No combat trial for proposed A-10 replacements, apparently

The Air Force seems to have reversed course on plans to subject the aircraft proposed as replacements for the A-10 ground attack aircraft to a combat trial. Instead, it plans to conduct tests for two of the four aircraft in the competition at U.S. bases:

The new experiments, planned for May to July 2018 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, narrow the field to Textron Aviation’s AT-6 Wolverine and the A-29 Super Tucano made by Sierra Nevada Corporation and Embraer — cutting the Textron Scorpion and L-3 Technologies’ AT-802L Longsword from further competition.

Personally, I favor the AT-6 Wolverine, primarily because it is made by a domestic company and oh, by the way, kicks ass. The Super Tucano also is very good -- they are very similar airplanes -- but The Super Tucano ultimately is owned by Embraer, a Brazilian company. I have nothing against Brazil (except their socialist leanings), but I do not favor putting defense contracts in the hands of foreign companies. Too much potential for trouble.

As for the tests that will be conducted, simulations and data taken from exercises will form the basis for the decision. Conducting mock attacks with data sensors is not a horrible approach. In fact, it is the norm -- I am not aware of a combat system being tested in combat against other candidates. Anyway, the Super Tucano is on the left, the AT-6 is on the right.

They're both tuboprop dumptrucks that don't cost a lot and can deliver a metric shit ton of ordinance onto the battlefield. I don't know how they compare to the A-10 when it comes to survivability -- the A-10 is without peer in that regard -- but these aircraft are intended to be used in low-threat environments, where the opponent, such as ISIS, has little or no ground-to-air capability and no air-to-air ability. I think it is long past time the Air Force invested in such a plane.