The P-51 cost today’s equivalent of about $650,000 per copy and 15,000 were built.
True, true. But the A-1, A-6, A-10 could fly further, faster, and land more bombs more accurately than the B-17, B-24, or B-29. And drop them more accurately in the dark and bad weather (sevral missions per day if needed!) with only 1 or 2 crewmwn.
B-17 needed 10 men flying, 10 repairing, and had one mission every three days. If that.
yes, of course the A-10 was better, but it was also 30 years old.
For its time, the P-51 was cutting edge. What is cutting edge today? And how much does it cost?