The Ukrainian army has lost more than a hundred combat aircraft and about seven dozen helicopters
The special military operation has been going on for the fourth week, with a steady increase in the activity of the Russian Aerospace Forces, while reducing the intensity of flights of Ukrainian aviation and air defense fire. These facts are based on the simple logic of an armed conflict with a high-tech enemy: the weaker the enemy's air defense, the more profitable it becomes to use combat aircraft and helicopters against targets that can also be destroyed by guided missiles of the Kalibr, Iskander and similar complexes.
The same logic explains why our tactical aviation had limited use in the first days and weeks of the operation: then there was a great danger to the lives of pilots coming from anti-aircraft missile systems and interceptors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, first of all, long-range cruise missiles of the 3M14 family from the Kalibr sea-based complexes and the X-555 and X-101 similar in design for strategic aviation, as well as ground-based operational and tactical missile systems, were involved.
The Pentagon's calculations
According to the calculations of the Pentagon, during the first couple of days of the operation, the Russian military fired 160, and as of March 12 – more than 810 cruise and ballistic missiles. Most of them hit the objects of the military structure of Ukraine with high accuracy. For example, according to foreign sources, the Iskander missile defense system was used to destroy fortified facilities at a military airfield near Zhytomyr.
Closer to the middle of March, some foreign observers began to talk about a decrease in the intensity of launches, citing the exhaustion of Russian arsenals of precision weapons as the reason. In fact, the question is different. Why waste expensive guided missiles if the remaining targets can be destroyed in a much less costly way – with barrel and rocket artillery shells, free-falling aerial bombs from front-line aircraft.
Let's make an assumption: in the future, more and more combat work on knocking out stationary military infrastructure facilities remaining in Ukraine, as well as tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, automotive and special equipment, will be carried out by airplanes and helicopters using free-falling aerial bombs and unguided missiles. At the same time, the role of unmanned aerial vehicles designed for reconnaissance and correction of artillery fire, as well as capable of independently launching missile and bomb strikes, will grow. This trend can already be traced by the photos and videos posted in open access, with the armored and automotive equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine captured on them, destroyed by air strikes and artillery.
Air defense is suppressed, aviation is destroyed
At the March briefings of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it was said: during the special operation, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed almost all combat-ready aircraft of the Kiev regime. And the country's air defense system has lost more than 160 anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) and 70 radar stations (radars), effectively losing the ability to act as a single force.
Compared with February, this month there has been a significant decrease in the number of Ukrainian Air Force sorties. This is due to the fact that almost all military airfields are broken. Many of them were subjected to massive missile strikes at the end of February. As subsequent events showed, the personnel of individual air bases managed to restore the destroyed runways, again making it possible to conduct take-off and landing operations. There have been cases when aircraft and helicopters of the Ukrainian Air Force that survived missile strikes were relocated from broken airfields to others, and sometimes continued combat work using civilian airports.
According to international reference books, as of last year, the Ukrainian Air Force had 26 Su-27 and 16 MiG-29 fighters, 12 Su-24 front-line bombers and 13 Su-25 attack aircraft. Apparently, data is provided here only on combat-ready equipment at that time. After all, according to data for 2008, Ukraine had 116 fighters, 36 attack aircraft and the same number of front-line bombers, not counting the Su-24MR scouts. Having taken a course towards integration with the West, in 2014 the Kiev regime finally abandoned all military-technical cooperation with Russia, and thereby virtually doomed its combat aircraft to slow self-destruction. A special military operation only finished off its pitiful remnants.
As of mid-March, only isolated flights of Ukrainian Air Force aircraft are recorded. While Russian aviation is increasingly encountering organized fire resistance, it is increasing in relation to the surviving Ukrainian aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the briefing of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated March 13, on that day a front-line bomber Su-24 of the Ukrainian Air Force and two unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down over the settlement of Lyubimovka. In total, at that time, the losses of the APU included 99 aircraft and 128 UAVs, and the losses of drones doubled in two weeks of March.
According to the reports of the Ministry of Defense
At a briefing on March 16, Major General Igor Konashenkov said 111 Ukrainian aircraft, 68 helicopters, 160 unmanned aerial vehicles were in the air or eliminated on the ground. 159 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,353 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles were destroyed. "Over the past day, aviation and air defense means of the Aerospace Forces shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft in the Chernihiv region, one MiG-29 in the Novaya Bykovka area, as well as four unmanned aerial vehicles. 128 military facilities of Ukraine were hit by operational-tactical, army and unmanned aircraft. Among them are one Buk-M1 air defense system, one Osa air defense system, four radar detection and targeting stations, four command posts, seven armament and ammunition depots and 68 places of accumulation of military equipment."
To destroy the military infrastructure of Ukraine, Russian aviation uses high-precision cruise missiles, including the X-31 family. Frame from the video of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Perhaps the largest losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine this month occurred on March 5-6. At a briefing of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it was said: "Fighter aircraft and air defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down three more Ukrainian Su-27 fighters and three unmanned aerial vehicles in the air. In total, for yesterday and incomplete today, the Ukrainian Air Force lost 11 combat aircraft and two helicopters." According to another report, only on March 5, 4 Su-27 and one MiG-29 were shot down in the air near Zhytomyr, Su-27 and Su-25 near Radomyshl and another Su-25 near Nizhyn.
Among other important messages from the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the statement of March 6 is noteworthy. "The Kiev regime of nationalists forces employees of enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine to restore damaged military equipment for subsequent deployment to combat areas. As part of the task of demilitarizing Ukraine, the Russian armed forces will defeat Ukrainian enterprises of the military-industrial complex with high-precision weapons." Soon local observers began to report a series of powerful explosions at factories near Kiev, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr and other cities of the country.
We do not yet have all the details of how the Russian Aerospace Forces gained air supremacy over Ukraine. There are only some materials from a number of reliable sources on the events of late February - early March. These include information published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the printed bodies of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, award lists on the Heroes of the Country website and in other official sources.
Major Dudin
The navigator of the fighter aviation regiment, Major Dudin, is among the participants of the special military operation awarded with government awards. He has a raid of over 1,500 hours, including one carried out during a counter-terrorist operation in the Syrian Arab Republic. According to the information of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Viktor Anatolyevich performed the first flight on the morning of February 24.
"During a combat patrol to cover the advancing group of troops, he found a Su-27 fighter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Having skillfully performed an aerial maneuver, Viktor Dudin destroyed an enemy aircraft from the first approach in a duel battle, preventing a strike on our troops."
Further, the award list says that two days later, the Russian aviator was tasked with hitting the Buk-M1 mobile anti-aircraft missile systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "The complexity of the task was the presence of an active enemy air defense system in the patrol area. Skilfully applying the combat experience gained, Viktor Dudin boldly and decisively went for rapprochement with the area of operation of the Ukrainian air defense systems. At an extremely low altitude of 400 m, having identified itself in the enemy's radar field, the aircraft of the Russian air force entered the target area. After turning on the Ukrainian Buk-M1 installation, Viktor Dudin instantly hit it with a missile, while simultaneously leaving the affected area of other SAMs."
The next battle dates back to February 28: Major Dudin, as part of a pair of fighters, flew to intercept two Ukrainian Su-27 aircraft that were approaching for an air strike. "At an altitude of 10 thousand meters, having skillfully executed a maneuver and taking an advantageous position, Viktor Dudin, demonstrating the highest skill, hit the enemy with the first missile. Then a pair of Russian fighters, finding the second departing plane, hit it with crossfire."
On the first day of March, during a combat patrol to control the airspace, the major found a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter. "Using the effect of surprise, he destroyed an aerial target with the first rocket launch."
By the decree of the President of Russia dated March 4, 2022, Viktor Dudin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for "courage and heroism shown during a combat mission".
Captain Pankratov
The commander of the anti-aircraft missile division, Captain Alexey Pankratov, from the first day of the special military operation to protect the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, performed tasks to cover a separate motorized rifle brigade from enemy aircraft.
On February 28, 2022, the plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine included an air strike on the brigade's concentration area. In order to protect from air defense means, an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group moved into the area of the location of the Russian troops, sent to destroy combat vehicles of the anti-aircraft missile division.
Noticing the attack of saboteurs, Alexey Stanislavovich gave the command to the division to take up the defense and engaged in battle with the enemy. During the defense of anti-aircraft missile systems, Alexey Pankratov saw enemy planes in the sky. As a result of competent actions, Alexey Pankratov's well-aimed fire shot down one Su-25 and three Bayraktar attack drones, which made it possible to prevent an air attack on the positions of Russian motorized infantry. The next day, two more enemy Bayraktars were destroyed by the forces of the division under the direct leadership of Pankratov.
By the decree of the President of Russia dated March 4, 2022, Alexey Pankratov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for "courage and heroism shown during a combat mission".
Senior Lieutenant Maximov
How a special military operation is seen by Ukrainian servicemen, we can judge from an interview with the captured pilot Andrei Maksimov. In 2020, he graduated from the Kharkiv National Air Force University named after the thrice Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub (formed on the basis of the Kharkiv Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, founded in 1930). On the first day of hostilities, I received a task: to withdraw from under attack aviation equipment located at the airfield, which was subjected to rocket fire. Then he carried out combat sorties on a Su-25 attack aircraft, the first - by crossing north of Kiev, 40 km from the Belarusian border. During the flight to the target, the leader was shot down, and Maximov had to act independently.
The second flight was the bombing of a bridge in the Kherson region. The third task could not be completed. On approach to the target, the aircraft came under fire from air defense systems, the pilot had to perform maneuvers to evade the missiles fired at him. The last flight dates back to February 26, the task: a missile strike on the Antonovsky Bridge near the city of Kherson. In the immediate vicinity of the target, an anti-aircraft missile was fired at the aircraft, causing significant damage to the aircraft.
The wounded pilot ejected, parachuted into the area of the location of the Russian troops, from where he was taken to the hospital for medical care. Maximov believes that he was lucky: many comrades-in-arms died during the fighting, including those pilots who did not eject from damaged aircraft, fearing to be captured by the Russians.
It is known that among the dead there is also Colonel Alexander Oksana, an experienced pilot with more than 2,000 thousand flight hours, a participant in the so-called anti-terrorist operation in the Donbas. He became famous for his demonstration performances at several international air shows. His Su-27 was shot down over Kiev on February 25. Three days later, Oksana was posthumously awarded the title "Hero of Ukraine".
How this pilot died is not yet fully clear. Perhaps his plane was hit by a Ukrainian missile. According to the statements of the Russian side, the air defense of Ukraine actually ceased to perform its function as a system almost immediately after the start of the special operation. However, the S-300PS and Buk-M1 air defense systems were not destroyed immediately due to their high mobility. Having lost reliable centralized control and up-to-date information about the air situation from the external radar network, the anti-aircraft calculations acted separately, relying entirely on their own (regular) detection means. As a result, launches were sometimes carried out without specifying the nationality of a particular air target, which led to cases of damage to aircraft and helicopters of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Vladimir Karnozov
