The F-35 vs. A-10 Fly Off and CAS in denied airspace...

via DoD Buzz.

“It’ll be a very interesting test,” said Pleus, a former F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot who directs the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program’s integration office for the service.
“The A-10 was built to deal with tanks in Europe,” he said. “A low, slow, big cannon on the front of it meant to destroy tanks and assist troops in contacts and do [close-air support]” a mission the aircraft has flown more recently in the Middle East against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Pleus added, “CAS is a mission, not an airplane.”

Then this

“The A-10 is a great CAS platform in a no-threat environment,” Pleus said, adding it was never meant to be a fast, high-flying aircraft that could maneuver in a contested environment — like in current parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The test between the A-10 and F-35 will be structured and certified by the Defense Department’s Operational Test and Evaluation Office, Pleus said. “That plan is something they are still developing” for the comparison testing “to start undergoing in 2018,” he said.
Citing his F-16 experience, Pleus said he would bet the A-10 comes out “as the better CAS platform” in a no-threat environment against the F-35, which performs similarly to the Fighting Falcon. But “as you now start to built the threat up, the A-10s won’t even enter the airspace before they get shot down — not even within 20 miles within the target.”

Story here.

Pleus is spouting the USAF party line.  "CAS is a mission not an airplane"...and then pivoting to providing CAS in denied airspace.

WTF is he talking about?  How does he define denied airspace?  Is he talking about helicopter traps that the Viet Cong would set up when they somehow got word of an offensive and the US Army Air Cav Div would fly into a meat grinder?

Is he talking about the traps setup by the N. Vietnamese Army when they lucked up and shot down one of our fliers?  Is he talking about one of those missions that would see rescue helicopters, Sandy close air support airplanes and every fast mover available trying to keep heads down while Jolly Green Giants would HOPEFULLY swoop in and rescue our guy?

Pleus and the USAF are once again being deceitful.  Any conversation about the F-35 is a non-starter with its supporters because they are willing to twist facts to such an extent that it is a waste of time.

Even better?  We know that the A-10 will win.  The F-35 doesn't even have its already obsolete aviation suite installed.  The Sniper Pod that the A-10 carries is far more advanced than what the F-35 carries so it will be able to deliver precision munitions more precisely.  We won't even get into gun runs and demonstrations of power.