Are they doing space combat or another F-18 ride along gimmick?

Dust this design off. Toss in your advanced targeting gear in the back seat. You’ve got your next trainer/export/patrol and ground attack bomber all set to go.

The Air Force has systematically retired every other attack plane so... Yea, the hog is all that’s left.

The A-10 has been doing missions in high threat situations. It’s currently deployed in Europe, the Middle East, and it’s doing patrols in the pacific theater. Its taken on enemies with manpads or greater and It’s been used in the sead/dead roles because of its capabilities in dealing with ground defenses.

The problem with the F-35 it’s a golden bullet solution being pitched for every conflict.
Yes it will eventually be able to hit all the same targets as a hog, but the A-10 runs about 9k an hour compared to 32k for the F-35. It can carry the same ordinance where the Tucano is far more limited and more vulnerable. Since…

I wouldn’t bring up parachutes, but I would suggest winged return vehicles as a more reliable alternative.
The wings do add weight and require a runway landing, but they also allow you to burn all of the propellant and cover more mileage home on the return flight.

Problem is the plan always ends with a reccomendation to buy more F-35's. Lockheeds got the brass in their pocket and it’s the taxpayer that will eat the increased cost for every bomb dropped on a mud hut.

When the contents of a hot pocket are tasted there is nothing but molten heat and despair, but if it is cut apart and inspected visually you will see a mere pile of anomalous meatstuff surrounded by a cardboard like crust.

A stylistic element taken to an extreme.

The F-35 is criticized because it tries to be all things to all customers. If thrust vector was essential for low speed handling then it would have been a must have feature.

If I recall that is the reason the F-22 has it.

They mostly use explosive rounds now.

Even in that case, it may not be a game ending sort of problem.

The Skyraider could be catapulted despite having a tail dragger configuration. You could also hitch the two rear wheels to a launch strap (as was done on the phantoms) if a tow bar is out of the question.

I’d argue the A-10, like the A-1 skyraider it was replacing, converts easily to naval duty.

They’ve been doing this to confiscated guns for decades in order to “send a message” to criminals. It never works because criminals don’t care.

Yes, and the S can be equipped with a (very early) self driving system.

I applaud the devs for living by their ideals but I doubt it does anything to improve the nation’s psychological health.

Because being compressed into a bio-plastic laminate for use in an artificial intelligence’s construct is superior to hearing some guy rant about illegal aliens?
You sound indoctrinated...

There’s always a hard line connection as an option.