Echoing comments from Air Combat Command officials from the August declaration of the A-10C initial operational capability, John Sams, Boeing’s vice president for Air Force programs, said that the company’s $2 billion contract award in June for 242 wing sets for the Warthog fleet extends the life of the aircraft for “at least 20 years”—putting its service well into the late 2020s. A preliminary design review for the upgrade is set for next spring with a critical design review in January 2009.
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.