Isn't there plans for phasing out the A-10 in the future??
This is the only plane that the USAF stopped procurement on at the end of its initial contract run, and they have tried to kill it off repeatedly. They like to talk about it, but it makes the Army scream to get them realsed into their inventory, and the AF hates the idea of Army having fixed wings.
Eventually, the warthog will be replaced, but no time soon.
Last I heard, they were trying to justify additional F15E Strike Eagle squads to replace the A10s. Of course, the F15 can be retasked to do almost anything BUT CAS. And there will never be enough F-35s to replace the A-10 in CAS roles.
As far as comparing the two, it's really difficult to compare the Apache to the Warthog. It's like the SF vs. SEAL debate. There is no debate because they have different missions. They may be designed to shoot at the same type targets, but the missions are different.
The A-10, while an outstanding AC, and worth its weight in DU when needed, is worth little to the Divisional commander that can't predict his fights in sufficient time to frag the AC in the ATO 24-48 hours ahead. The flexibility the AH-64 provides, or should provide, to the ground commander - ON CALL, organic, poor weather, anti-armor, recon, screen, and deep strike capability. However, Army aviators, Apache pilots in particular, get far to little flight time. The flight time they get is not dedicated to training in difficult environments. The gunnery evolutions they accomplish are poorly constructed and resoursed with far to little ammunition. Fix those problems and the AH-64 will be an asset. But, without the air-mobility of the AH-64 .. it's just another F-16 compared to the A-10.