> Actually the Apache has a reasonably effective 30mm cannon that works well in many CAS situations. The cannon on the Apache is secondary, the Hellfire II sys

> Actually the Apache has a reasonably effective 30mm cannon that works well in many CAS situations. The cannon on the Apache is secondary, the Hellfire II system is the primary weapon of the Apache Longbow. > As far as guided weapons go, the GPS guided bombs are the preferred CAS solution. I would say that any fire and forget system is preferred, which includes smart bombs but also the Hellfire II system utilized by Apache Longbows and drones. > The use of GPS guided bombs means that CAS aircraft can loiter at fairly high altitudes (> 5000 ft) I'm not disagreeing with you but the Hellfire II system is fire-and-forget, has an 8km range, and is utilized heavily on drone platforms operating at high altitudes.