Fight to keep A-10 Warthog in Air Force inventory reaches end game.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

* The A-10 Thunderbolt II--better known as the Warthog--was the darling of the first Gulf War, destroying some 4,000 military vehicles and artillery pieces in that conflict.

Today, it remains one of the most requested aircraft by ground commanders in Afghanistan, according to one Air National Guard representative.

But its day may be coming to an end.

The Air Force attempted to reduce the A-10's numbers in its 2013 budget request by disbanding five active duty, Guard and reserve units. That would have cut the inventory by 103 aircraft--almost 30 percent--and left the Air Force with 246 Warthogs.

That plan was put on hold after it received some pushback from the states that host some of these wings and their congressional delegations. Congress created a National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force, which is currently looking at that proposal and others.

The A-10 "has obviously done a tremendous job in Iraq and Afghanistan and lots of other places, but the Air Force has been looking to retire them for quite some time. Retiring the A-10 is not a new idea," said Rebecca Grant, director of the Washington Security Forum.

"Fighters today really have to be multi-role and cover a lot more area, and have a wider mission set," she said.

The A-10 was developed in the 1970s to provide close-air support for ground troops. It was intended to destroy tanks on the plains of Europe if the Cold War ever escalated to a Full-blown conflict with the Eastern bloc.

It has been described as a "flying canon." Its 30-mm Gatling-style gun can spit out up to 4,100 rounds per minute, or 50 rounds per second.

Its relatively low flying speed allows pilots to see targets better, and its titanium-reinforced cockpit gives them protection from surface-to-air guns.

The Air Force wants to replace both the A-10 and the F-16 with the new F-35. Armed, remotely piloted aircraft such as the Reaper are another option for destroying vehicles on the battlefield and providing close-air support.

"I think we all appreciate the raggedness of the A-10 and its ability to take ground fire," said Grant. "It is great at what it was built for--to be an airborne canon--but the fighters today and going forward need to have that multi-role ability and all the modern sensors that really can't be retrofitted onto the A-10," she said.

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The A-10 community has been vocal in defending the aircraft, though.

"The A-10 is the premier close-air support aircraft that all the...