US Congress blocks Air Force retirement plan - sensor aging - [Wickway]
The US Congress is blocking the Air Force's retirement fighter plan, which includes stopping retired A-10 Wild Boar attack aircraft, KC-135 refueling aircraft, and RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft. On December 3rd, the military committees of both houses of Congress presented their meeting report on the 2021 Fiscal Year Defense Authorization Act, which is the final version of the defense bill and includes the opinions of both houses. It is expected that the bill will be approved by Congress at some point next week and then submitted to US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to veto the bill. This year's NDAA includes policy provisions in various aspects, from the organizational structure of the Pentagon to military bases named after Confederate officers. For the Air Force, the biggest concern is whether Congress will approve the divestment of over 100 aircraft. Leaders of various military branches say this will free up funds for modernization priorities, including space technology and the concept of joint command and control across all domains (recently updated as joint command and control across all domains).Legislators have chosen to retire some bombers, tankers, and cargo planes from the Air Force, but they are working hard to protect other aircraft such as the A-10 and the Global Hawk from any cuts. The following is a detailed list of items that the Air Force wants to send to the airplane graveyard, but they are related to these fighter jetssensorAs the system continues to age, the US Congress responded to this information as follows:
A-10: Over the past decade, Congress and the US Air Force have engaged in numerous battles over the highly respected A-10 fighter jets, and the US Army Department attempted to retire the entire fleet in mid-2010. In FY21, the US Air Force sought a more moderate adjustment - the retirement of 44 A-10 fighter jets, equivalent to the retirement of three squadrons of aircraft, leaving 237 Wild Boars to carry out close air support missions over the next decade.
But Congress also opposes this, stating in the Defense Agreement that none of the 281 A-10 fighter jets currently in the Air Force's inventory may be used for divestment or retirement.
Bombers: The US Air Force hopes to retire 17 of its oldest B-1 fighter jets. Leaders say that these B-1s are putting pressure on the fleet due to the need for manpower to maintain flight. In the defense bill, Congress repealed a current law that required the US Air Force to maintain at least 36 combat coded B-1 aircraft - essentially agreeing to reduce the B-1 fleet.