Warrant Officers. The Army had a program during OEF/OIF where enlisted servicemembers could take a test and qualify for flight school to become helicopter pilots as a warrant officer. I found this tremendously attractive as an enlisted service-member and would have gone that route if I hadn't planned to leave and go to college instead.
A turboprop is also much better as a platform for surveillance radar. No engines hanging below the wing obscuring the radar field. Turboprop flies slower and thus stays longer over the target scene.
Interesting! Given that F-35s were going to lose in a dog fight and relies on long range missile superiority, why not mount the same missiles on simpler planes?
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 62.0 ms ] threadI think this principle is humorously well-illustrated by this clip from "Pentagon Wars": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA&t=0m16s
It's essentially an assignment to the minor leagues of air combat.
Moreover, such planes would depend heavily on air supremacy gained by the Mach 2+ stuff.
OTOH, it would probably be a helluva lot of fun.
I think that's part of the intended use-case, yes. Currently "anti-insurgency" implies opponents who do not have an air-force.
Warrant Officers. The Army had a program during OEF/OIF where enlisted servicemembers could take a test and qualify for flight school to become helicopter pilots as a warrant officer. I found this tremendously attractive as an enlisted service-member and would have gone that route if I hadn't planned to leave and go to college instead.