A fiscal 2018 spending plan released by the Trump administration does not provide retirement dates for the U.S. Air Force‘s A-10 Warthog and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft fleets, Defense News reported Tuesday.Defense News obtained budget documents that say the Air Force plans to allocate money for its fleet of 283 A-10s; extend the service of U-2 planes; and continue sensor upgrades to RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems.
Lawmakers have previously introduced measures to keep the Air Force from retiring A-10 and U-2 platforms.
Trump’s budget request would allocate $183 billion for the Air Force, up from the $171 billion in fiscal 2017 appropriated funds, reported Defense News.
The proposed Air Force budget includes $24.7 billion for procurement; $49.2 billion for operations and maintenance; and $25.4 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation programs.
The Next Generation Air Dominance, Long Range Standoff Weapon, B-21 and Air Force One replacement acquisition programs would get funding increases under the budget proposal.
