Letter to Jon Tester, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Defense, Richard Shelby, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Defense, Betty McCollum, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Defense, Ken Calvert, Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Defense - Kelly, Kirkpatrick Lead Bipartisan Group to Fully Fund A-10 Mission

Letter

Dear Chairman Tester, Chairwoman McCollum, Ranking Member Shelby, and Ranking Member
Calvert,

As you continue negotiations on the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Defense Appropriations
Act, we strongly urge you to increase funding for the A-10 Warthog to maintain its current fleet
size, consistent with the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and to complete
modernization of the aircrafts' wings. The A-10 is an invaluable close air support asset to
American ground troops with unmatched mission capable rates. As you are aware, the
President's Budget calls for a reduction in fleet size of 63 total aircraft over two fiscal
years. While we support the imperative of modernizing the force, the Air Force has yet to
provide reports as mandated in the FY17 NDAA, showing the competence of other aircraft to
assume the close air support, combat search and rescue, and forward air controller mission
sets currently fulfilled by the A-10. Additionally, there is significant concern about the
parameters in which the comparison tests were conducted.

Section 1046 of the FY22 NDAA requires the comparison report to be released within 53
days of passage, as well as an assessment from the Secretary of the Air Force identifying shortterm and long-term strategies to preserve Air Force capability in these critical mission sets. In
order to prevent widening capability gaps, which could put U.S. ground troops at unnecessary
risk, the FY22 NDAA also retains the current prohibition on divesting aircraft. It would be
premature to retire such a significant portion of the A-10 fleet before the Air Force demonstrates
a suitable successor capability and Congress is able to conduct appropriate oversight.

Due to these concerns and unaddressed capability risk mitigation, we strongly urge you to
restore the A-10 program in the Defense Appropriations bill, as authorized in the FY22 NDAA,
to avoid creating an unfunded mandate for the Air Force. This includes $149 million in
Operation and Maintenance lines to restore the A-10, $156 million for contract aircraft
maintainers A-10/F-35, and $93 million for MILPERS A-10/F-35. Additionally, we request $100
million to continue rewinging efforts and removal of the $39 million recission from A-10
procurement in the Senate Defense Appropriations bill to ensure the A-10 fleet can continue to
operate safely and effectively. With notable increases in the NDAA-authorized defense budget
and surplus post-Afghanistan funds, we believe these are sensible investments to keep a proven
fleet flying until a suitable replacement that can effectively protect our ground troops is
identified.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,