The army is prohibited from operating fixed wing aircraft. This was part of the deal creating the air force out of the army. The air force is therefore on the hook to provide CAS.

The army has no qualms about operating helicopters even though they're vulnerable to fast jets and manpads, but the air force keeps raising the issue like its a deal breaker. The A10 can be thought of as an attack helicopter with much better range, armament, speed, and survivability. It is pretty dumb not to keep it going or replace it with something in the same category.

The air force position is that the F35 is the thing to do it. That's the case they made for the F35 - its a single aircraft that can take over these missions: A10, F16, F15, F18, F22. Completely bonkers.

The Air Force would be happy to operate a new replacement CAS platform if they had funding for it. But Congress hasn't shown any willingness to allocate hundreds of billions to procure a new build "Super Warthog" with the range and speed that would be necessary for a Pacific Theater conflict. So they'll have to make due with a variety of alternatives as described in the article.

They have provided funds to rewing the A-10s to extend their lives, but the Air Force has slow rolled that and done everything they can to retire them. Just like they've done time and again throughout the lifetime of the A-10.

Because the A-10 would be mostly useless in a conflict against China. Slow rolling major upgrades is a smart decision which preserves funding for more relevant programs.

The Army has expressed interest in the past for taking over the A-10 fleet should the Air Force try to retire it, but that was 2013.

https://archive.today/20130915210441/http://www.defensenews....

Meanwhile, the Marines are trying to figure out how to utilize the A-10 even more.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019...

If the Army doesn't pick up the A-10, then the Marines certainly would.

In my opinion, the only way the A-10 goes away is if the Air Force comes up with a direct replacement for the A-10's CAS, and the "Swiss Army Knife" F-35 isn't it.

Never underestimate petty political squabbles between the branches. I could see the Air Force retiring the A-10, not providing a viable replacement, and simultaneously working to prevent other branches from using them.

Reopening the Key West Agreement and giving the Army (even if just CAS) a fixed wing combat air arm would be... a seismic event.

Those discussions took place during the GWOT when the Marines were still engaged in the Middle East. Now they are pivoting to confront China and expect to fight on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. They have no bases in the area where an A-10 could even use to reach the expected battlefields. Marine Corps leadership has clearly stated that going forward they only want aircraft that can operate from amphibious ships. Most of the airframes are also getting worn out and will be increasingly expensive to maintain; the Marines simply don't have the budget for that.

The A-10 is dead. Time to let it go.