"On 4 October 1999, a Su-25 was shot down by a MANPADS during a reconnaissance mission over the village of Tolstoy-Yurt killing its pilot. The wings of the aircraft were put on a pedestal in the central square in Grozny."
Ok there's the fist problem. Why is a CAS plane doing recon?
The CAS role consists of two things: 1st, bring death from above with heavy firepower and weapons capable of seriously damaging and mobile threat in the area of engagement; 2nd, be the invincible angels, surviving everything from small arms fire to light Flak cannons through to even a stinger missile or two.
The survival part of their role necessitates not going in blind, a CAS plane has no place doing a recon flight. It would be like riding a wounded horse through a hungry pride of lions to check on how hungry they are.
In a world of satellites and drones, recon is their job, they are unmatched at it, smaller, safer, cheaper. Tasking a CAS airframe with recon work is going to cost you a plane, and possibly a pilot as well.
This is why the A-10 remains effective. It's a bone saw or a rib spreader, designed for a task. Yes these days with a da vinci robot you don't need to crack open the ribs as often, but when you need the rib cage open or you need to saw through the humerus to amputate, those are the tools you use.
The A-10 is a dedicated specialist the airforce wishes to replace with more general purpose planes, which may work some of the time, but won't work all the time.
"On 4 October 1999, a Su-25 was shot down by a MANPADS during a reconnaissance mission over the village of Tolstoy-Yurt killing its pilot. The wings of the aircraft were put on a pedestal in the central square in Grozny."