Ukraine Needs the A-10 Now, Before the U.S. Sends It to the Scrapyard Hey friends, Wes O’Donnell here, Army vet, Air Force vet, and unapologetic fan of anything that goes BRRRRT. Today, we’re talking about the legendary A-10 Thunderbolt II, the Warthog, and why it’s got one last mission left before it ends up as target practice in Arizona. The U.S. Air Force is retiring all 162 A-10s by 2026. But while Washington debates “modernization,” Ukraine is getting hammered by wave after wave of Shahed drones and naval kamikazes, and they're running out of cost-effective ways to knock them down.