The Air Force wants to retire its entire fleet of 162 A-10 Warthogs in FY26 — marking the final chapter for the iconic “Warthog” close air support jet. That’s just part of a massive drawdown that would see 340 aircraft retired across the service, including 62 F-16s, 21 F-15Es, 14 C-130Hs, 14 KC-135 tankers, 35 T-1 trainers, 11 HH-60Gs, and even a lone B-1 Lancer. . The plan comes as part of the Pentagon’s long-delayed $211B FY26 budget request — $184.9B for the Air Force and $26.1B for the Space Force. A separate $38.6B “mandatory” funding bill could push the total to $249.5B, a 17.2% jump over FY25 levels. But if that doesn’t pass, Space Force could face an 8.7% budget cut. . Another surprise: the Pentagon wants to cancel the E-7 Wedgetail program due to “significant delays” and spiraling costs — despite the aircraft being planned as a critical AWACS replacement. . Retiring the A-10 fleet earlier than the originally planned 2030 sunset marks a major pivot. Congress had long resisted d...