[x-factor]

Without getting into classified, I think we're living at the end of the days of cheap air superiority. The Russian S-300 series of air defense systems is on the world market and that is not anything to sneeze at. Add to that the continued proliferation of more and more effective MANPADs and the speed/stealth/sensors advantages of the JSF start to hold up a little better in the analysis.

Second, multi-mission capability is about more than what weapons you can put on the hardpoints. Its more about range and survivability vs air defenses than weapons capacity. There's more to supporting ground troops than just CAS: SEAD, interdiction, killer-scout, etc. (Ideally, if you do you killer scout and interdiction right, you may be able to kill the threat as it moves to contact and you won't even need to do CAS.)

Just as a point of comparison, according to the USAF's website, the F-16's range is more than twice the A-10s and, of course, it gets to the target much quicker too. Thats not a big deal when you're talking about Iraq and Afghanistan because the birds are already in country, but not every battle we fight is going to be on territory we've already conquered (all the moreso with SF missions) with forward basing options.

I'm not making any argument about the A-10 being a superior pure CAS platform than any other existing aircraft or that A-10 pilots are a lesser breed. The evidence on both of those points is overwhelming. And I'm not in any hurry to get rid of the A-10. By all means, lets keep them as long as we can. My point though is that there's a need for capability balance and the air defense environment is only going to get harder, potentially a lot harder.

If I were king, I'd like to see them optimize the Marine Corps VSTOL variant of the JSF for CAS and then have USAF buy some of those for pure CAS squadrons (maybe even put them under AFSOC so they can train closely with the Combat Controllers) as the A-10 is phased out.

The CAS disconnect between the USA and the USAF, by my assessment (which I admit is far more academic than real world, as yours is) is about mindset far more than hardware. If USAF squadrons were tied to USA formations to the same degree that USMC air elements are organically part of a MEF, then it wouldn't matter what they were flying. What sets A-10 pilots apart from the rest of the USAF, just as much as their airframe, is the simple fact that they have CAS as their #1 priority in their minds.