In the event of a military confrontation with the Kremlin, the A-10 will not even be able to get close to the Russian motorized rifle brigade. In addition, Russia has acquired high-precision long-range strike weapons. A possible solution could be the F-35B fighter jet. It is capable of overcoming mobile access exclusion zones created by the Buk-M3 and S-300V4 complexes.
Dave Majumdar
The US Air Force recently published a tactical and technical task as part of the ATTACK program to modernize the venerable A-10 close air support aircraft, which provides for the creation of new wings for it.
When the Air Force selects a developer, he will receive a contract and a firm order for five years, with two more years of production as a possible option. The Air Force intends to sign a contract for an indefinite amount. A maximum of 112 sets of wings can be ordered. The winner of the competition will have to deliver the first sets only in 2029.
They will be enough to re-equip all A-10s with a "thin wing", but the time and volume of the order will be enough for the A-10s to fly as part of six large squadrons even in the 2040s. This means that of the 280 A-10 attack aircraft currently in service, about 80 will eventually be decommissioned. But the Air Force retains the "Warthog" in its composition only because of pressure from the American Congress, which refuses to remove it from service. Instead, the Boeing F-15C Eagle will most likely go under pressure.
By retaining the A-10, the Air Force will retain the hard-won skills and experience of direct air support. However, the A-10 is able to survive only at a low or medium level of threats, and therefore it is most valuable when conducting counterinsurgency and counterinsurgency operations. Such wars will continue for many more years, because under the current policy, the United States will remain in Afghanistan for at least one generation. The A-10 will be an important addition to the aircraft being built as part of the OA-X program. transl.), but only if purchases of a new car begin.
Nevertheless, the A-10 is not very suitable for conducting modern combat against an opponent of equal strength, such as Russia or China. In the event of a military confrontation with the Kremlin in the European theater, the A-10 will not even be able to get close to the Russian motorized rifle brigade, which is the most widespread mechanized unit in the ground forces. The thing is that it has powerful forces and air defense systems. In fact, such motorized rifle brigades create mobile no-access zones.
The Russian motorized rifle brigade has approximately 4,500 personnel. Each brigade consists of three 510-man motorized rifle battalions and has 43 MT-LBV armored personnel carriers, BMP-2 or BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as eight 120 mm towed 2S12 mortars. It also has a tank battalion of 41 tanks and two self-propelled artillery divisions, each of which includes 18 self-propelled guns of the 2S19 "Msta-S" type. The brigade also has serious air defense assets in the form of the Tor-M2, Buk-M2 or Buk-M3 divisions, and another air defense division equipped with the Tunguska-M1 anti-aircraft missile and cannon system. There are also support and support units with powerful electronic warfare systems, BM-21 multiple rocket launchers, as well as another towed artillery division. In fact, each MSB is a self-sufficient combat group capable of operating independently without aviation support.
In a collision with a Russian motorized rifle or tank brigade, the Buk-M2 and Buk-M3 mobile anti-aircraft missile systems will pose the main threat to conventional aircraft (without stealth characteristics). The new Buk-M3, which has a range of more than 70 kilometers, can hit targets at an altitude of 15 to 35 thousand meters. Moreover, the Russians claim that this air defense system has a probability of hitting the target of over 0.95. Of course, the Buk-M3 will enter battle only when enemy aircraft overcome the air defense of the area, which is provided by the S-300V4 complexes, which have a range of 400 km and cover these units from a distance. Alexey Ramm, editor of the Russian newspaper Izvestia, who covers military issues, says that the Buk-M3 (and presumably the S-300B4) are capable of fighting even stealth aircraft such as the F-22 and F-35. However, such statements should be treated with a fair degree of skepticism.
But the fact remains that if conventional A-10 aircraft approach the Russian motorized infantry brigade of the ground forces, they will surely suffer very heavy losses. Moreover, since Russia has acquired high-precision long-range strike weapons, such as the Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles and the X-101 air-launched cruise missiles, the Kremlin will be able to fire at those bases from which the A-10 aircraft will take off. Thus, it will be impossible to use conventional NATO military airfields during a full-scale conflict.
A possible solution to the problem may be a variant of the F-35B single strike fighter with a shortened takeoff and vertical landing, which is currently in service with the Marine Corps. The US Air Force may return to the idea of purchasing several F-35B wings adapted for special tasks, and in this case they will replace some A-10 squadrons, providing direct aviation support in battles in the European theater. With a shortened takeoff and vertical landing, the F-35 can take off from partially destroyed runways (runways) and even from highways turned into flight lanes, which NATO intended to do at the end of the Cold War in the mid-1980s. Further, the F-35B can overcome mobile access exclusion zones created by the Buk-M3 (and S-300B4) complexes, which is beyond the power of the A-10.
Based at a short distance from the front line in dispersed improvised bases (as during Marine Corps operations), the F-35B will be able to quickly fly combat missions with 100-kilogram small-sized adjustable bombs, striking at advancing Russian mechanized columns. In one flight, four F-35Bs with eight bombs each (according to calculations, this will be possible by 2022) will be able to destroy 32 enemy armored targets. One of the main targets for the F-35B is the ability to make four sorties per day. Thus, if we assume that the F-35B will be able to overcome Russian air defenses, four aircraft in four sorties per day will be able to deliver a crushing blow to the Russian tank brigade. If the number of planes is increased to eight, the effect will increase many times. Thus, given the Russian threat, the US Air Force should consider deploying several F-35B wings in the European theater.
