A-10 Versus F-35: What a Head-to-Head Showdown Won’t Answer
2nd June 2016
Recently, Rep. Martha McSally suggested that the Air Force conduct a fly-off between the F-35 and the A-10 to see which did better at providing Close Air Support (CAS). But effective CAS is about more than just the capabilities of the aircraft involved. It requires an Air Force community with intimate knowledge of the Army’s maneuver tactics, mindset and intent.
The A-10 community has this knowledge. But that understanding will be lost if and when the Air Force retires the A-10 weapons system—unless its leadership takes a different course of action than the one currently planned.
The Air Force is led by fighter jocks who really don’t care about Close Air Support. This is why the Army needs an Army Air Corps, flying A-10s or equivalent, so that it can be integrated with other land-centric operations, just as the Navy has its own air support branch.
Quite frankly, I don’t see why the Air Force needs to be a separate service at all, but that’s an argument for another day.