![\"A10](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/A10-Thunderbolt-300x145.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nSenator Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican who has no political dog in the fight is trying to save the A-10 Thunderbolt also known as the “Warthog” close air support weapons platform from the Air Force and the White House budget axe. Ayotte’s only connection to the aircraft is the fact that her husband was an A-10 pilot. Well, that and how the aircraft is credited with saving countless American lives. From the Boston Globe<\/a>;<\/p>\n Pentagon officials, including Hagel, have testified that if they can\u2019t retire the A-10, the Air Force will have to make cuts elsewhere, including weapons and military training. The Obama administration maintains that retiring the planes will save an estimated $4.2 billion and has told Congress it \u201cstrongly objects\u201d to the efforts to keep the planes, insisting that the military will retain several types of aircraft that can do the same job as the Warthog.<\/p>\n The White House has also indicated that President Obama may veto any defense bill that forces the Air Force to retain the A-10 fleet.<\/p>\n None of this has deterred Ayotte. She is pressing her campaign to save the aircraft on grounds that lives could be lost if the A-10 is retired before there is an adequate replacement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n