A-10 Warthog

[ytz]

You keep assuming that cost is driving the decision. It's not. Resources are more than just cost.

And the reason the F-15EX is preferred by the NORAD commander is the massive range and speed. Just four based can over CONUS.

 

[ytz]

Unless they already overmatch any likely near-peer enough that the near-peers are all seriously worried that the 90% is more than sufficient to allow the 10% to chew their mechanized forces to pieces.

I assure you that nobody in the USAF thinks actual near-peer is this easy. Jingoism is not a substitute for military competence.