US Air Force to inspect, repair aged A-10 aircraft

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Friday said it would immediately inspect and repair about 130 A-10 attack aircraft due to fatigue-related cracks in their wings, saying the move illustrated the advancing age of its fleet.

The aircraft in question were built with "thin-skin" wings in the 1970s by the now-defunct Fairchild Industries, and comprise just under a third of the Air Force's 400 remaining A-10s or Warthogs. Later models were built with thicker skins.

"The inspections are a necessary step in addressing the risk associated with A-10 wing cracking - specifically with thin-skin wings," the Air Force said in a statement.

An Air Force spokesman said the action did not constitute a fleetwide grounding of the single-seat, twin-engine A-10s, and would have no impact on any combat operations. "It will be invisible to the warfighter," said Lt. Col. Mike Paoli.

The Air Force said wing cracks had appeared in A-10s, or Warthogs, assigned to the Air Force's Air Combat Command, in the Pacific, the Air National Guard, the reserves, and Air Force Materiel Command.

The service said its first priority would be those A-10 aircraft based in U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those aircraft have been used extensively to provide close air support for U.S. troops on the ground, and to drop precision-guided weapons from high above.

In June 2007, the Air Force awarded Boeing Co (BA.N) a $2 billion contract to replace the wing sets for all A-10s with thin-skin wings.

The Air Force has said it urgently needs to replace its KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft, which are over 45 years old on average.

Last November, the Air Force also grounded all its Boeing F-15 fighter jets after one literally fell apart during a flight on Nov. 2. The issue was ultimately found to affect only nine aircraft across the fleet. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Eric Walsh)