T
he Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Airport sent off its last A-10 attack jet, reports The Republican. Although wing airmen may feel nostalgic since the unit operated Warthogs for nearly 30 years, they will be continuing flying operations. As we reported earlier, they have traded for F-15s. The 104th FW picks up the Northeast air defense mission from Otis ANGB, Mass., where the 102nd FW takes on an intelligence mission.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…