Stavatti is a joke.   As near as I can tell, it's a couple of people who draw fantasy airplanes and nothing more.

They used to be based at my home field - KSGS.

Because the only sort of missions the A-10 is capable of in 2017 can be performed by a cheaper aircraft (which means we can get more of them) with cheaper operating costs (which means we can have more of them in the air over more places more often).

Gotcha, and I agree. Honestly would the A/B26 really be that bad of a choice? From what I've read the Onmark K models did pretty good for the limited use. My uncle flew B25's before being switched to A26's. He said there were allot of good points to the B25, but being such a old design, louder than hell inside, and allot slower it was vulnerable to concentrated heavy fire at low altitude. He did say that in all honesty it was the anti shipping role that did most in as there was withering fire from every direction and believe it or not most that were shot down wasn't plane failure but the pilots being hit.  He said said when they got Invaders it really changed everything, they also had to relearn how they straifed their targets as they started coming in wide open as speed was life and used overwhelming firepower. The big mod was adding the 4 blister guns as well as converting most of their 26's to carry addional 50's in the wings. He said the 3rd didn't like them like the 319th their complaint being pilot visibility but he said that was more of one pilot doing more verse two pilots, which makes sense, he did say once you got used to the addional work load they liked them allot better, even better than the A20's which were very popular as well.

I wreck shop in my A-20 in War Thunder so obviously that's the best choice

Again, they have a piece of the rights of a real flying prototype plane that actually hits on a few points in today's market. (The Javelin).

All that anime vaporware keeps them in the news.

That's the crux.

The AF doesn't want to do CAS, never has.

But like the dog in the manger, they won't let the Army do it.

ah, so the solution to declining aircraft counts is to procure ridiculously expensive, short endurance aircraft.

It briefs well.

When planes cost 100 million dollars plus several million per aircraft O/M costs, the cost of pilots becomes budget dust.

You could have more planes if you bought cheaper ones.

   That Javelin was designed to be a toy for guys who really want to buy a surplus F-18. It doesn't really have a future as a military aircraft,not as a trainer and certainly not for light attack.

I already said something similar in an earlier post....but that is only true to a point. The goal and design was always to get the more lucrative military sales.  The market did not exist the first time around. I said in this thread already, the plan was to get civilian sales to keep things floating until military sales could be made.  ATG had military sales information available from the very beginning.

It is actually a viable design, especially when price is a primary buying motivation.  There is alsothe reality that an airframe was built and flown.  

I don't know what will happen but we do know what happened.  I can also assure you I have an intimate knowledge of the project when it was under ATG.  Now, not so much. (not at all)

Just understand that "Great idea" translates into "SHIT HOT!!!  More flying billets for our zipper suited sun god brethren!" and nothing more.  The funds to buy and operate those 300 would be sucked into the F-35 black hole of cost overruns while there would be another 300 pilots in the AF waiting for their F-35 to arrive.

The baby Brrrrt didn't sound too bad.  If they had more than two 50 cals or maybe even just two GAU-19s it would sound more impressive.

dupe deleted

Or you could, you know, leave the guns on the ground and have more fuel and/or useful ordnance....

I'll never understand why people insist on keeping the GAU-8 on a successive aircraft after the A10. It's too big and heavy for the mission it needs to do; it doesn't take a 30mm gatling to attack goat herders and lightly armored targets. If a heavy armored target needs to be engaged they use hellfires anyways, so why bother carrying around all that extra size and weight?

Feels.

The AT802 is flying in Libya and Yemen.  It got built, and bought.

Turboprop su34

Best post of the thread. Well done. 

A former neighbor was a retired Naval Aviator and flew the A-1 Skyraider in both Korea and Vietnam. Get a beer in that man and he will still sing praises for that airplane.

ETA: This thread is very interesting to me, I appreciate the intelligent posts.

Can I throw in, F Robert McNamara and the F-111.

When will the AF learn you can't have one airframe to do everything.

The K seems like a pretty good starting point for the excercise. I know a turbine is preferred but is it mandatory? Thing is we have guns, bombs and rockets this airframe is full of win. If they can make a crop duster a attack plane the attack plane should be stellar.