Davis-Monthan to launch recent special operations wing as A-10 retires

This story was updated April 27 at 10:52 a.m. to correct which missions are moving from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona appears poised to trade its stalwart fleet of A-10C “Warthog” attack planes for a brand new special operations wing.

The move follows years of debate in Washington over the long run of the A-10, which the Air Force plans to retire by the top of the last decade in favor of more advanced fighter jets. Bringing in a special operations wing would keep jobs on the Tucson installation while taking it in a special direction than the service had planned.

A service spokesperson said Tuesday the Air Force continues to be “working through the main points” of the brand new organization, which is listed within the service’s fiscal 2024 budget request because the “492nd Power Projection Wing.”

It’s unclear what, precisely, the wing will do. Most wings that fall under Air Force Special Operations Command oversee multiple specialized aircraft — from the AC-130 gunship to the U-28 surveillance plane — that allow troops to maneuver around warzones quietly and quickly, and with the substantial firepower needed to guard ground forces.

Members of Arizona’s congressional delegation raised the prospect of a brand new “special operations capability” with a flying mission at Davis-Monthan in a public letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall earlier this month.

The bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers — Sen. Mark Kelly and Rep. Ruben Gallego, each Democrats; Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who caucuses with Democrats; and Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Republican — said they’re encouraged by the service’s vision and urged transparency as its work moves forward.

“The Air Force has laid out an ambitious timeline for executing this transition at Davis-Monthan through a series of facility reviews, military construction and incoming flying missions,” the group wrote in its April 6 letter. “Delivering on this five-year plan requires meeting plenty of targets that should be consistently met to avoid delays that negatively impact the bottom and the local economy.”

Davis-Monthan will proceed to host the Compass Call electronic attack mission with a rather smaller fleet of recent EC-37B jets, which is able to replace the 40-year-old EC-130Hs, and the combat search-and-rescue mission using the fixed-wing HC-130J Combat Kings and the brand new HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter.

Lawmakers said Davis-Monthan will still employ around 11,000 airmen in five years, the identical size workforce because it has now, despite changes to its core missions. The Air Force must still work through its official basing process before making any firm decisions to bring recent missions to Tucson.

The service’s pivot to ascertain a brand new special operations wing at Davis-Monthan indicates it has ditched an earlier plan to maneuver the test and training enterprise for A-10s from Nellis AFB, Nevada, to Arizona. It still expects to maneuver those units for the HH-60 fleet to Arizona.

The service plans to proceed downsizing its A-10 fleet from 260 to 218 aircraft by the top of September 2024, with the remainder to follow over the subsequent five years. Congress ended its yearslong opposition to retiring the A-10 last December, paving the best way for divestment of the venerable close air support platform that has protected ground troops on the front lines of America’s wars for a long time.

A-10 retirement is one piece of the Air Force’s broader vision to modernize its inventory with equipment that will be most useful and sturdy in a possible conflict with China. Critics argue the Warthog could be too vulnerable against advanced surface-to-air missiles and lacks the long-range strike capabilities needed for war within the Pacific.

“The A-10 is an awesome airplane … in an uncontested environment,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. said in March. “The challenge is, we’re going to be in additional contested environments in the long run.”