Jacko, I have no connection with the A-10 whatsoever, not even as a 'flag bearer' per se, save for acknowledging that it does what it does very well, and is already extant. Nor am I an air power professional.
I get, fully, what OA-X is for - you'll recall from earlier posts that if we're looking at this low - end on the spectrum of capabilities, my gut and intellectual belief, is that OV-10X seems the better fit and also seemingly has more utility.
What I Don't get, is WHY OA-X IS.
I believe it to be a flawed premise which may (or may not) result in the procurement of a potentially short - lived 'one trick pony', with no utility outside of a finely calculated set of parameters.
Let's see how the contenders perform on trial, I'm sure these 'light logistic tail' wonders will throw up all kinds of problems inconvenient to the desired requirement / specification. Even if they don't, I'm still left wondering, if costs are the driving consideration, just how much 'bang for the buck' or value these wee beasties will have produced by their OSD. Personally, I feel the whole life programme costs will be far, far in excess of those extra logistics, that extra fuel & associated costs an already inducted type (A-10) would incur over the same duration.