Not having a real air force is not the same as not having real air defenses. And the A-10 may be a juicy target for air superiority fighters, it's very resilient against ground-based firepower.
Low and slow the A-10 can out turn just about all air superiority fighters (vectored thrust fighters being the largest exception); as the old saying goes "get down low and go go go". The true enemy of planes like the A-10 is 4th+ gen missiles combined with look down radar.
