Doomed A-10 Gets Life Extension - AVweb

Hello… Is anybody really following the air war in Ukraine? If so they know the aerial carnage that took place on both sides. The reason it has slackened, is because both sides got slaughtered and finally figured out that close air support where there are effective anti aircraft assets is a suicide mission. The Russians have a modern version of the A 10 that they have withdrawn due to heavy losses from MANPADs such as the Stinger and Ukraine’s own fielded version. Sure the A 10 worked well in uncontested airspace such as where the local cave dwellers threw rocks and responded with 7.62 by 39mm AK 47s. But few if any airplanes are capable of consistently defeating Russian SA 400 and SA 500 systems, and modern Russian and Chinese versions of AAA and portable AA missile systems. A 10s would have met the same fate as their Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Ukraine, or any other modern battlefield. There may be a place at some point in a conflict for the A 10, but it is not within a modern, complex war environment such as Ukraine. The results of any use of close air support in such situations is similar to what we have already seen there, and has been disaster, similar to the slaughter of Russian and Ukrainian tanks by use of systems such as the Javelin and numerous comparable hand launched systems. The same fate awaits the A 10 or other traditional close air support platforms. The rules and equipment of modern warfare have changed, as has been abundantly clear in Ukraine.