The A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team took to the skies for one final performance, marking the end of an era for the iconic aircraft.
The flight occurred on November 10, 2024, at the Stuart Air Show in Witham Field (SUA), Florida, as part of the Veterans Day Weekend celebrations.
“We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who supported us and everyone who came out to watch an amazing airframe, pilot, and team, perform for you at 1800 shows across 10 countries over the course of more than 40 years,” the A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team expressed in a statement.
Earlier this year, in March 2024, the team announced its retirement as part of the broader plan to phase out the A-10C Thunderbolt II from active service.
The retirement process began on February 12, 2024, when the 354th Fighter Squadron sent one of its A-10C aircraft, tail number 82-648, to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), commonly known as the Boneyard, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The gradual drawdown of the fleet is expected to take place over the next three to five years.
Why is the A-10 Thunderbolt II being retired?
The A-10 Thunderbolt II, commonly known as the “Warthog,” has had a distinguished career since its introduction in the 1970s. It has established a solid reputation as a key asset for close air support missions within the United States Air Force (USAF).
Originally designed to target Soviet-made tanks, the A-10 proved useful in post-Cold War conflicts such as the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Its rugged design, survivability, and ability to loiter over battlefields made it highly valued by ground forces.
Its retirement reflects the USAF’s need to address challenges in highly contested environments and enhance readiness against near-peer adversaries. While the A-10’s close air support capabilities have been celebrated for decades in asymmetric warfare, its design and technology are increasingly at odds with the demands of modern combat.
These shortcomings become particularly evident in scenarios where establishing air superiority is more challenging, and adversaries field robust anti-air defenses. To counter these evolving threats, the USAF is prioritizing platforms like the F-35 Lightning II, which are deemed better equipped to operate in contested environments.
5 comments
A10 would make a great difference in Ukraine !
Yes, that would seem to be a good fit. I wonder why the brain trust at DOD hasn’t thought of that. Or maybe making a “great difference” is not one of their objectives…
The USAF has never cared for Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft or CAS missions.
They have always been focused on costly go fast jets that are fit for many types of missions, CAS is a job that few planes can do well
None of the planes in the USAF inventory can replace all the missions an A-10 can do, especially the F-35. The USAF has many needs for new planes but the are dead wrong on retiring A-10
The USAF throws a fit whenever the US Army even mentions developing or obtaining an aircraft that would do the same job. The USAF is run by fighter jocks. The USAF leadership (or lack there of) puts their own selfish wants over the critical needs of the other services
The A-10C’s retirement is certainly a hard one to stomach as it remains a very iconic aircraft that has proven itself time and time again in various conflicts and provided morale for troops on the ground with it’s powerful image and thunderous gun ripping through it’s opponents within earshot.
However, the USAF likely finds this to be necessary with the advancement of frontline anti-aircraft weapons that threaten to give the craft a simmilar treatment to other simmilar dedicated CAS platforms, which would understandably pose an unnaceptable risk to the USAF which they so chose to adress in this manner with a platform that may provide a simmilar supporting role to ground troops, albeit trading the risks associated with flying incredibly closeto the frontline with a lesser capacity to deliver ordinances (and of course traveling at a significantly faster pace), but this expected performance is to be assesed in future conflicts that the US may choose to indulge in, but one would imagine that projections for the F35’s performance would be met as calculated.
I was wondering if there was any stickers left from the A-10 thunderbolt 11 demonstration team the stickers were the ones that wasgray and blu with holes in them.My son had one and I got it wet and I’m hoping you had a few left.