A-10 Warthog Fleet Down to 162 Aircraft, With Full Retirement Set for 2030

An A-10C Thunderbolt II flew the type's last active-duty sortie from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on 29 July 2026, closing nearly five decades of Warthog operations at the base that trained most of its pilots. The flight was a milestone in a drawdown that GlobalMilitary.net inventory data shows has accelerated sharply since 2024.

Our records put the United States Air Force A-10C fleet at 287 aircraft in 2020, a figure that barely moved for four years — 286 in 2021, 284 in 2022, 286 in 2023. The decline began in 2024 at 270 aircraft, steepened to 234 in 2025, and stands at 162 in the 2026 inventory. Put differently, the Air Force shed 17 Warthogs between 2020 and 2024, then 108 in the two years that followed.

The remaining schedule is public and steep. Congress set a floor of 103 aircraft through 30 September 2026, so a further 59 airframes can leave before the fiscal year is out. From there the service plans to retire 49 in fiscal 2027, leaving 54; none in fiscal 2028; 18 in fiscal 2029; and the final 36 during fiscal 2030, with the last airframe out of service by 30 September 2030.

The support base has already gone, which is what makes the end date credible. Hill Air Force Base completed the final A-10 depot overhaul in February 2026. Davis-Monthan graduated the last class of newly qualified A-10 pilots in March and completed the final TF34 engine build in May. The A-10 Weapons Instructor Course, run at Nellis Air Force Base since 1977, graduated its final pair of students in December 2025. An aircraft cannot easily be reprieved once its depot line, schoolhouse and engine shop have been dismantled.

Two locations still fly the type. Moody Air Force Base in Georgia holds the last two active-duty squadrons at 18 aircraft each, one of which is due to stand down in 2029. The Air Force Reserve's 442nd Fighter Wing operates the rest from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

The drawdown is not happening in a quiet period. The Warthog saw combat this year: an A-10C was shot down near the Strait of Hormuz on 3 April 2026 during the 2026 Iran conflict, the pilot ejecting over the Persian Gulf and being recovered. That loss is one reason the retirement remains politically contested — a bipartisan bill would compel the Air Force to keep at least 126 A-10s flying through 2033, a number the service is already below.

No single aircraft inherits the mission. The Air Force has distributed close air support across the F-35 Lightning II, the F-16 and the MQ-9 Reaper, arguing that a subsonic, unstealthy gun platform cannot survive modern integrated air defenses. Critics counter that none of the successors matches the A-10's loiter time, ordnance load or cost per hour over a permissive battlefield. Among the air forces of the world ranked by fleet size, none other has ever operated the type: all 716 aircraft built went to the USAF, and no export customer was ever found.

The next decision point is the fiscal 2027 budget request, which carries the 49-aircraft cut. If Congress approves it, two thirds of the Warthogs on strength today will be gone by the end of fiscal 2027.