Twenty lawmakers are urging colleagues to fund repairs for the Air Force's aging A-10 aircraft in any budget agreement for the 2018 fiscal year, the Washington Examiner reported.
The 1970s-era aircraft have been used to go after Islamic State fighters. However, about 110 of the planes, are now in need of wing replacements, estimated to cost about $103 million, according to the website.
The repairs were included in the National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Donald Trump. However, Congress has been unable to reach an agreement to fund the annual defense bill, the Examiner noted.
"We ask that this same level of funding (as the NDAA) be secured in any final FY18 spending package in order to prevent a critical capability gap in the operational fleet," Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a former A-10 pilot, said in a letter to members of the House and Senate appropriations committee.
The letter was signed by 19 other lawmakers.
"Now that the Air Force has confirmed that it plans to maintain the A-10 fleet well into the foreseeable future, the remaining 110 wing sets must be delivered as soon as possible," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Earlier this year, the Air Force announced it planned to maintain the majority of the A-10 aircraft, commonly known as the Warthogs, according to CNN. But it noted some of the planes could be retired.
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