The U.S. Air Force retired nearly four dozen A-10 attack aircraft last year, marking an effective acceleration in the pace of sending these planes "to the graveyard" by more than double, as only 17 aircraft were retired in 2023. Overall, the entire A-10 fleet is expected to be retired no later than 2030.
The process of retiring the legendary A-10 attack aircraft has a long history, where the U.S. Congress, despite the Air Force's desire to part ways with these planes, long resisted allowing it. For context, the question of decommissioning these aircraft was being considered by the U.S. Air Force as far back as the 2015 budget, which was ten years ago.
Meanwhile, in the fall of 2014, amid the U.S. Air Force's plans to retire its A-10s, an organization that "calls itself" the USA Firefighting Air Corps [USAFAC] proposed a solution to sell the "surplus" aircraft to state fire agencies, which would then modify them for use in firefighting efforts. This story can be found in the archives of Fire Aviation.
Indeed, the founder of the organization, Chris Olson, insisted that the A-10s would have several advantages as firefighting aircraft, such as maneuverability, speed, and pilot safety, the ability to fly at low altitudes and at night, "seeing" through smoke, and even the option to "refuel" in the air.
Despite such enthusiasm at USAFAC, the idea did not receive favorable feedback—most notably, it was criticized for the fact that the organization relied on insights from companies that either had no experience in aerial firefighting or insufficient experience, ultimately failing to provide concrete arguments for how the A-10s could truly "change the game."