A-10 vs. F-35 Flyoff

The A-10 vs. F-35 Flyoff Could Start This Spring

The F-35 has been suggested as close-air support attack plane to replace the A-10, but Congress wants to see them compete.

By Jay Bennett

 USAF / JIM HASELTINE

The long-awaited flyoff between the F-35 and A-10 could start this spring. The joint strike fighter is gearing up for a major review of its performance in September, initial operational test and evaluation, or IOT&E, and the stealthy jet will be performing a number of tests leading up to that review. One of those tests will be an assessment of close-air support (CAS) capabilities at Edwards Air Force Base in April, part of "iteration two" of testing, according to Defense News.


Vice Admiral Mat Winter, who heads the F-35 Joint Program Office, told reporters on Wednesday that he didn't know if an assessment against the A-10 would be part of April's close-air support and reconnaissance performance tests, but the showdown between the two planes is still in the works.

“I have not seen the scope of increment two, so I cannot go on record to say that it’s in increment two,” he said, as reported by Defense News. “It will be in either increment two or in the formal [IOT&E], and it will be executed.”


F-35B over Edwards Air Force Base, 2014.
LOCKHEED MARTIN

Congress mandated that the Air Force do a performance evaluation of the F-35 and A-10 in CAS roles in the 2017 Defense Authorization Act. At the time, lawmakers were concerned about plans within the Air Force to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II, a heavily armed and armored aircraft introduced in 1977 specifically to defend ground troops and take out enemy vehicles such as tanks and trucks. The service has since announced plans to instead re-wing the A-10 fleet, guaranteeing the Warthog's service for years to come, but the comparison tests between the Hog and the F-35 are still being planned.

"Congress has directed the [Defense Department] to do comparison testing, we call it," Winter said, according to Military.com. "I wouldn't call it a flyoff; it's a comparison testing of the A-10 and the F-35."

The Warthog continues to be an effective part of the battle against militants in the Middle East, in large part due to its ability to loiter for long periods of time and strafe with its GAU-8 Avenger 30mm rotary cannon. Congress worries about the F-35's ability to take on the Hog's heavy workload, but F-35 proponents argue the older, non-stealthy A-10 would have trouble even getting to the battlefield in a conflict with a more advanced military power.

It seems the solution is to keep both aircraft—but that doesn't mean Congress is going to let the Air Force off the hook comparing the two planes in flight tests. Whether the flyoff kicks off next month, or closer to the September IOT&E, we should know soon enough how the F-35 really can handle the A-10's job.

Sources: Defense News, Military.com