Long-revered by ground troops as a “flying-tank,” the combat proven A-10 has been indispensable to ground-war victory. Its titanium hull, 30mm cannon, durability, built-in redundancy and weapons range has enabled the aircraft to sustain large amounts of small arms fire and combat damage – and keep flying.
Given these factors, and the A-10s long and distinguished record of accomplishment in war, some might wonder why the U.S. Air Force is still moving quickly to retire the classic aircraft.
While specifics informing many Air Force decisions of this kind are likely not available, the service has long maintained that the F-35 is well positioned to pick up the Close Air Support Mission.
There may be no true substitute for the A-10, yet the prospect of flying an F-35 on CAS missions has long been on the radar; several years ago, the Pentagon conducted a specific CAS comparison or competition between the A-10 and the F-35 to assess their respective Close Air Support capabilities.
F-35 Close Air Support: Advantages
Upon initial examination, some might regard a stealthy, 5th-Gen F-35 as ill-equipped or at least not-suited for close air support. However, a closer look does seem to uncover a handful of advantages.
