Grenartia wrote:Austria-Bohemia-Hungary wrote:There is this colour booklet that specifically instructed A-10 pilots to not aim for the entire front and the side turret of T-62's because at those angles vs those plates the 30 mm API round would fail completely to penetrate. T-72 Urals I presume would be entirely no go and if attempted would probably lead to a mission-killed Warthog from a MANPADS BTR instead.
An interesting quote from the article which ultimately kills any hope of the F-35 being an effective CAS platform:
“Assuming that Iraq and Afghanistan are typical of future conflicts—and that is not a rock-solid assumption—then I think the A-10 type of close-air support weapon to be useful,” he says. “Fast movers cannot do the job as well. I’ve flown CAS in fast movers and it just isn’t going to happen in many situations. Speed in CAS is a detriment, not an asset.”
But maybe the F-35 was also designed with conventional conflicts against more modern militaries in mind. Not every war will be like Iraq and Afghanistan, and if wars like that continue couldn't they just keep using A-10s?