Ukraine asked the US to supply A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, however, Washington was forced to refuse Kyiv. According to the Washington Post, it happened at the very beginning of the Russian special military operation.
According to the publication, In March of this year, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov personally addressed the head of the Pentagon with a request to put the Ukrainian army 100 (the table) attack aircraft A-10 Thunderbolt II, better known as Warthog (“Warthog”). In Kyiv, they calculated the available number of American aircraft and came to the conclusion, that the US Air Force has a hundred “extra” stormtroopers, which could be used against “Russian tank columns”.
Reznikov himself confirms this information and notes, that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directly refused to supply aircraft, stated, what “it's impossible”. Besides, the Pentagon counted, what “Warthog” will be extremely vulnerable to Russian air defense.
In July of this year, US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Candell said, that Ukraine can get American A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft in case, if the US refuses to exploit them. To date, the US Air Force has 281 A-10C aircraft. Candell suggested, that the Air Force may abandon the A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, since this aircraft is already outdated and does not meet modern requirements.
At the same time, Kyiv announced, what “old” attack aircraft Ukraine does not need, need fighter jets, preferably more. The Pentagon said, what “Warthog” not intended to break into areas, saturated military air defense, therefore, it cannot be used in Ukraine due to Russian air defense, covering the sky over the positions of both armies.
