Lawmaker requests funding for A-10 replacement
By Lara Seligman
WASHINGTON — Ahead of President Barack Obama’s budget rollout next week, an influential Air Force pilot-turned lawmaker called on the commander-in-chief and his defense secretary to request full funding for the legacy A-10 until plans for its replacement take shape.
“As you finalize the Department of Defense’s (DOD) budget request for fiscal year 2017, I ask that you fully fund the A-10 ‘Warthog’ in a manner consistent with Congressional intent,” Rep. March McSally, R-Ariz., a retired Air Force colonel with 325 hours flying the A-10 in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote in a Jan. 28 letter to Obama and Defense Secretary Ash Carter. “Because there is no replacement for these unique and crucial capabilities, either currently available or in development, we must maintain and improve the A-10 fleet until a real A-10 replacement exists.”