[BwanaNdege]

You’ve just put your finger on one of the problems. The A-10 has legendary loiter capabilities, but it isn’t what they would call a “fast mover”.

"Fast Movers" are not so great at Low & Slow CLOSE air support. Some of our best CAS in Vietnam was from the Korean War era "Spads", the A-1 Skyraider. They were a welcome sight!

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/2017/12/15/how-the-low-slow-a-1-skyraider-earned-its-place-in-the-hearts-of-us-troops-in-vietnam/

[Tallguy]

True, but when your at a distant base in Afghanistan and you’ve got Taliban in the wire then you have an immediate need for the 1st plane that can get there whether or not it is the perfect ground attack plane. IOW’s an F-16 that’s 5 minutes out is far better than an A-10 that’s 15 minutes away.

Not knocking the A-10 here. There are no perfect weapons systems. A truly great design involves trade offs and fit into a tactical system. The A-10 does it’s job well.