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Originally Posted by Raellus
Those are fair points, and if the Ukrainians don't want A-10s, we shouldn't try to foist our unwanted Warthogs on them. I'm kind of surprised that the Ukrainians aren't interested, though, given that they're using SU-25s on a regular basis, but I get that the supply of trained, experienced pilots is limited, and that the greater need is for fighter aircraft.
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I am not some sort of A-10 hater or anything but I find the mythology around it a little tedious. It's got a relatively short combat radius, little air-to-air capability, and is fairly slow. In an environment without air superiority and little in the way of SEAD from friendly forces it would be a sitting duck.
For the Ukrainians in particular it would be nearly useless. It can't mount any weapons they might have in stock. The moment it supplied ammo is spent the jets are just taking up a hangar. The A-10 also has no sensors besides what comes in attached pods. Unless the US is going to also send
those then the A-10 is a gun and dumb bombs aimed with iron sights. Ukraine would be much better off getting resources to keep their SU-25s operational.
The A-10 as part of US forces can be formidable because other weapon systems exist to let it do its job. It would be far less effective in other militaries that don't have as deep of a weapon systems bench as the US does.