The beginning of things to come.  The Army knows that the pilots who run the air force are gonna resist at a certain level the automation of fixed wing craft, so they will need to develop their own CAS assets to drive dedicated CAS support to the battalion level.

 

Since a 500 lb bomb is overkill in many instances, a Fire Scout with some Griffins and guided 70mm hydras or Hellfires, and 6 hours of loiter will be just the ticket.

 

A 1.5 ton helicopter can be forward deployed and supported by one or two tracks or trucks.