, the USAF is requesting a release of $57,000,000 USD ($57.0 Million) to retire all remaining 162 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs in current service. Apart of the 2023 NDAA, there was a clause for a few million dollars to be released every so often to gradually retire the (then) 250 airframes by 2034; however due to the push by the Dept of Defense to ‘shed’ obsolete or obsolescent airframes that cannot be overhauled or upgraded further without a whole new airframe, it appears the USAF wants to retire all 162 remaining A-10s by the end of 2026.
The USAF plans to fully divest the 340-total remaining A-10s entirely, including those that currently serve in a handful of Air National Guard units in some states; which will be replaced by F-15EX Eagle IIs (like what is already happening with the Michigan State Air National Guard’s A-10s), or F-35A/Bs.

Included with this, is a halt on the E-3 Sentry’s replacement, the E-7 Wedgetail; as an interim replacement, the USAF is looking to acquire new-build E-2D Hawkeyes as a stopgap until something else can be procured to replace the E-3 Sentry.

@Medmannews