Replace "Afghanistan" with "the Fulda Gap" and you have exactly described the A-10's original design criteria. In a ground support aircraft, slowness is good,

Replace "Afghanistan" with "the Fulda Gap" and you have exactly described the A-10's original design criteria. In a ground support aircraft, slowness is good, because then it can turn over the battlefield. Anyway, the plane can take a huge amount of punishment and still fly.