What happens with the Russian Air Force? US Office, confused members

WASHINGTON: Before the Russian invasion to Ukraine, US intelligence had predicted blistering attacks by Moscow which would quickly mobilize the vast Russian air power so that the military gathered to dominate the Ukrainian sky.

But the first six days had disrupted that hope and instead saw Moscow acting much softer with air power, in such a way that US officials could not explain what drives the behavior of Russian risk.

“They don’t have to be willing to take high risks with their own plane and their own pilots,” said a senior US defense official, talking to the terms of anonymity.

Very dirty by the Russian military, in terms of raw numbers and firepower, the Ukrainian air force itself is still flying and the air defense is still considered worthy – facts that confuse military experts.

After the Salvos opening of the war on February 24, analysts expect the Russian military to try to immediately destroy the Ukrainian Air Force and Air Defense.

It will be “logical steps and many are anticipated next, as seen in almost every military conflict since 1938,” wrote the think-tank rusion in London, in an article called “the mysterious case of the Russian Air Force missing.”

On the contrary, the Ukrainian air force fighter jet still conducts a level, defensive counter-water and ground attack. Russia is still flying through the contested airspace.

Ukrainian forces with surface-to-air rockets were able to threaten Russian aircraft and create risks to Russian pilots who tried to support land forces.

“There are many things they are doing confusing,” said Rob Lee, a Russian military specialist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

He thought the beginning of the war would be “the use of maximum strength.”

“Because every day there is a fee and the risk rises. And they don’t do that and it’s only very difficult to explain for realistic reasons.”

Confusion about how Russia uses the air force comes as the administration of President Joe Biden rejects a call by Kyiv for zones without flies that can attract the United States directly into the conflict with Russia, which is planned for the future for the Air Force is not clear.

Military experts have seen evidence of the lack of coordination of the Russian Air Force with the formation of ground forces, with several columns of Russian forces sending forward outside their own air defense cover.

It makes Russian soldiers vulnerable to attack from Ukrainian forces, including newly equipped with Turkish drones and English and English anti-tank missiles. David Deptula, a US Air Force air retired three star General who had ordered the no-fly zone in North Iraq, said he was surprised that Russia did not work harder to build air dominance from the start.

“Russia found that the multi-domain operation that coordinates is not easy,” said Depity to Reuters. “And they are not as good as they consider.”

While Russia performs poorly, the Ukrainian military has exceeded expectations so far.

The experience of Ukraine from the last eight years of battle with the separatist forces supported by Russia in the east is dominated by a trench war of one static war style.

On the contrary Russian forces received combat experience in Syria, where they were in the side of the President of Bashar Al-Assad, and showed some ability to synchronize land maneuvers with air strikes and drones.

The ability of Ukraine to continue to fly the Air Force Jet is a demonstration that can be seen from the resilience of the state in the face of attacks and has become a moral booster, both to the military and the people of Ukrainians, experts said.

It also leads to the Mythology of the Ukrainian Air Force, including the story of a Ukrainian jet fighters who are said to be stolen by six Russian aircraft, dubbed online as “Kyiv ghosts.”