NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (KGUN9-TV) - More than 100 A-10s may be grounded in roughly two years because replacements for wings weakened by years of flying may not be ready in time.
That word comes froma story on Defense News. The article quotes the Air Force General commanding the Air Force Materiel Command as saying the bid competition and construction of replacement wings may take long enough that wings on some A-10s may exceed their service life before new wings are ready.
The wing replacement issue could ground many A-10s in 2019. The Air Force has said it plans to operate A-10s until at least 2022.
The article cites re-using wings from A-10s stored at the Boneyard here at Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base as one option to keep the planes in the air, but that method would not extend their service life as long as newly manufactured wings.
