The A-10 Is Proving Its Worth (Again) In The Campaign Against The Islamic State

The A-10 flies low, needs little maintenance, an scares the heck out of ISIS, according to a recent report. (USAF)

IBD Editorial: Pentagon To Scrap Warplane The Islamic State Fears

Defense Spending: The venerable A-10 Warthog, designed to stop Soviet tanks, and the perfect weapon to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State, as President Obama promised, faces a budgetary chopping block.

We have noted the irony of how Obama was going to war against the Islamic State with weapons systems he had scrapped, ending the production runs of the F-22 Raptor and Tomahawk cruise missiles. They were dismissed by the administration as relics of the Cold War even as Russia was rearming and trying to reassemble the old Soviet Union.

We've also mentioned the phasing out of the A-10 Thunderbolt, a close-support aircraft that entered service in 1972 and was designed to combat Soviet tank formations on a European battlefield.

Previous Post: A-10 Warthogs Are Putting Fear In The Ranks Of The Islamic State

WNU Editor: This plane has proved countless times the value of having a slow and low flying aircraft that can survey a battlefield to pick off targets and/or moving convoys.The Air Force may want to have air superiority, but this is a war that is happening on the ground and not 30,000 feet in the air.