The A-10’s main mission now is airborne observation (OA-10). Kind of doing the mission of the OV-1 Mohawk and the OV-10 Bronco army aircraft from the Vietnam-era. Which is why its numbers are down from 715 airframes built to something under 280 remaining, of which about 173 have new wings.
Sure, in a permissive environment it can put a lot of lead on target. But I think the USA is going to take a breather from those sorts of wars. And if the next big war is in the Pacific the ‘Hog will not be involved at all.
If there is another “big war” the A-10 is going to be doing exactly what it was created to do. Killing enemy armor in Taiwan or Korea
Apparently the AF propaganda is strong on this thread
Explain all the F-15 and F-16 losses? Funny thing, almost the exact same number as the A-10s while being a whole lot less effective, and a whole lot more expensive, when used in the close air support role