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re: USAF plans to retire more A-10 Warthogs; “crippling” close air support capabilities
Posted on 3/19/24 at 12:25 pm to brass2mouth
Posted on 3/19/24 at 12:25 pm to brass2mouth
quote:
CAS relies on air superiority. We would arguably achieve that with the current assortment of fighters.
My question is accepting that CAS is not possible until local ADS and airspace are controlled, why would you not want these available for use as soon as superiority is achieved?
Unless the drones and attack helicopters are so pervasive that they are redundant and unnecessary I don’t understand mothballing the platform (not that this is that *yet*).
Personally I think that even next gen fighters will become unsurvivable over enemy territory against a China level threat and that missile and drone swarms controlled by AI and remote operators will be the obvious path after the first month or two of a major conflict between the US and China occurs.
Of course I don’t think we have the logistical infrastructure to support that fight for a year even setting aside the a symmetric and Chinese insurgent cells they have ready to activate against us domestically but that’s an entirely separate discussion.
This post was edited on 3/19/24 at 12:30 pm
2
Posted on 3/19/24 at 12:36 pm to tide06
CAS is a thing of the past in a conventional conflict anyway. With things like switchblade and ultra accurate artillery, mortars and HIMARS type system it really doesn't make sense to use a manned aircraft. Surface based fires and more responsive, reliable and economical both from a monetary and logistics standpoint.
Posted on 3/19/24 at 1:06 pm to tide06
quote:
My question is accepting that CAS is not possible until local ADS and airspace are controlled, why would you not want these available for use as soon as superiority is achieved?
Because if we keep paying for things that may be useful on say day 30 of a fight, we can't afford the things that get us to day 30. Same reason we are divesting B-1s, B-2s, F-16s, F-15Es, and older F-15Cs.
For those who want to complain about what this means for our own CAS capability, flip the argument. What would the Army say if the AF can't afford to buy the aircraft that allow us to gain air superiority so now our troops are having CAS done against them? A US ground troop hasn't been fired upon from the air since the Korean War. Pretty sure they would prefer to have the AF have the right capabilities to gain air superiority and then do CAS as effectively as possible with what got you to that point rather than have a great CAS capability that can never be brought to bear because we didn't gain air superiority and the enemy is now conducting CAS against us.
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