ACC Head: Follow-On to A-10 Aircraft Possible

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ACC Head: Follow-On to A-10 Aircraft Possible

ORLANDO, Fla. — A future close air support-specific platform to replace the A-10 remains a possibility, the head of Air Combat Command said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Air Force is planning a joint-service summit in March to work out options for the mission, frequently referred to as CAS.
"We're thinking about it," Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, told reporters at the Air Force Association Air Warfare symposium here when asked about a future close air support system that could replace the venerable Warthog.
"I think it's something that has to be in the discussion," Carlisle said.
"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. We're looking at all of that."
That is likely music to the ears of the close air support community, which has come out fiercely in defense of the A-10 over the last 12 months as the Air Force has sought to retire the plane to save money.
The service claims that retiring the A-10 could save $4.2 billion over the next five years, and that the mission can be shifted to faster jets and bombers. Defenders of the A-10, including a vocal group in Congress, say the plane is necessary to protect troops on the ground and retiring it without a focused CAS replacement endangers lives.
Carlisle insisted the service will always honor its commitment to the CAS mission.
"The support for the ground fight and the joint force, we have always throughout our history been dedicated to the defense of the ground forces from the air. We've done it our entire history" he said.
At the same time, he reiterated the Air Force's argument that the A-10 is more vulnerable to fire from the ground than other options, including the B-1 bomber, F-16 and, eventually, F-35 joint strike fighter.
This means that any new CAS platform would need to be able to survive in a future contested environment.
"Part of the discussion we continually have is, what's [the world] going to look like in 2020 and 2025?
My belief is contested environments are going to go up because adversaries know what we can do when we own the airspace and they will continue to try and deny that to us."
Carlisle highlighted the Jordanian F-16 pilot who was shot down over Syria, and subsequently murdered by Islamic State insurgents, as an example of how denied environments are not restricted to high-tech systems from near-peer adversaries like China.
"Do I think we'll have to perform CAS in contested environments? Yes I do, in the future," he added.
Next month, the service will host representatives from the other services in a weeklong summit on the close air support mission, in order to figure out a way forward.
"We're bringing Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy folks together at the 06 level and down to do these working groups," Carlisle said. The real purpose is [to figure out] where we've been, what we've learned."
"I think everything is getting wrapped around the A-10," he added. "Ultimately, we are committed to that mission we have always been committed and we always will be, and it's to try and get back to the focus on the mission area."

Source: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /23304551/