I like the concept of datalinked hunter-killer pairs, something like a cargo aircraft the size of a V-22 Osprey, with a turret mounted 60mm cannon, 25mm gatling gun, and loaded up with guided munitions as the “killer” with Global Hawks and Predator’s above and nearby providing targeting. Commanders on the ground could…

I would vote for something with an armament more like an AC-130, basically an armoured drone with a turreted heavy MG/light cannon for taking out infantry and unarmoured vehicles. Have it loiter at altitude over the battlefield and drop down to pick off targets. Turreting the gun negates the need to fly directly at…

Not necessarily. With carbon fiber and certain composit materials, it could be pretty light.

Any weapon that can clear out a mountain region in less than 30 mintues is NOT a weapon you want to get rid of.

It obviously reminds me of Mass Effect’s Mako, but it also reminds me of the EDF Armored Personnel Carrier from Red Faction Guerrilla, if a bit backwards with the wheels, and upside down with the chassis.

First, integrate all the data stuff the A-10's been upgraded with. CAS arguably needs the best picture of the battlefield of any combat aircraft.

I had A-10 Cuba! which I believe is the sequel to Attack! Super fun games, I used to spend hours just dicking around flying through canyons. It’s funny thinking about how great the graphics felt at the time and how dated it looks now. So much fun though, first time I remember a flight sim having a totally functional…

The Air Force has been pretty clear that they don’t intend to outright replace the A-10. The idea is that the F-35 and it’s sensor suite will be able to fill in the high altitude stuff and they have been hosting competitions for a low cost down low CAS fighter. So far it’s looking likely to be one of these:

... the Maverick was often used by A-10 pilots at night as a ‘poor man’s targeting pod’ to search for targets as they wept the missile’s sensor over a very narrow swath of ground looking for targets.

The simple fact that they took over the TAC-A roles is a true testament to the men and women that train, fly, and maintain the Warthogs. The pilots stepped up and did some old school stuff and it paid off. There is so much faith placed in technology that I even wonder if there is training for someone to step up and…

The A-10 has been my favorite plane since I first got A-10 Tank Killer for MS-DOS way back when.

And then when energy shields are developed they will pull the A-10 out of retirement because BRRRRRRT!

The original A10 planning goals declassified.

This and the SR-71 are my favorite planes ever. Never having served, I still have a huge soft spot and fondness for them. And thank you for your service!

I love the Skyraider...not just the anachronism of flying a radial around a battlefield among F-4s, but the fact that it really got the CAS job done in places like Vietnam where almost all the deck was stacked against us and we got a little too “cocky” about our technology.

When I was in Afghanistan in 2004-2005 it and the AC-130 were the only Tactical Fixed wing aircraft based there. Everything else was a Logistics or a Bomb truck based somewhere else that we never saw except on a Powerpoint Chart.

The A-10 force has seen significant downsizing since the first Warthogs went into combat a few months after 9/11

You understand.

Sounds like there were some serious tactical, strategic, logistical, and cranio-rectal problems with the mission planning.