Ever since the satellite photos of a miles-long Russian convoy trapped in a traffic jam of its own, went viral on the internet, fans of the legendary A-10 warthog have been waiting to see it join the fight, but the reality is different. "A gun run doesn’t happen much anymore," is what an A-10C pilot told to a military aviation website. The A-10 in no way is the right plane for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, because it needs air superiority to win fights, although it was originally built "just" to engage columns of Soviet armor in Europe, if the cold war gets hot, but the fighting in Ukraine is very different. The A-10s served well in middle east, specially during wars in Iraq, but there they enjoyed highly permissive environment, with very little opposition, while the airspace over Ukraine is still highly contested. The A-1 Warthog is not stealthy like F-22 raptor or F-35, and Russian air defenses can easily detect, and engage the slow-flying Warthog. With a top speed of just 420 miles per hour, it would be an easy target for Russian S-300 and modern S-400 air defense systems, as well as for Russian fighter jets, and Ukraine is well aware of that. Ukraine right now needs a platform like the F-16 fighting falcon, which can serve in close air support role, and can defend itself from enemy fighters as well.

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