“The A-10 is currently a hot topic within military circles, with infantrymen depending on it, airmen swearing by it, and the Pentagon planning to take it out of rotation in favor of the newer, incredibly costly F-35.”
I don’t understand the concept of “close air support”, apparently.
“close air support”
I was told about a soldier in Vietnam who was in a position which was in imminent danger of being overran. The helicopters there to support them were going to rocket the hand thrown smoke and advised everybody to get down. The soldier thought it would be cool to watch because it would be so close, he stood up and saw the rockets hit and explode, he lived but had to go to an aid station for shrapnel wounds. The doctors said he looked like he had stuck his head into a sackful of rabid rats.
That is the definition of “close air support”