Shortly after the July recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee will draft their version of the appropriations bill for the FY15 NDAA, and supporters of the A-10 are rallying support for the low and slow flying aircraft.
According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, the Russians and the Iraqis still think an aircraft that specializes in close air support is worth retaining and is the best aircraft to deal with the threats the Iraqis face from ISIS. “Often described as a ‘flying tank,’ the Su-25 is the Russian equivalent of the US’s much-lauded Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II in that it is designed to loiter over the battlefield with a wide array and heavy load of weaponry to provide close air support (CAS) to troops on the ground.”
At the same time, the United States Air Force is working frantically to kill the plane that the troops on the ground love and trust with their lives.
Earlier this month, through the efforts of Arizona Congressman Ron Barber, the A-10 survived the budget process. An amendment was added to the House’s version of the NDAA, which would prevent the Air Force from spending any money on mothballing or otherwise destroying the aircraft. The entire Arizona congressional delegation joined Barber in support of the A-10 except Ann Kirkpatrick.
| Barbara Mikulski | Stephen Ham | [email protected] | (202) 224-4654 |
| Patrick J. Leahy | Sherman Patrick | [email protected] | (202) 224-4242 |
| Tom Harkin | Tom Buttry | [email protected] | (202) 224-3254 |
| Patty Murray | Adam Goodwin | [email protected] | (202) 224-2621 |
| Dianne Feinstein | Christopher Gaspar | [email protected] | (202) 224-3841 |
| Richard J. Durbin | Nick Deml | [email protected] | (202) 224-2152 |
| Tim Johnson | Karen Kunze | [email protected] | (202) 224-5842 |
| Mary L. Landrieu | Ross Nodurst | [email protected] | (202) 224-5824 |
| Jack Reed | Carolyn Chuhta | [email protected] | (202) 224-4642 |
| Mark Pryor | Chris Sweipzer | [email protected] | (202) 224-2353 |
| Jon Tester | Jorge Rueda | [email protected] | (202) 224-2644 |
| Tom Udall | Matthew Padilla | [email protected] | (202) 224-6621 |
| Jeanne Shaheen | Patrick Day | [email protected] | (202) 224-2841 |
| Jeff Merkley | Adrian Snead | [email protected] | (202) 224-3753 |
| Mark Begich | Cory Turney | [email protected] | (202) 224 – 3004 |
| Chris Coons | Bradley Fultz | [email protected] | (202) 224-5042 |
| Richard C. Shelby | Shannon Cantwell | [email protected] | (202) 224-5744 |
| Thad Cochran | Will Todd | [email protected] | (202) 224-5054 |
| Mitch McConnell | Phil Maxsom | [email protected] | (202) 224-2541 |
| Lamar Alexander | Daniel Hale | [email protected] | (202) 224-4944 |
| Susan Collins | Jill Carney | [email protected] | (202) 224-2523 |
| Lisa Murkowski | Nathan Bergerbest | [email protected] | (202) 224-6665 |
| Lindsey Graham | Craig Abele | [email protected] | (202) 224-5972 |
| Mark Kirk | Brandon Greene | [email protected] | (202) 224-2854 |
| Dan Coats | Jim Dolbow | [email protected] | (202) 224-5623 |
| Roy Blunt | Bo Brosch | [email protected] | (202) 224-5721 |
| Jerry Moran | Caroline Prosch | [email protected] | (202) 224-6521 |
| John Hoeven | Josh Carter | [email protected] | (202) 224-2551 |
| Mike Johanns | Jillian Workman | [email protected] | (202) 224-4224 |
| John Boozman | Toni-Marie Higgins | [email protected] | (202) 224-4843 |
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Air Force brass taken to task for A-10 mothball plans