MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Air Force to Test Lighter, Cheaper, Planes to Supplement the A-10. “While the entire Warthog fleet is being rebuilt and upgraded with modern avionics and targeting systems to the A-10C standard, nothing can change the fact that the last jet left the Fairchild assembly line 35 years ago. Those airframes are getting up there in years, which means they’re getting more expensive to fly, and more expensive to maintain. So maybe an aging, irreplaceable, $45 million jet isn’t always the best thing to fly against Third World jihadis.”