(May 31, 2014 at 4:59 pm)Minimalist Wrote: If only al-Qaeda had tanks and armored vehicles perhaps a case could be made. Instead, we are to be saddled with this dinosaur for eternity because there is a base located in AZ.
Indeed. The A-10 made a fuckton of sense when the Army's most likely foe was the Soviet Union (who at the time had about a bazillion metric fucktons of tanks).
The A-10's primary intended role was to reduce T-72's to swiss cheese with the GAU-8/U primary cannon and AGM-65 air-to-surface missiles. It's other role is a close-air-support platform utilizing cluster bombs and rocket pods. It can also be used to deliver laser-guided bombs but IMHO it is not a good platform for that purpose.
IMHO, the only good argument for retaining the platform is that it's intended replacement is the F-35 joint strike fighter, which is an enormous money pit. The F-35 appears to me to be a platform in search of a mission.
