Russia's military bloggers are worried after increasing drone strikes in Russia, including some that have damaged and destroyed military aircraft.
Russia's nationalists are fuming over a slew of attacks on Russian territory which exposed gaps in its defenses and put it on the back foot in its invasion of Ukraine.
The prominent anonymous blogger Rybar said a recent strike on Russia's Pskov airfield suggests Russia's air defenses haven't adapted to stop drone strikes. It criticized authorities for not protecting the valuable aircraft there with hangars, and compared their defenses unfavorably to those in Russian-occupied Crimea, closer to the fighter.
The Russian journalist Alexander Kots said that recent attacks showed there would be no safe place in the parts of Russia that are close to Europe, and that Russia would need to adapt.
Another blogger said that Russia's airfields should be better protected, and another said Russia should admit the attacks as soon as they happen, rather than be forced into acknowledging them after Ukrainian sources report them.
Well, the great silver lining of being a nationalist is that it's always someone else's fault when something doesn't go your way. There's always an "other" to blame.
Not convinced that its as simple as that, there was an article about a Ukrainian general or some high level commander who mentioned that they need at least 100 aircraft to get air superiority. I image in reality they need alot more as there likely to be losses (orcs are likely keeping some long range missiles in reserve to whack at Ukrainian airfields after f16s arrive), but also they need correct ammunition.. loads of ammunition.
We should have gone into ammunition production overdrive as soon as it became clear that there was an attack plan brewing instead of waiting until the attack actually happens. And i refuse to believe that US did not know well in advance. Eu just sat there twiddling their thumbs instead of doing something productive about it. Shame on us.
I'm hopeful with the f16. As far as I understand it, they would increase the range at which Ukraine can destroy Russian aircrafts, range that they are severely lacking to support their offensive right now. Obviously the more the better, but even a few could make a huge difference in this case.
You're right about the missiles and bombs though. Ultimately this is what they will need in large quantities.
As for acting before the war, everyone thought Ukraine would collapse in two weeks at best. Ukraine won its support the hard way.
And i refuse to believe that US did not know well in advance.
How "well" are we talking? A few months, sure, but further back it's pretty easy as an autocrat to just not tell people what you're planning, and the West appears to have fundamentally misread Putin's motives to start with.
A squadron for F-16 running non-stop SEAD missions will allow Ukraine to use their existing MIGs much more effectively. They already have the ammunition, they currently can only use 1 of its 3 arming modes. They can't access the SEAD firing modes without it being fired from that particular platform.
Russia's nationalists are fuming over a slew of attacks on Russian territory which exposed gaps in its defenses and put it on the back foot in its invasion of Ukraine.
The blowback was picked up by the respected Institute for the Study of War think tank, which described it in an update on Wednesday.
It criticized authorities for not protecting the valuable aircraft there with hangars, and compared their defenses unfavorably to those in Russian-occupied Crimea, closer to the fighter.
They typically agree with the aims of the war, but voice frustration at Russia's inability to defeat Ukraine more quickly.
Their anger was prompted by an increasing number of drone attacks, likely organized by Ukraine or Ukraine-affiliated groups.
And some of these strikes have destroyed and damaged Russian military aircraft sitting on home soil.
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