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Hmm, the EMB-314 ALX Super Tucano has essentially the same speed as the WW II era Skyraider, 65% of the endurance, and less than half of the payload, to say nothing of the reduced survivability.
I guess the AF wants a stunt plane, even for CAS guys, and would take that over a new version of the A-10.
Speaking of which, the twin engine A-10 packs 16,000 lbs. of ordnance, as opposed to 3,300 lbs. on the Super Tucano, not to mention the cannon, is one of the most survivable CAS platforms in the world, and flies much faster than the Super Tucano. I have worked with Tucanos, and they are no dedicated CAS platform.
The question I have is why, after six years of FID, UW, COIN, and LIC, with huge requirements for CAS (and no requirements for air superiority, BAI, etc.) are there less than 200 dedicated CAS birds (A-10s) in the AF inventory? BTW, you can put lipstick on a pig, but an F-15E is not a CAS aircraft, IMHO.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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