The US military has included A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in the operation against Iran. These aircraft are considered unsuitable for modern conflicts and are planned to be completely decommissioned by 2029, according to information from US budget documents analyzed by RIA Novosti.
As previously reported by the New York Times, the Pentagon has doubled the fleet of A-10s in the Middle East to 30 to support ground forces as part of Operation Epic Fury. However, the newspaper did not mention that the planes were in the process of being retired.
According to Pentagon documents, the US Air Force initially requested the complete retirement of the remaining 162 planes of this type in order to save $423 million. The attack aircraft, developed in the 1970s, has been officially declared vulnerable in modern high-intensity conflicts.
The Defense Appropriations Act, signed on December 18, 2025, however, temporarily prohibited the reduction of the A-10 fleet below 103 aircraft by September 30, 2026. At the same time, the law confirmed the commitment to complete decommissioning: the head of the Air Force is required to submit a detailed plan for decommissioning all aircraft by 2029.
In addition, the deployment of attack aircraft to the Middle East coincided with a legislative deadline: the Pentagon was required by March 31, 2026, to inform the relevant congressional committees of the timing of the transition of each division from A-10s to new aircraft.