“What’s going to replace its function as the greatest ground support/tank killer ever?”
The F-35 with precision munitions...and drones.
The A-10 today would not survive 2 minutes on a modern battlefield.
Against the rest of the US military, that may be true. Against the rest of the world it is exactly the right tool.
It just isn’t sexy enough for you ghey chair force types.
There hasn’t been an A-10 shot down in 23 years. That’s better than 2 minutes.
And an F-35 would not survive a CAS environment. Stealth means nothing against AAA guns. And despite what the zoomies say, CAS from high altitude with precision weapons is no substitute for actual CAS.
CAS from 20,000 feet works.... sometimes, but not always.