If a FA-XX can do the job of an A-10 and also do (well enough) jobs X,Y,Z that an A-10 can't, then it makes sense to use an FA-XX.
Pilots have to fly these things all the time to keep up their skills. That's why we don't have 5000 F-16s/A-10s/B-1b/etc., etc. flying around and instead have a few hundred F-22/F-35s that are multi-role. It's too expensive to have lots and lots of pilots flying these things even if the hardware is substantially cheaper.
And that's why it's (almost) inevitable that piloted fighters are going extinct. The aircraft can handle G-forces that will kill a pilot, the craft can be sleeker without a bubble for a pilot to see out of, can carry more fuel, etc., and it's too expensive to have people flying them all the time.
I suspect, but don't know, thatit's more like that some sort of Reaper is more likely to replace the A-10 than some new super, dedicated, piloted CAS plane.
Cheers,
Scott.
Pilots have to fly these things all the time to keep up their skills. That's why we don't have 5000 F-16s/A-10s/B-1b/etc., etc. flying around and instead have a few hundred F-22/F-35s that are multi-role. It's too expensive to have lots and lots of pilots flying these things even if the hardware is substantially cheaper.
And that's why it's (almost) inevitable that piloted fighters are going extinct. The aircraft can handle G-forces that will kill a pilot, the craft can be sleeker without a bubble for a pilot to see out of, can carry more fuel, etc., and it's too expensive to have people flying them all the time.
I suspect, but don't know, that
Cheers,
Scott.