Whereas the A–10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft (hereinafter referred to as the A–10 ) has seen action in every major United States conflict since the first production A–10 was delivered to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in October, 1975, and has received several upgrades for the 281 A–10s remaining in service; Whereas since Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the A–10 has become a preferred close air support platform for ground troops; Whereas the A–10 has been the backbone of the close air support mission for more than 40 years and has proven to be a highly accurate and durable weapons-delivery platform that can be used against all ground targets; Whereas the A–10 supports close air support with a variety of forward-firing, free-fall, and precision-guided munitions, and performs combat search and rescue, air interdiction, armed reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defenses, special operations forces support, and countersea operations in either low- or high-threat environments, day or night; Whereas the A–10 provides the Air Force an extensive ability to survey the battlefield and then fix, engage, target, and destroy a wide range of both mobile and fixed targets, including tanks and other armored vehicles in quantity, as an arsenal aircraft; Whereas the A–10 gets pilots back to base despite heavy damage from ground fire; Whereas the A–10 has the lowest rate of friendly fire incidents of any combat fighter or bomber; Whereas the close air support as provided by the A–10 has proven invaluable on the battlefield, and it is better than any other fighter aircraft for close air support as it is simple, effective, and has excellent maneuverability at low air speeds and altitude; Whereas the A–10 is the least expensive combat plane in the United States arsenal to operate and buy