Timeline for Why has Russia made surprisingly little use of its Air Force in the Russo-Ukrainian war?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 14 at 20:43 | comment | added | 264 champagne bottles on ice | @Therac: Anyhow, Zelensky is asking for 25 Patriots now understandingwar.org/backgrounder/… but there's probalby fat chance of him getting that many. | |
| Apr 14 at 20:24 | comment | added | Therac | @thegodsfromengineering Most of Ukraine's batteries got looted for scrap. But even one is a massive threat. Most countries have ordered only 2 of these batteries, considering that a sufficient deterrent. 20 surviving units is pretty much an air force disabler in itself - even if they weren't complemented by 3 Patriots. | |
| Apr 14 at 20:13 | comment | added | 264 champagne bottles on ice | Src for the latter quote key.aero/article/… | |
| Apr 14 at 20:13 | comment | added | 264 champagne bottles on ice | @Therac: I'm pretty sure that's wrong, even if Zelensky said it. Not 100 batteries unless you count each TEL as one battery. (And the S-300 TEL, unlike the Buks, can't operate independently). "As of mid-May [2022], according to trustworthy sources, the Ukrainian GBAD network across the entire territory of the country operated an inventory of about 20 S-300PT/PS/V1 long-range SAM fire units (systems) plus 30 more Buk-M1 self-propelled launchers (enough for equipping ten batteries) as well as no fewer than 30 early-warning radars of various types." | |
| Apr 14 at 20:08 | comment | added | Therac | Ukraine has inherited over 100 S-300 batteries from the USSR. That's an insane amount of air defenses, more than any country short of the US, China, or Russia. Flying anywhere close to these systems is suicidal. Patriots, operating at a different frequency, make it even more dangerous. | |
| Apr 13 at 18:37 | comment | added | Pete W | @thegodsfromengineering - the situation is probably more nuanced. It'd be expected that different pieces of production capacity are mismatched in the short term. For instance there could well be excess capacity for airframes and installing of most systems, which have peaked at higher rates in the past. While anything that wears out, particularly engines, end up with exceptionally high demand during wartime. This limits the number of planes that can fly, but eases the impact of losses, if pilots make it. Older Su-30's are on an upgrade path like tanks | |
| Apr 13 at 12:23 | comment | added | 264 champagne bottles on ice | @ItalianPhilosophers4Monica: of course, it depends whom you ask. Russia claims 5 times that number [of combat aircraft produced] tass.com/defense/1737801 (Wel, that's slithgly fogged as "100 new and repaired aircraft". ) So it's difficult to base an answer on such data/claims. | |
| Apr 13 at 7:22 | comment | added | 264 champagne bottles on ice | @ItalianPhilosophers4Monica: yeah, if we trust the Western figures Russia hasn't prioritized tactical aircraft production much "Meanwhile the VKS currently procures only about 20 total Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft per year." I'm not sure if they have parks of older aircraft they could use in a pinch, but unlike with tanks they don't seem willing to go that route. I suspect pilots cost too much in terms of training etc. to waste them on [near-]junk. But of course, it's hard to say for sure what the leaders in the Kremlin are thinking. | |
| Apr 13 at 7:18 | comment | added | Italian Philosopher | FWIW Rand's take on aging aircraft | |
| Apr 13 at 5:22 | history | edited | 264 champagne bottles on ice | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 12 at 21:13 | comment | added | 264 champagne bottles on ice | FWTW, there's the mysterious claimed downing of two A-50 'AWACS' Russian aircraft this spring. There's even less info how that really happened than what happened to the Moskva. | |
| Apr 12 at 18:38 | history | answered | 264 champagne bottles on ice | CC BY-SA 4.0 |