Meant fixed-wing CAS. USAF is the dog in the manger.

Obviously DoN/USMC has retained our own organic CAS all along, so it's more of an issue for USA and SOCOM. But even so, F-35B's are going to be in much more play for diverse ATO tasking than harriers.

Although in joint ops, it's easy enough for Marines to find themselves in need of CAS which the USAF doesn't want to provide.

Yeah, yeah F-16's and strike eagles can do that... but good luck getting enough of that allocated during a near-peer fight.

For low-intensity, low-cost support, even the A-10 might be a bit much. SOCOM's experiment should be interesting and informative.