and I would imagine that the Air Force is going to babble incoherently about how the replacement is twice as good and so on and so forth. My guess is the slow moving Warthog is going to be replaced by a fast mover that can't stay on site as long as the old Warthog can.
OTOH maybe drones will replace it. Technology changes incredibly fast these days. It's hard to keep up with.
While the replacement may very well wind up being a good deal, I have my doubts. OTOH I am no expert in the field of close air support.
What interests me is the A-10 has been considered obsolete for a long time now and it seems that every time something pops up the Warthog keeps showing up and tearing up ground targets like it's supposed to.
It is the prince of close in air support.
I wonder if the Air Force bothered to ask the grunts and ground pounders what they think of it. Probably not but they should have.
Before anyone starts carrying on about the old beast being 70s technology don't forget that the BUFF (B-52) is well over 70 years old and projected to last until at least 2050.
The M2 Browning is over 100 years old and is still being used. In fact with the WW2 leftover parts and guns we don't even have to order spare parts or new guns.
Sometimes the government screws up and does something right.
Look at the P-38 can opener, for example. The government belted one out of the park when they made that one.
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