How an ugly, brutally effective warplane won the battle for its future

Keep the Warthog flying - nothing else can do its job and the F-35 never will be a match for it in a close support role.

A new Administration lead by warriors rather than lawyers and social justice types will probably save the aircraft indefinitely. A SECDEF like Tom Cotton or Allen West or Ralph Peters would really ensure the defense dollars are going to the troops rather than social experiments. The A-10 is simply the best at what it does and if the political considerations are removed by a grunt friendly secretary it will have a long life.

It's very good at what it does because it was designed to do ONE thing. The MBAs says it isn't cost efficient if there's nothing for it to do (no tanks and such to kill) but the F35 is completely justified because there are always ALL kinds of aircraft in the air everywhere just waiting to be shot down. So needless to say the F35 can't and won't be excellent at anything, mediocre at best. Does that mean it will be excellent as a target?

If we are going to be waging war against the likes of ISIS, Taliban, and other cowardly vermin of the jihadi ilk, we need every last A-10 we can muster up. The short sightedness of the Pentagon appointees since Slick Willy was in office has been far too focused on the WOW technology of the moment and not on the realities of war fighting in the real world environment that has evolved. No enemy's large standing armies or navies and no mach2 fighters buzzing around the skies, but that is the war that has been planned for. Not saying that a shooting war with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran or other nation could not happen, but the real threat in the world has become the small groups of fighters who would rather hide than stand and fight. The proper tools for this type of engagement is boots on the ground, highly mobile artillery and close air support. The A10 is the tool and if we are fighting this type of war into the future we need more of them. Rather than procure the high number of F35s slated over the next couple decades, Northrup should be geared up to produce more A10s, plain and simple.