Citing budget strain and maintenance, the Navy is planning to pull its carrier from the Middle East later this fall, leaving a presence gap of up to two months—right in the middle of the fight against the Islamic State.
While some fleet presence will remain, the Air Force will have to help pitch in on the air strike front with increased deployments. As of January, the Air Force has handled 60 percent of air strikes, and the Navy 40 percent. The A-10 is the third most relied upon aircraft in the fight against ISIS, constituting 11 percent of sorties. This means the Air Force, despite its desire to sideline the A-10 at every point, will likely have to increase its dependence on aircraft even further in the near future.