IT ISN’T ALWAYS A NICE PROBLEM TO HAVE: The Air Force’s Overkill Problem.

The United States Air Force seems to have finally recognized that it will have to operate in permissive airspace fighting against poorly armed insurgents for the foreseeable future.

In perhaps a breakthrough of sorts for the service, the Air Force also seems to recognize that high performance fourth and fifth-generation fighters such as the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are not the best weapons—being massive overkill—to use against such groups.

Instead, the Air Force seems serious about pursuing options that would give it a low-cost platform that could perform that mission in a much more cost effective manner while reserving its higher-end capabilities to counter rival great power threats.

Even the beloved A-10, whose 30mm Gatling-type autocannon was designed to rip open Soviet main battle tanks, is overkill for taking out jihadi jeeps.