content: a10 is to military aircrafts what AK47 is to assault rifles, there's no equivalent for close air support, it's a beast Rusticity isn't his weakness, it's part of its strength, the other part is a 30mm canon capable of ripping apart a column of soviet tanks  Pretty handy when it comes to concrete buildings Listen, I love the A-10. I think it's a fantastic aircraft with a phenomenal combat record. But if someone tells me I can only afford to keep two out of three aircraft -- the A-10, the F-16 and the F-35 -- I have to pick the F-16 and F-35, because they can fly more kinds of missions." -- General Herbert Carlisle, per BreakingDefense.com  And that's how you end up with a fleet of aircraft that are supposed to be capable of doing everything and anything And in the end, you end up with a fleet of aircraft average at everything, at best