Salute!
Long time reading this thread, but I agree that the Tucano has the inside track.
No substitute for actual time in the field and actual combat.
WRT to the A-1........... I flew the "COIN" A-37 in its early days ( see Combat Dragon). By the time USAF folded up all attack squads in-country, the A-37 of the 8th squad folded up in October 1972. It was the last, and had been for more than a year.
We flew over 70,000 sorties in the A-37 from 1967 to 1972 and only had about 2 dozen airframe losses and 13 pilot losses. All you folks that like the Hawg and the "low and slow" tactic should re-evaluate. Nowadays you can heve great accuracy without dropping until you see the whites of their eyes. Nevertheless, getting down close had morale boosts for the good guys and it also helps getting a fix on who is who if your sensors are tits-up.
In a very low threat scenario the Tucano should do really well. Hell, my old Dragonfly would kick ass.
The problem for the U.S. and other countries that are trying "to help" is expending resources that will not help "the cause". That's $$ and most importantly, people!!! If you have to "win the hearts and minds", then you need not apply, as the other side has already won and most of the "%$# hole" countries will likely never see things the way you do until major changes in government and/or religious factors come into play.
My Viet students and the old pilots I helped there had no problem with "hearts and minds". It was a combo of the government "establishment' and the general attitude of the populace that had gone thru colonial rule and then a failed government since 1954. They didn't realize what a truly free country offered as long as the government let them alone and they could grow chickens, harvest rice and catch fish.
I step off my sopa box.
Gums....