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The A-10 Warthog’s Last Hurrah In Combat Could Still Be On The Horizon
Aerospace & Defense The A-10 Warthog’s Last Hurrah In Combat Could Still Be On The Horizon By Paul Iddon ,
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist focused on Middle East affairs. Follow Author Aug 13, 2026, 12:27pm EDT Aug 13, 2026, 01:34pm EDT --:-- / --:-- This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . Summary Congressman Abe Hamadeh introduced the "BRRRRT Act" to secure the A-10 Warthog's future, aiming to preserve its combat capability and maintain a 126-aircraft fleet until at least 2033. This legislative push follows the A-10's critical performance in the recent Iran war, where it executed maritime roles and vital close air support for a rescue mission, prompting its service extension to 2030. The bill also outlines strict criteria for any replacement aircraft and advocates for integrating the Warthog's operational lessons into autonomous and AI-enabled systems, potentially even an autonomous model. Despite its age, the A-10 has received significant upgrades, enabling precision strikes and drone engagement with cost-effective munitions, proving its unique value. However, a TOPGUN instructor warns that insufficient financial commitment risks an "irreversible loss of A-10 combat capability" soon.
Recently scheduled for complete retirement by the end of this decade, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, dubbed the “Warthog,” once again put its unique capabilities on display in combat during the Iran war. Aside from the tank-busting plane performing a maritime role against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ fast attack boats in the Persian Gulf, the Warthog also executed its original close air support and combat search and rescue role during the rescue mission of the two downed F-15E airmen in April.
Today, the subsonic attack aircraft, which has long had both fierce advocates and critics, is expected to fly until 2030. If Congress passes a new bill, its service life could be extended until fiscal year 2033, or even FY2037, if the U.S. doesn’t develop and deploy a credible replacement close air support aircraft in the meantime.
Arguably, if it weren’t for the Iran war launched last February 28, the A-10 could have made its last flight this September, per the original timetable. The U.S. Air Force decided in April to keep the plane flying through FY2030, with Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink announcing the decision in a post on X. Previously, it had been scheduled for complete retirement by the end of FY2029.
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged the significant role played by Warthogs in the Iran rescue mission. A-10s, flying in their specialized “Sandy” combat search and rescue role in coordination with other aircraft and drones “audaciously penetrated enemy territory in broad daylight,” he said and were “violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight.”
Despite such acknowledgments of its continued relevance in modern war, TOPGUN Navy Fighter Weapons School instructor Paul “Gu$” Garcia outlined how the USAF still hasn’t met the financial commitment required for preserving the A-10’s combat power. Writing in a June editorial for The War Zone, he warned that this lack of commitment will result in an “irreversible loss of A-10 combat capability” in mere months. Without urgent action, he added, “the A-10 will transition from a combat asset to a line item waiting for liquidation.”
The author, who flew both the F/A-18 Hornet and F-22 Raptor during his career, underlined that the A-10, in service since 1977, wasn’t merely preserved out of nostalgia but rather because it has once again “proven useful in ways many planners understand.”
“Today, it provides unique value unmatched by any of its peer tactical aircraft,” he wrote. “It operates from austere locations, supports standoff and maritime strike, and validates emerging lower-cost weapons that reduces pressure on more expensive strike aircraft.”
Congressman Abe Hamadeh also wants to preserve the A-10’s combat capability and service life and introduced H.R. 9780 to the House of Representatives along with Representative Don Davis and four more lawmakers on July 20. Titled the ‘Bolstering Recognition, Resurgence, Retention, and Remembrance of the Thunderbolt Act of 2026,’ or ‘BRRRRT Act,’ in reference to the distinctly unmistakable sound the powerful seven-barrel 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger autocannon the A-10 is built around makes, it defends the Warthog’s service record and lays out a comprehensive plan for keeping it in operation. If passed, the legislation would, among other things, prevent the Department of Defense from reducing the A-10 fleet below 126 fully operational aircraft from FY2027 and restore sufficient capacity to support an A-10 fleet until at least FY2033.
BRRRRT outlines specific criteria for what would qualify as an acceptable replacement for the venerable Warthog. For one, it must resume the A-10’s primary missions, including close air support and combat search and rescue. That requirement would make it more difficult for the Air Force to argue with any credibility that the existing fighter jets from fourth-generation F-15 and F-16s to fifth-generation F-22s and F-35s could feasibly replace these primary missions of the A-10.
“Surplus A-10 aircraft may retain value for security cooperation, partner burden-sharing, contingency operations, or recoverable storage arrangements,” reads the bill. “It is possible that such aircraft could be transferred to eligible foreign partners through existing authorities, maintained in recoverable status for future foreign military sales or excess defense articles consideration, or used to support contingency basing or coalition interoperability requirements.”
On July 8, 2024, the Senate Armed Services Committee suggested that Washington could potentially transfer “retiring A-10 ai...
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