Russia and Ukraine

[TallTom]

A10s would do great there. Might have the same problem of getting shot down though. Fighters are still essential.

If they miss from the air, they may hit their own on the ground. A-10s excel at low to the ground, under radar range, fighting. Yes they can get fired on by ground forces. But they are built to take a lot of abuse.

Plus if it drew fire, that exposes where it came from.

 

[wreckwriter]

If they miss from the air, they may hit their own on the ground. A-10s excel at low to the ground, under radar range, fighting. Yes they can get fired on by ground forces. But they are built to take a lot of abuse.

Plus if it drew fire, that exposes where it came from.

I wouldn't be too concerned about ground fire, other than missiles. More concerned about the Russian fighters getting the A10s. I don't think they're too worried about friendly fire so they're going to go ahead and shoot. Air to air missiles don't generally miss.

 

[Bumblebee]

The main problem they have is the Mig 29s don't have the look forward radar range the newer Russian aircraft have. And the missiles they have are only about 40 mile kill range. By the time they get within range the Russians have shot them down.

Don't get me wrong they have used some good strategies thus far, but the Russians still control the airspace.

As B pointed out. They can learn to fly an F-16 in about 2 weeks. But making it a fighter takes way more than that.

I personally think they would be better served teaching them to fly and fight with the A-10s. We are trying to retire them anyway. They can chew up the ground forces pretty easily.

It takes a lot of training for A-10 pilots as they operate so low to the ground...

The Russians are holding back a lot of their air power as the SAMs and AAA the west gave Ukraine are deadly....Russian helicopters and ground attack aircraft have very short life expectancies

 

[TallTom]

I wouldn't be too concerned about ground fire, other than missiles. More concerned about the Russian fighters getting the A10s. I don't think they're too worried about friendly fire so they're going to go ahead and shoot. Air to air missiles don't generally miss.

I'm no expert on Russian A2A missiles. I did however work on the A-10 modernization. Our job was to add a small inertial Nav system as they were flying literally by using paper maps in flight suit pant leg pouches. And they would sometimes get lost in long desert training missions. Anyway. As part of that program they also got chafe and flairs added as missile countermeasures. Both heat seeking and radar homing.

So if they are at say 300 feet and get attacked from above. If the missiles get fooled by the countermeasures, at that altitude they can't turn up and away. They are likely going to impact the ground.

 

[TallTom]

It takes a lot of training for A-10 pilots as they operate so low to the ground...

The Russians are holding back a lot of their air power as the SAMs and AAA the west gave Ukraine are deadly....Russian helicopters and ground attack aircraft have very short life expectancies

They are already flying low level (less than 150 feet altitude) to evade radar. And they are doing it in much faster aircraft than the A-10.

So it really wouldn't be hard to cross over into the A-10.

However the A-10 wouldn't have enough range to strike into Russia. It's job is CAS.

The ,F-16 has legs. But personally I think the Russians would see the F-16s as a declaration of war on the part of Ukraine.

 

[Bumblebee]

They are already flying low level (less than 150 feet altitude) to evade radar. And they are doing it in much faster aircraft than the A-10.

So it really wouldn't be hard to cross over into the A-10.

However the A-10 wouldn't have enough range to strike into Russia. It's job is CAS.

The ,F-16 has legs. But personally I think the Russians would see the F-16s as a declaration of war on the part of Ukraine.

The attack profile of the A-10 makes it more of a challenge than any other aircraft.....they can't maintain a low level attack posture...

All the A-10 pilots I ever talked to said although it's an excellent platform, it is a bear to fight from...

 

[TallTom]

The attack profile of the A-10 makes it more of a challenge than any other aircraft.....they can't maintain a low level attack posture...

All the A-10 pilots I ever talked to said although it's an excellent platform, it is a bear to fight from...

I had an employee that was an A-10 pilot. It does have its challenges. AOA and time on target doesn't have much margin for error.

Ukraine is flying Mig 29s at sub 200 feet already. Granted they aren't doing any tank killing. There is still a lot of chyt that has to go right at those speeds. Power lines, buildings at night if over a city. Etc.

I am not aware of any crashes from flying this way. I suppose there could be.

Hell they'd probably use the A-10 for air to air knowing the Ukrainians.

 

[Bumblebee]

I had an employee that was an A-10 pilot. It does have its challenges. AOA and time on target doesn't have much margin for error.

Ukraine is flying Mig 29s at sub 200 feet already. Granted they aren't doing any tank killing. There is still a lot of chyt that has to go right at those speeds. Power lines, buildings at night if over a city. Etc.

I am not aware of any crashes from flying this way. I suppose there could be.

Hell they'd probably use the A-10 for air to air knowing the Ukrainians.

The whole issue with any close air support is the lack of control of the battle space which is what's going on in this particular AOR right now...

The Russians messed up their invasion right from the get-go and Ukraine (through the west) have vastly superior anti-air/ anti-armor assets...

The A-10 has a very unique attack profile that leaves it vulnerable to AAA/SAM attacks but I wonder just how strong Russian assets are?

If the A-10 were in the AOR when that huge long convoy was advancing, they would have wiped them all out without even working up a sweat.

 

[TallTom]

The whole issue with any close air support is the lack of control of the battle space which is what's going on in this particular AOR right now...

The Russians messed up their invasion right from the get-go and Ukraine (through the west) have vastly superior anti-air/ anti-armor assets...

The A-10 has a very unique attack profile that leaves it vulnerable to AAA/SAM attacks but I wonder just how strong Russian assets are?

If the A-10 were in the AOR when that huge long convoy was advancing, they would have wiped them all out without even working up a sweat.

The Russians still congregate a lot of equipment. You'd think they would have learned by now.

An A-10 or two could have a feild day. Like a shooting gallery.

I just saw a piece on your Excalibur round. Pretty impressive projectile.

 

[Bumblebee]

The Russians still congregate a lot of equipment. You'd think they would have learned by now.

An A-10 or two could have a feild day. Like a shooting gallery.

I just saw a piece on your Excalibur round. Pretty impressive projectile.

It's hard to believe the Ukrainians were firing that round and not using it's precision abilities as they were getting short of artillery rounds....

The issue with the Ukrainian military is although they have the advantage of defending their homeland, hey are undisciplined and go through a lot of ammo and ordinance as a result.....the only thing saving them is the apparent inability of the Russian forces to meet their objectives and dominate the battlespace....their doctrine seems to be very antiquated...

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

The quality of video and front line combat footage coming from there is incredible. Their use of drones to pinpoint targets and drop grenades or artillery on them is also quite impressive.
There is a YouTube channel for the K2 battalion that is the best I’ve seen yet.
Their videos are here:

https://youtube.com/@k2_bat

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Here is one. The soundtrack as well as little identifier flags on tanks and troops is edited in afterward by some really skilled people. But the footage is actual.

 

[Bumblebee]

The quality of video and front line combat footage coming from there is incredible. Their use of drones to pinpoint targets and drop grenades or artillery on them is also quite impressive.
There is a YouTube channel for the K2 battalion that is the best I’ve seen yet.
Their videos are here:

https://youtube.com/@k2_bat

I will guarantee there are western operators using those drones and western advisors directing combat operations..

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

I will guarantee there are western operators using those drones and western advisors directing combat operations..

Maybe a few but the majority are Ukrainians. See this one

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Can’t get more frontline than this. So close you can see the ‘orcs’ getting shot

 

[TallTom]

Can’t get more frontline than this. So close you can see the ‘orcs’ getting shot

Good video for all the folks who don't appreciate people like Bee doing this as a career. Or even those that do it for a year. Chyt gets real!

 

[Bumblebee]

Maybe a few but the majority are Ukrainians. See this one

All the strategy and tactics Ukraine is using is from western advisors. All the advanced western arms are being monitored by western advisors as well...

The west has been training Ukrainian forces for many years now....my guys said they were mostly incompetent (especially the officers) and it took a lot of time and training to get them to a capable level....There are western advisors and troops embedded into Ukrainian units directing them.

Basically the west is fighting a proxy war using Ukrainian troops.

 

[Bumblebee]

Good video for all the folks who don't appreciate people like Bee doing this as a career. Or even those that do it for a year. Chyt gets real!

More than a few on this board who were once in the thick of things......

I was nothing special, just a number in the cog of things.

I know for myself, each time we went in on an op, I expected to not return and was very thankful when I did.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Good video for all the folks who don't appreciate people like Bee doing this as a career. Or even those that do it for a year. Chyt gets real!

Recently declassified video. Bee is just a cook….

 

[TallTom]

More than a few on this board who were once in the thick of things......

I was nothing special, just a number in the cog of things.

I know for myself, each time we went in on an op, I expected to not return and was very thankful when I did.

True. We have some Vietnam vets here. They were so disrespected when they came home. My hats off to all the frontline fighters.

The closest I ever came to being in the thick was the raid on Gaddafi. And I was pretty safe then.