The United States Air Force A-10 was designed as a Close Air Support aircraft, built around a potent armor-destroying 30 mm rotating barrel cannon known as the Avenger. Known as the A-10 ‘Thunderbolt ...
The F-35’s multirole design prevents it from excelling at close air support—yet the fighter jet is well-suited to missions in contested airspace, which competitors like the A-10 Warthog are not.