Perhaps in considering the paucity of CAS squadrons and the armies percieved lack of demand in current ops one should consider the larger picture. The army has integral CAS (RW) to the tune of six squadrons and when considering the larger joint picture perhaps this should be factored into the assesment. The success of Apache has peviously been talked about as counter to the requirement for CAS but I havent seen it mentioned in the context of this debate.
I dont pretend it fulfills every aspect of what can be done by something pointy and fast but in the context of persistence, ISTAR and the employment of proportional effects perhaps it leads the field in this area. Indeed with GR4 migrating to dual mode Brimstone for proportionality then perhaps some COIN lessons were learnt froom AH.
HEDP