I was flying and mission ready in 1985, and no one was doing vertical dives back then.
We did do 45 deg dives, but those were inaccurate and terrible for target acquisition and ID.
Folks also ought to remember that fratricide happened with A-10s as well.
“On September 4 [2006] there was a friendly fire incident. U.S. warplanes mistakenly strafed Charles Company, as they were preparing to once again attack Pashmul. The A-10 killed one soldier and wounded at least 30, five of whom were seriously wounded. NATO said the friendly fire incident happened after ground troops battling Taliban militants requested air support. “Two USAF aircraft provided the support but regrettably engaged friendly forces during a strafing run, using cannons,” NATO said in a statement. NATO later identified the planes as US A-10 Thunderbolt II. The friendly fire incident essentially rendered C Company combat ineffective.”
And Army helicopters:
“The officers mistook the soldiers’ mud-walled compound for an enemy position and called down a U.S. Apache airstrike on the base. Roney was fatally shot in the head after a helicopter gunship opened fire on the base. He died later the next day after being taken to Camp Bastion. Eleven other British soldiers were wounded in the attack.”
B-1s are not normally used for CAS, but they would have tremendous loiter time. With faster moving aircraft, you can also hold them between several fights and send them to the fight that makes the most sense at any given moment.
Even at A-10 speeds, target ID at a low angle is tougher than it is from up higher, unless you get high enough that magnification becomes a problem. With modern targeting pods, lots of magnification is available - kind of like being 4 miles above with very powerful and stable binoculars.
Something like ROVER is also helpful:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROVER
FWIW, I did do a little bit of work on the A-10C program - way out on the periphery & the organization I was with eventually got out of it entirely (over my objections), but I’m not anti-A10. Not with DM being the base closest to me...
Did we fly Hogs together. . .RAF Bentwaters/Alconbury?
“Back in the day” referred to props and pistons, not anything since jets hit the battlefield.
Though, I do remember a training flight on an A4 where we most definitely went vertical during our gun run on a surface target. That was the early 70s, and I was in the back seat.