Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
The A-10 isn't always the most dominate or effective. Pros/cons of all platforms. You are right though - even a moderately robust air defense drives the tactics as seen in the first Gulf War; and you know what they expected would happen to the A-10s should they plug the gap against the red hordes!
Massive attrition was expected across most or all of military forces in that scenario. Since the cold war ended we've become accustomed to the idea of handily winning conflicts with relatively light losses.
If we're trying to maintain that standard against near-peer conflicts in the opponent's backyard, it may well cost more in terms of treasure than we can afford.