[Mind-numbed Robot]

A great system, for the last war, but what are the advantages over airstrikes from UMA, B52s, B-1s, Tomahawk and cruise mnissles, etc. Once you consider the costs of the Crusader and at least one, sometimes more, resupply vehicles I see no operational cost advantage. This would have been real cool in WII, Korea, and maybe Vietnam (maybe not) but technology has already made it obsolete. I see why Rumsfield wants to kill it.

[CarryaBigStick]

This would have been real cool in WII, Korea, and maybe Vietnam (maybe not) but technology has already made it obsolete. I see why Rumsfield wants to kill it.

Artillery will never be obsolete as long as your adversary has it. At the very least, it's necessary to have it in a counter-battery role to keep the enemies artillery off your back. The Chinese have a passel of gun tubes.

[Tallguy]

The chief advantage is that artillery is "on-line" virtually all the time; TACAIR is only available when there are actually aircraft loitering. OTOH, this is all negated if your special forces types are operating beyond the artillery fan.