Except they’re dead against any adversary with remotely modern air defenses… or 5th, 4th, and likely 3rd Gen fighters if they’re around. They’re amazing at fighting targets that can’t shoot back though.
You must have missed my first sentence. You can say the same about any helicopter that also have the CAS roll. So why not get rid of those as well? It’s also why you have layers of force. 3rd 4th 5th gens duke it out and then you send in CAS. These machines were never designed to be taking on an air to air roll. Hence the Tank Buster nickname. Sure they have the ability to defend against air assets if necessary but that’s more of a deterrent to give them time to bug the fuck out. These machines are to help the troops on the ground. Not defend the skys.
Except they’re dead against any adversary with remotely modern air defenses… or 5th, 4th, and likely 3rd Gen fighters if they’re around. They’re amazing at fighting targets that can’t shoot back though.
You must have missed my first sentence. You can say the same about any helicopter that also have the CAS roll. So why not get rid of those as well? It’s also why you have layers of force. 3rd 4th 5th gens duke it out and then you send in CAS. These machines were never designed to be taking on an air to air roll. Hence the Tank Buster nickname. Sure they have the ability to defend against air assets if necessary but that’s more of a deterrent to give them time to bug the fuck out. These machines are to help the troops on the ground. Not defend the skys.