The article is surprisingly factual for an F-35 criticism. The A-29 is a very capable aircraft in the CAS/COIN role, and has the advantage that its relatively

The article is surprisingly factual for an F-35 criticism. The A-29 is a very capable aircraft in the CAS/COIN role, and has the advantage that its relatively cheap. The A-29 can't take battle damage like an A-10, although A-29 has the major advantage in that its cheap to purchase (less than $20m for the Program Unit Cost) and cheap to fly. Two of the best CAS aircraft are the A-1 Skyraider and the A-37 Dragonfly. The propeller driven A-1 "Spads" were used to support the rescue of downed aviators over Vietnam. The A-37B (based on the T-37 Tweet) was flown by both USAF and South Vietnamese Air Force pilots quite effectively. These aircraft were cheap to operate, and accurate at weapons delivery. I'd even go as far as saying the USAF should seriously consider "replacing" the A-37 as the "low" part of the high-low mix with the F-35. Keep the same size and side-by-side layout, and use avionics and "stealth" features of the MQ-9C Avenger [2]. This would enable piloted CAS missions, where drones are impractical. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-1_Skyraider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-1_Skyraider [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_A-37_Dragonfly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_A-37_Dragonfly [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_Avenger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_Avenger