ISIS may have saved the A-10

(CNN)ISIS seems determined to destroy much of what's in its path as it tries to

conquer more territory in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, but it may have
inadvertently saved a fleet of U.S. Air Force jets.
Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force's vice chief of staff, tells Defense News the
rise of the Islamic State and the U.S. air campaign to fight it has prompted the
service to reconsider plans to retire the A-10 ground attack jets, which first
joined the 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 ISIS -also known as ISIL.

Is the A-10 headed for the graveyard? 03:02

"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," Goldfein said in an interview on
"Defense News with Vago Muradian," scheduled for broadcast this
weekend, according to the Defense News website.
Goldfein's office confirmed the general's remarks to CNN.

The revelation came a week after a report was published on the Defense One
website in which Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
retirement of the A-10, nicknamed the "Warthog," would not be part of the
Pentagon budget request that will be submitted to Congress in February.
The Defense One report about pushing back the A-10's retirement drew praise
from Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, 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," McCain said in a statement.
"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's statement said.

U.S. Military
The Pentagon's position on the A-10 had been that it needed the money and
crews being used to keep the A-10s flying for the F-35 and other missions.
But unlike the multi-role F-35, the A-10 is the only airplane in the Air Force
specifically designed for close air support, a mission that has become urgent in
the fight against ISIS.
Able to circle over a target for long periods, the straight-winged Warthog is
supremely maneuverable at low speeds and altitudes. So when ground troops
find themselves in trouble -- and too close to the enemy for fighter jets to drop
bombs without risking friendly fire casualties -- A-10 pilots can skim hillsides day
and night, under any type of weather, and accurately and punishingly 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 Operation Tidal Wave
II in November, when A-10s combined with AC-130 gunships to destroy 116
ISIS fuel tanker trucks.