A-10 Thunderbolt Mk. 2 VS F-35 Lightning Mk. 2

That's true, but our enemies are still using crappy tech, ISIS, Russia, and China just to name a few. Russia and China are already developing 5th generation fightersRussian T-50 : http://upload.wikimedia.org...Chinese J-20 : https://chivethebrigade.files.wordpress.com...Whereas paramilitary groups like ISIS and Ukrainian rebels have demonstrated proficiency at shooting down aircraft when supplied with MANPADs and SAMs.F-16 shotdown by ISIS: http://www.cnn.com...Malaysia Airlines flight shotdown: http://www.independent.co.uk...Even countries with high tech seem to be lagging behind us.And yet China was able to hack Lockheed-Martin computers and effectively clone the F-35 while simultaneously improving on the original design by adding a second engine.J-31 vs F-35: http://www.infotechgarage.com...Also the A-10s purpose was to fight in the ultimate hostile air combat situations.The ultimate 21st century air-threat environment is an integrated air defense matrix complete with overlapping layers of mobile SAMs, entrenched AAA, CAP patrols by high-flying jet interceptors, and long range early warning radar detection provided for by AWACs and on-site air radar stations. Under these lethal conditions, the A-10 by itself is spotted, intercepted, and shot-down long before it even reaches the battlefield. The A-10 is slow moving, low flying, has no stealth or radar jamming capabilities whatsoever, and can't fire back at intercepting aircraft.I don't think saving thousands of lives is a "so what" issue.I admit, I should have been more clear on this point: "The past service history of an airframe says nothing about its current combat capabilities when compared to current threats"tell me where these the F-15 strike eagle or the average run of the mill F-15 eagles?The strike eagle is not an optimized air-superiority fighter; the regular eagle is. But since we seem to be curious; while at Red Flag's Operation Northern Edge, the F-22 achieved a 144-0 kill/death ratio against all other legacy platforms, including the F-15, F-16, and F-18. :http://www.flightglobal.com...The point of touting the F-22 though, is to prove that 5th generation fighters (like the F-35) will have a significant combat advantage when going up against less advanced 4th generation aircraft (like the A-10).DAS still exhibits high false-alarm rates and false target tracksAFAIK, the one glitch within DAS is that it will sometimes mistake a flare for a missile launch. This problem though is true with just about every other IR sensor out-there - including missile guidance systems which can be fooled when a targeted aircraft launches its own flares and chaff. The flare trick -which I have proved not to be unique to DAS- can be mitigated through block upgrades, more testing, and continued software updates against missile threats. DAS meanwhile, has proved that it could detect and track missiles in ranges exceeding 800 miles and has the ability to track multiple suborbital rocket launches simultaneously (http://en.wikipedia.org...). No other strike aircraft in the Air Force inventory has any system quite like this. Next time your driving 60 mph down a road look out your side window and try to focus on stuff that's on the side of the road, not easy is it? Now imagine flying at 1,000 mph at 850 feet.Comparing driving an automobile to flying a jet aircraft is like trying to compare an apple to an orange. But if I still need to make a case here, then finding ground targets through an F-35 is made simpler by autopilot, a highly-advanced IR sensor package and laser designator (DAS & EOTS), helmet mounted displays (an F-35 exclusive), stealth coating (to get in close), and a Multifunction Advanced Data Link which allows me to communicate and share radar imagery secretly with other stealth aircraft (also an F-35 exclusive) http://en.wikipedia.org.... The A-10 wasn't designed for dog-fightingThen you will admit that the A-10 has nothing going for it in the event of a dogfight, and is therefore vulnerable to fighter intercepts.that's when the F-22 or the F-15 comes in. The F-35 will not need fighter escorts for the majority of its missions. F-35 > A-10.Although the A-10 is excellent against helicopters as this war game shows The problem for strike aircraft is not helicopters, but surface to air missiles and electronic warfare. In both desert storm and the recent Iraq conflict, the Iraqi military demonstrated that it could shoot down an A-10 using last gen missile tech, Here, the A-10 has nothing going for it expect run-of the mil flares and chaff. But don't even get me started on what happens to an A-10 in the event of a coordinated cyber attack. Again, "The A-10 is a high-survivability and versatile aircraft, popular with pilots for the 'get home' effectiveness."The point of the F-35 is to NOT get hit in the first place. Vulnerability > Survivability.The A-10 does need upgrades, but thats the thing the air forces refuses to upgrade it.Because the AF, Navy, and Marines are in badly need of newer planes that aren't old and racking up mileage. They shouldn't have to spend $7 million per A-10 just to keep it on life-support.Oldest AF Fleet Ever and $7 Million/A-10:http://www.military.com...This plane dosent need a replacement it just needs an upgrade!It needs replacing because its old and future threats (as I've hopefully explained) have made it obsolete.