Why did the US refuse to send A-10 Thunder attack aircraft to Ukraine?

Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many speculated that the US might seek to provide A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of arms aid packages to the Kiev government.

The aircraft is 45 years old, having first entered service in 1977. The A-10 was designed during the Cold War to counter Soviet armored formations and remains the West's premier close air support aircraft to this day.

Speculation about the possibility of the US transferring A-10 aircraft is based on the fact that the US Air Force has retired a large number of these aircraft. In addition, the A-10 still has operational life and is considered very suitable for the conditions on the Ukrainian battlefield.

The A-10's operating costs and maintenance requirements are by far the lowest of any manned American fighter, and are comparable only to Soviet aircraft. While not as capable as a fighter like the F-16, the A-10 is well suited to operating close to the front lines for short periods of time or from temporary airfields.

Reason

The initial obstacle to supplying the A-10 to Ukraine was the aircraft’s main armament, the GAU-8 seven-barreled rotary gun, which uses depleted uranium ammunition capable of penetrating the armor of modern armored vehicles. Although the UK has been supplying Ukraine with this controversial ammunition since early 2023, the US has not agreed.

The Telegraph also gave the reason why the US refused to provide A-10s to Ukraine, emphasizing that Washington did not want to lose its reputation in the defense sector, especially after many weapons from both the US and the West suffered heavy damage on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Some military experts say the decision not to provide A-10 attack aircraft was based on the dangers the aircraft would face on the battlefield in Ukraine. Another worrying scenario is that dozens of American-made aircraft could be destroyed at the airport without doing anything to help Ukraine.

This highlights the density of Russian ground-based air defenses that are causing huge losses to Ukrainian air force units. Since late 2022, Western sources have stressed that the threat to Ukrainian aircraft has increased significantly due to the deployment of Russian MiG-31BM interceptors, equipped with R-37M air-to-air missiles, the longest-range missile in the world, putting Ukrainian bases on constant alert.

The A-10’s survivability in Ukraine is particularly questionable, given the aircraft’s combat record in 1991 during the Gulf War, when Iraqi short-range air defenses damaged or destroyed 20 A-10s, effectively taking the aircraft out of combat operations.

This was worrying, given that Iraq’s air defenses were considered weak and its armed forces were largely in disarray. Notably, the US also sought to avoid damage to its military assets by carefully controlling how they were deployed, especially after German Leopard 2 tanks and British Challenger 2 tanks suffered heavy losses in Ukraine.

Not only were the US M1 Abrams tanks delivered to Ukraine much later than the British and German tanks, they were only deployed in areas far from the front lines. The US Bradley Fighting Vehicles deployed on the front lines suffered heavy losses, with an estimated 70 destroyed or captured, despite these vehicles being arguably much less important to the US defense industry’s image.

Threat from Russian air defense

Fear of heavy losses is also said to be a major reason why the US has been much more reluctant than its European allies to allow the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

US officials have also repeatedly downplayed the significance of confirmed Russian attacks on Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine, the most expensive and advanced weapons systems ever delivered to the country.

Russian air defense forces have set records for the range at which they can destroy ground targets using the S-400 system. Notably, the longest-range missile system that Russia possesses, the S-500, has not yet been used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Although the position of Russian fighter aircraft compared to Western and Chinese rivals has declined significantly since the end of the Cold War, the country's ground-based air defense systems are still considered number one in the world.

The Ukrainian Air Force has been able to maintain combat operations to this day thanks to the number of fighter aircraft donated by Western countries, including dozens of MiG-29 fighters that were previously exported by the Soviet Union to Warsaw Pact countries in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Le Hung (Source: Military Watch)

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