Keep in mind that, while I believe McCain does honestly believe the A-10 is the best aircraft for the job, every single A-10 pilot trains through D-M AFB in Tucson. So he’s also not a completely objective observer.

Don’t know how old you are, but the Air Force has likely been trying to retire the A-10 for the majority of your life.

The Air Force isn’t really allowed to operate attack helicopters. Armed SAR helicopters, yes, (got some pretty good stories about that from Afghanistan) but not attack helos.

...and in those 15 minutes, the Air Force lost 6 A-10s to ground fire

Soo, you’re endorsing planning for the last war, not the next war?

Also give it rockets like Credible Sport so it can land and takeoff within 100 meters

Yep, although, again, then you get into the prickly issue of Pace-Finletter, Johnson-McConnell, Key West, etc., where the Air Force wants to control all fixed wing combatants.

Even if they pass the NDAA with this language, USAF will figure out a way around it.

That ignores, of course, the idea that you can do both, or that if you refuse to do CAS, you’ve gotta destroy 100% of the bridges, factories, and fuel depots before you have troops on the ground.

Well, SEAD and air superiority, but I suppose that’s pretty much a given.

Yeah, we should just buy that Russian copy of the YA-9.

Photoshopped. Look at the shadows.

I don’t believe that is correct.

Well, you’re going to have to kill half the flag officers in the Air Force to get to that point.

Everytime I see a Carlo Kopp graphic I just assume it’s exaggerated F-22 propaganda

That’s not really the right way to consider processor aptitude in aircraft. The F-22 isn’t limited by its hardware.

That’s... not really how markets work.

“Battleship”

That’s not really an issue anymore. Russian missile subs can hit the US from the Barents Sea.