The CAS role for an AH-1Z and a F-35 couldn’t be more different. I said this in another post but it bears repeating here, like the A-10 the AH-1Z was doing low

The CAS role for an AH-1Z and a F-35 couldn’t be more different. I said this in another post but it bears repeating here, like the A-10 the AH-1Z was doing low altitude, slow, line of sight close air support. Literally “put a hellfire in the third window from the right on the top floor of the tan building with the tile details on the roof line” and then watching the Marines behind cover point at it. Maybe Marines on the ground had a different experience, but I viewed the jets, Artillery, and AC-130s as a much more blunt instrument. We got a lot of calls for precision strikes that would have been danger close, and without us I can imagine a lot more friendly fire incidents. That said, there is no air to air defense for an attack helicopter, it’s comical that we even practiced. Without our jets suppressing enemy jets, there would be no way helicopters could operate, we’re sitting ducks.