It has finally come to the attention of Ukraine’s western masters that, to paraphrase a quote from WW2 about Hitler’s Atlantic wall, “NATO only made one big mistake when building their Fortress Ukraine, they forgot to put a roof on it”

Ukraine started the war with a capable air force, consisting of 50 MiG-29 medium fighters, 30 Su-25 Ground Attack fighters, 24 Su-27 interceptors, and 24 Su-24 strike aircraft. Ukraine also inherited in the wake of the collapse of the USSR the second most powerful integrated air defense system in the world after Russia.

Let us take a look at the main aircraft types used by Ukraine, and their capabilities.

The MiG-29 is a single seat, twin engine air superiority fighter with a top speed of Mach 2.25, and, like its counterpart, the F-16, is designed as a superlative “dog fighter” for close in turning engagements.

The Su-25 is a single seat ground attack/close air support aircraft, commonly used by former eastern bloc air forces, and a contemporary of the USAF’s A-10, noted for its impressive combat payload, and its ability to absorb punishing ground fire, it is the main aircraft seen over the front lines, flown by both sides in the conflict.

The Su-27 is a single seat twin engine long-range interceptor and air superiority fighter, with a much more powerful radar and considerably greater range than the MiG-29, and significantly heavier armament.

It is the Soviet equivalent of the USAF F-15C, and used by both sides in the conflict, though the Ukrainian Air Force Flankers are hobbled somewhat by only having access to the Semi-Active Radar Homing (SARH) R-27, which requires the firing aircraft to keep a radar lock on the target until impact, while the Russian Air Force uses the far more powerful R-77, an Active Radar Homing (ARH) missile, that is a fire and forget weapons system.

The Su-24 is a twin seat, twin engine, swing wing strike aircraft, designed to penetrate enemy controlled airspace at tree top height using its terrain following radar and powerful navigation systems to strike heavily defended rear area targets.

In itself a highly........

© New Eastern Outlook