"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (5 Viewers)

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Ridiculous. The Ukraine war is the best kind of fighting for the USA, with America supplying the kit to kill Russians but at no risk to themselves. If only South Vietnam could have made like Ukraine and held its own with American kit but without American lives.
 
GrauGeist said:
I'm sure the Russians would be able.to down an A-10 at some point, but after how many tanks, AFVs and personnel were annihilated first?
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The Ukrainians are perfectly capable of destroying Russian vehicles without the A-10. Basically speaking, the A-10 doesn't really offer anything that the Ukrainians can't do already. The Ukrainians need more of what capability they already have and numbers of A-10s offer more of an existing ability. How it does what Ukraine can do already may differ, but it would be there simply to make up numbers. Attrition represents the biggest threat to the Ukrainian forces. Like the promised F-16s, the A-10 isn't a silver bullet. It doesn't represent a war-winning capability beyond what Ukraine has already, it does mean more anti-tank assets, which means more enemy tanks destroyed, which is what Ukraine needs. The use of Western weaponry on Western platforms means an increase in commonality with what the Ukraine is being supplied with and this is the value in using Western aircraft and tanks and so forth.
 
We should keep in mind, that while the GAU-8 is a formidible asset, the A-10C also has precision stand-off weapons which are able to do considerable damage.

So far, this war has been reminesent of WWI, with ground warfare, trenches and artillery being the dominant factor.

Ukraine has seen limited success with their air assets, but they simply do not have enough to gain air superiority.

Drones can only do so much and what Ukraine has accomplished with them is nothing short of amazing.

But they need to up their game and with A-10Cs, they would immediately have the advantage. Add to that, F-16s delivering air supremacy, and the face of the war will change in short order.

Back to the "vulnerability" of the A-10: how many UAF Su-25s have been shot down versus being destroyed on the ground?
Additionally, just imagine Russian troops standing on the wreckage of a downed F-16 taking selfies...
 
I'd argue that modern attack helicopters would probably be more use to Ukraine than A-10s.

Give Russian superiority in airborne assets and the prevalence of short and long range AD on the battlefield, A-10s would be limited to NoE only for survival close to the frontlines (just like any attack aircraft on the Ukranian side). Otherwise Mr R37 and R77, or Mr S300/S400 or SA-15 are going to make sure your day ends really badly.

While the A10 does carry a considerable warload, it's flight/attack profile puts it at considerable risk for anything other than stand-off weapons. Pilots are not going to be crossing the forward edge of the battlefield and making GUA-8 runs on Russian armour in a 500 knot, 30 degree dive from 8000 ft. They're going to be lobbing Mavericks from 10km away or doing pop-up rocket attacks like the Su-25s. If a really juicy target and lightly defended target is presented, then maybe dumb bombs or .

It's personal opinion, but I think a bunch of AH-64Ds capable of lobbing Hellfires from 10+ km away are likely to be more of a threat to Russian assets. Plus, they'll probably be easier to conceal from observation and keep operating.
 
Nothing that is designed for deck through 5000feet AGL is inherently survivable in that conflict.

The A-10 was designed as CAS with counter insurgency forces in mind - not daylight CAS in US/USSR or Russia/Ukraine - European war scenario.

I love the airplane for Gulf War and on-going Iraq/Afghanistan conflict - but not in the Ukraine/Russia dust up.
 
GrauGeist said:
I'm sure the Russians would be able.to down an A-10 at some point, but after how many tanks, AFVs and personnel were annihilated first?
Click to expand...
Sounds like an unnecessary risk of lives. Better to use a fleet of anti-tank drones to destroy those tanks and keep the newly NATO-trained, rare and expensive Ukrainian pilots for the F-16s where they stand the best chance of survival.

I wonder if any Ukrainian women are training in the West on combat aircraft? The only women pilot in Ukraine I can name is Nadiya Savchenko - Wikipedia. Not that I can name any male pilots besides posthumously, Andrii Pilshchykov "Juice".
 
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Agreed
 
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