The GAU-8 they built the A-10 around is a heckuva gun. It can also weather AA fire. An F-35 can only fire missiles (which, due to it’s internal weapons bays, are limited), and isn’t going to eat a flak around and still get home safely. It wasn’t designed for the same enviroment.
Maybe I am cynical, and I am by no way a military expert of any kind, but I would figure that an A-10 is more expendable than a F-35.
I am in the ‘A-10s are cool’ camp, but I do not think that they are particularly useful anymore on a modern battlefield.
The GAU-8 they built the A-10 around is a heckuva gun. It can also weather AA fire. An F-35 can only fire missiles (which, due to it’s internal weapons bays, are limited), and isn’t going to eat a flak around and still get home safely. It wasn’t designed for the same enviroment.