Why The F-35 Cannot Replace The A-10

Image from Rally Point

Blake Franco, National Interest: This Is Why the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Can't Truly Replace the A-10

The U.S. Congress's recent decision to extend the service life of the A-10 Thunderbolt II reveals resistance to current thinking at the Pentagon.

A more powerful China and an increasingly assertive Russia have focused defense planners’ attention on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But even as insurgencies continue in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, the Pentagon seems intent on using the USAF’s version, the F-35A, to replace one of its most capable flying tools of counterinsurgency, the A-10C. Although an aging aircraft, the A-10 provides a more cost-effective and doctrinally suitable solution for fighting guerrillas. As the Air Force has lacked aircraft specific to counterinsurgency—other than its gunships—since the Vietnam War, now might be time to dedicate the A-10 to such missions.

WNU Editor: Another argument in favour of the A-10.