The U.S. Air Force is mulling development of a close air support mission platform as Congress continues to block the military service’s efforts to retire aging A-10 Warthog planes, Defense News reported Tuesday.A 2015 Air Combat Command strategic plan calls for the organization to maintain a CAS capability in the branch’s global precision attack platforms, according to the report by Lara Seligman.
“Another weapons system program may be something we need to consider as we look at the gaps and seams in the future and what we’re doing,” Gen. Herbert Carlisle, ACC commander, told reporters at a February symposium hosted by the Air Force Association.
Mark Gunzinger, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, forecasts that the military branch will replace the A-10 with a multimission aircraft system, the report said.
He told Defense News that one option for the Air Force is to combine its T-X trainer and A-X experimental attack aircraft programs.
