ISIS delays mothballing of A-10 fighter jets by USAF

The Islamic State seems to have inadvertently saved a fleet of A-10 US Air Force jets from being mothballed as the ground attack aircraft have been useful in the military campaign against the terror group in Iraq and Syria.
"When we made the decision on retiring the A-10, we made those decisions prior to ISIL, we were not in Iraq, we were coming out of Afghanistan to a large extent, we didn't have a resurgent Russia," the US Air Force's vice chief of staff General David Goldfein said.
Goldfein told Defense News that the rise of the Islamic State and the US air campaign to fight it has prompted the service to reconsider plans to retire the A-10 jets.

Nicknamed "Warthog", the jets first joined the US Air Force fleet in 1975.
The Air Force's version of the F-35 will eventually replace the A-10 Thunderbolt, but those new jets are just coming online and are not battle tested like the A-10, which has seen combat in Iraq, Afghanistan and recently in Syria against Islamic State terrorists, CNN reported.
Earlier this month, media reports, quoting unnamed Pentagon officials, said retirement of the A-10 would not be part of the Pentagon budget request that will be submitted to Congress next month.

The report about pushing back the A-10's retirement drew praise from Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I welcome reports that the Air Force has decided to keep the A-10 aircraft flying through fiscal year 2017, ensuring our troops have the vital close air support they need for missions around the world.
Today, the A-10 fleet is playing an indispensable role in the fight against ISIL in Iraq and assisting NATO's efforts to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe," he said.
"With growing global chaos and turmoil on the rise, we simply cannot afford to prematurely retire the best close air support weapon in our arsenal without fielding a proper replacement," McCain said in a statement.
The A-10s can circle over a target for long periods and is maneuverable at low speeds and altitudes.

When ground troops find themselves in trouble, A-10 pilots can accurately engage ground targets with its powerful 30 mm, seven-barrel Gatling gun, which fires depleted uranium bullets at 3,900 rounds per minute.
The A-10's role in the fight against ISIS was highlighted in November, when A-10s combined with AC-130 gunships to destroy 116 ISIS fuel tanker trucks.