A-10 funding increased in new spending bill

The massive spending bill approved by the House this morning includes an additional $144 million for the Air Force’s A-10 aircraft fleet, including the A-10s stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and the legislation blocks any attempt to retire the jets or put them in “backup” status.

Here’s a statement from Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller of Harrison Township, home of the Selfridge base, about the developments:

The A-10 provisions included in the FY16 spending package are significant in two ways.  First, they maintain strong protections against divestment that proponents of the fleet have sought and achieved for years.  In fact, one provision even stops in its tracks a previous effort to place a limited number of A-10s in ‘backup’ status – another term for permanently mothballing the combat planes.

Secondly, this package increases funding for the fleet by over $144 million in FY16, to not only maintain the fleet and purchase additional ammunition, but also to make avionics software upgrades – all critical to the fleet’s continued lethality in theater.”