The exercises planned for 2024 by NATO member countries Steadfast Defender ("Steadfast Defender"), judging by the declared number of air tasks, involve the development of an operation to suppress and overcome the Russian echeloned air defense (air defense). Military expert Alexey Leonkov told RIA Novosti about this.
"These 500-700 tasks planned by NATO within the framework of the "Persistent Defender" are due to the fact that, according to the results of air battles in the skies of Ukraine, the West has not finally received an algorithm for solving the issue of overcoming and suppressing the echeloned air defense system. Single flights of drones do not count, because they do not cause significant damage to military facilities, but only allow us to identify individual gaps in our defense," he said.
The expert admitted that during the exercises they will try to simulate the echeloned air defense system of Russia, taking into account the information received in Ukraine due to the flights of reconnaissance aircraft. After that, they will work out how to overcome it through the joint efforts of the air force, ground forces and naval forces during a multi-domain operation.
Leonkov added that earlier in the direction of Ukraine, the Russian echeloned air defense, which was created to protect against threats from the West, was not built. According to him, for this reason, "NATO will have much more problems with Russia's air defense in the western direction." The interlocutor of the agency admitted that the issue of a joint operation to suppress and overcome the Russian air defense system remains key for the West.
Earlier in September, 19FortyFive columnist Maya Karlin wrote that Russian S-300 air defense systems would easily destroy F-16 fighters that Western countries would transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
