The U.S. Air Force (USAF) A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team announced on social media that 2024 will mark the end of its air shows.
The A-10C Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team is the USAF unit tasked with providing aerial displays across the United States to give the public a chance to learn about the capabilities of the “Warthog,” but as the venerable gunship’s final decommissioning date approaches, so does the end of the demonstration team’s career.
The U.S. Air Force plans to divest its entire fleet of A-10 “Warthog “aircraft in the next few years, which will be replaced by Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation F-35 “Lightining II” fighter.
The USAF has wanted to retire a substantial portion of its A-10 force for years, but until recently had been unsuccessful, as its attempts were systematically checkmated by the Congressional delegation representing Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where the Warthogs have had a home for nearly 50 years.
Although the A-10s performed exemplarily throughout their career, today they are considered too old to survive a modern high-intensity conflict (lessons from Ukraine would indicate this) and are seen as a drag on the USAF’s budget, which prefers to invest those resources in promoting new developments that will allow it to stay ahead of China, which is gaining ground at an accelerated pace.
Anyway, a lucky few will still have time to see the A-10 demonstration team fly for the last time, with their farewell tour ending in Huntington Beach, California, on October 5 and 6.
