Give Ukraine A-10s, Cluster Bombs Now Says Bush-Era Ambassador

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Oliver JJ Lane

A former U.S. ambassador and Special Representative for Ukraine has said the country should send A-10 ‘Warthog’ close air support attack planes as well as F-16 jet fighters, saying “we could be doing more”.

The United States should add ground-attack aircraft and tactical ballistic missile systems to the list of equipment being donated to Ukraine, former U.S. Ambassador Kurt Volker is quoted by Kyiv state-controlled news agency Ukrinform.

Speaking in interview with the government news service, Volker was asked whether he believed the U.S. had done enough to support Ukraine, and responded that while American support had been important so far, saying “that’s not to say that we have done everything. We could be doing more.”

Asked to clarify, Volker said a desire to not provoke Russia into nuclear war had informed a reticence to give too much support so far, but that extra equipment should now be donated. Among the weapons in mind, the former Ambassador cited the Lockheed Martin-built ATACMS tactical ballistic missile system, cluster munitions, and A-10 close air support attack planes “in addition to what we are doing on F-16”.

Getting to the point of sending F-16s “could have been faster”, he said, continuing: “So there’s a lot that should be out there that is not currently being done.”

Volker’s remarks have been interpreted by Ukrinform as a message that the U.S. should “immediately receive” the missiles and aircraft.

A former CIA man, Volker was George W. Bush’s ambassador to NATO in 2008 and 2009, and was appointed U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations by the Trump White House in 2017. In 2019, Volker was the first witness to testify and was a key figure in the House Impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

While A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, known colloquially as Warthogs and famed for their nose-mounted 30-mm Gatling gun designed to offer close-air support to troops and bust open Soviet tanks, are not a big part of the jets-for-Ukraine discussion this is not the first time they have been brought up. Reports have claimed Ukraine asked the U.S. for a donation of A-10s very early into the war, and that Ukraine even established its own makeshift A-10 training academy for would-be pilots.

Critics of the idea point out that A-10s are not well suited to operations inside contested airspace as they are vulnerable to dedicated fighters and anti-air missiles. Both Ukraine and Russia already operate a Cold War-era Soviet-made analogue, the Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ ground-attack aircraft.

The ATACMS — ‘Army Tactical Missile System’, fired from HIMARS launchers already supplied to Ukraine but with four-times the range — mentioned has been discussed more intently of late, after an initial flat refusal by the U.S. to supply them. On the system, Volker said: “[the U.S. hasn’t] done what we could have done… I hope that the US is now reconsidering this. But I haven’t heard that to this point.”

Also mentioned were cluster bombs, a controversial munition banned by 111 countries worldwide which Ukraine has frequently criticised Russia for using against them during the war so far. Reuters reported in March that Ukraine was asking for the U.S. to approve the donation of air-delivered cluster bombs and cluster artillery.

The weapons would have to be provided by the U.S. as most of Ukraine’s other global sponsors including most of Europe have already outlawed the weapon.

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