If Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has his way, a deep set of funding cuts will affect the US military, spanning everything from base closures and personnel draw down to retirement of several mainstay aircraft. On the chopping block is the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft as well as the Lockheed U-2 spy plane, two aircraft that have served the USAF well for several decades.

The new cuts are designed to make the military smaller and more nimble, rely upon several soon-to-be-fielded new weapons systems such as the Ford Class aircraft carrier and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and make more use of unmanned aerial vehicles. It remains to be seen if Congress will authorize these cuts, since base closures always have a deleterious affect on the political constituency for each affected state.