"We don’t know what’s going to happen next. We may need more capacity at the low end," Carlisle says.
translates as "We
don't have a replacement for the A-10, but we're scrapping it anyway because we've been told to. When the F-35 comes on stream, we will
order the enemy to only deploy very high value targets so we can justify using it."
Presumably IS will be restricted to top-of-the-range pickups as technicals; you know, with the all leather interior and the satnav. And chrome-plated RPGs.