History is repeating a mistake, in my opinion.
After WW II, the newly formed USAF wanted a fast, sleek, and sexy image for its inventory. P-47's that served so well in A/A and A/G ops were scrapped or quickly relegated to Air National Guard units as fast as possible in favor of the P-51D and P-51H. Then a little conflict broke out on the Korean peninsula and the USAF found that the P-51 with it's liquid cooled engine and belly mounted radiator could be quickly taken out of action by ground fire during A/G and CAS ops. Thus came the Skyraider, a superb A/G attack aircraft and built to absorb ground fire. The Skyraider combined the survivability of the P-47 with the load carrying capability of the B-17 and served well through the early 1970's.
Then a new generation of jets came to the design table and the Skyraider's days were numbered. The F-15 and F-16 were really fast, really sleek, and sexy as hell, but had complicated systems and proved to be ill suited for CAS. Then there was the A-10, an aircraft built for survivability and utilized relatively simple systems. The A-10 proved to be as valuable as the P-47 and Skyraider, if not more so, in the conflicts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Now, the USAF wants the F-35 and wants it in quantity and wants it bad. The F-35 is new, it's really fast, it's really sleek, it's sexy, and they claim it can carry more than the A-10 and will work in A/A, A/G, and CAS. So the USAF is canceling airshow performances and sending the A-10 to the scrap heap so they can pay for the F-35 program. Does anyone really believe the F-35 and all of its complicated systems is going to fare well in CAS ops when faced with ground fire?
Mind you, this is just my two cents, so take it for what it's worth.