Idaho trades one Cold-War aircraft for another Cold-War aircraft, is it progress or politics?

27 December 2023 (03:13-UTC-07 Tango 06) 06 Dey 1402/14 Jumada t-Tania 1445/15 Jia-Zi 4721/27 Декабрь 2023 года

A-10C on Gowen Field, Boise Airport, Idaho, 20DEC2023. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Becky Vanshur.

Both the A-10 Thunderbolt-2 and the F-16 Falcon were developed during the same decade; the 1970s.

A-10A Thunderbolts fly over the Pacific Ocean, 14JUN1977. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph F. Smith.

In July of this year, the Idaho Air National Guard revealed that the U.S. Air Force is forcing them to replace their A-10Cs with F-16s, starting in 2027.

A-10C on Gowen Field, Boise Airport, Idaho, 20DEC2023. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Becky Vanshur.

The A-10A (first flight May 1972) was the result of U.S. Air Force experience with ground attack missions over Viet Nam.

An F-16A belonging to Hill AFB, Utah, flies over Nellis AFB, Nevada, December 1979. USAF photo by Ken Hackman.

The F-16A (first flight in 1976) was developed as a replacement for the F-5E Tiger-2 (itself a replacement for the F-5A Freedom Fighter, designed to be a low cost aircraft for countries who did not have the money to buy the big combat planes, and was subsidized by U.S. taxpayers through the MAP [Military Assistance Program]).

The first USAF unit deployment of F-16s to Europe involved Falcons from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in 1981. They were sent to Flesland Air Station, in NATO-Norway. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Don Sutherland, 01MAR1981.

The division between those in the USAF who liked the A-10 and those who liked the F-16 began during the development of the prototypes, in the 1970s. My father worked at Edwards Air Force Base, California, during that time, and was one of the pro-F-16’ers. Edwards AFB is where both aircraft were originally developed. My father would come home from work stating that he hoped something bad happened to the A-10, so that the USAF would choose the F-16. What people (including my father) didn’t seem to understand is that both aircraft were the result of combat experiences over Viet Nam, and were intentionally designed for specific missions, which is why at that time the USAF wanted both aircraft.

A-10C on Gowen Field, Boise Airport, Idaho, 20DEC2023. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Becky Vanshur.

Both aircraft have been upgraded over the decades, yet ever since the Obama regime was in power the U.S. Air Force has pushed to replace the decades old A-10 with the decades old F-16.