New Wings on a Hundred Hogs

Air Force and industry technicians installed new, reengineered wings on the 100th A-10C as part of the Enhanced Wing Assembly Program on the Ogden Air Logistics Complex line at Hill AFB, Utah, Aug 20. “The first A-10 took over a year to complete—442 days to turn it around” when the program began in 2012, Ogden ALC Commander Brig. Gen. Carl Buhler noted in a release. “Today I’m proud to announce that this jet took 172 days … that’s nine months of aircraft availability given back to our warfighters,” he added. Boeing and Ogden technicians are re-winging and structurally reinforcing a total of 173 A-10s to extend their service lives through 2040. “The new wings will allow the aircraft to fly another 10,000-12,000 flight hours,” 521st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron technician Monte Marcos said. “They are also strengthening the fuselage so it will last as many flight hours as the wings,” he added.