Ukraine is increasingly successful with its anti-aircraft defenses. More was expected of the Russian Air Force before the war started, but it remained remarkably quiet. There seems to be a balance in the air right now. “Ukraine delivered an absolutely masterful performance,” says Frederik Mertens, a strategy analyst at the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague.
According to Adriaan Batenburg, a lieutenant colonel in the Ministry of Defense and an expert in the field of land-based air defence, air defense plays a necessary “preconditional role” both offensively and defensively to protect friendly troops from attack from the air. “As soon as you start maneuvering your troops on the battlefield, you need an umbrella in the form of an umbrella to ensure protection.”
How much air defense is needed depends on the threat posed by the enemy. And what exactly do you want to protect from those air raids. “Because you can never secure everything,” says Batenburg. «Because those who defend everything, defend nothing at all. Then there will be a list of critical ones resources settled, and that umbrella is placed over it.’
Complex
These defensive activities must continue even when you launch an offensive into enemy territory. “Air defense is a combination of sensors, to see where your opponent is, if you can actually disable them, and if you have control over those sensors and effectors,” Batenburg says.
For example, effective air defense is a combination of technique and tactics. “It’s fundamentally complex,” says Mertens. “The whole picture of air warfare, air defense and the air offensive is one huge symphonic concert in which everything has to work very well together.”
‘Master’
At the beginning of the war, air defense in Ukraine consisted mainly of outdated technical means of the Soviet era. As soon as the war started, the West started supporting Ukraine with Western resources. Batenburg: ‘You can see that the Ukrainian air defense is extremely effective at the moment, but it has also been very effective with Russian resources alone. Deploying them tactically and intelligently, they managed to survive the first weeks of the war.’
Especially in that early period, according to Batenburg, Russia strove to fight for air superiority. “In the first few days, they almost succeeded.” In the early days of the war, he says, the Russians tried en masse to disable that defense, but ran into the problem that electronic warfare also disrupted their own communications. Then they shut it down, communication was given priority, “and that gave the Ukrainian air defense a chance to recover from that first hit.” And then the Ukrainians did it masterfully».
Do not underestimate
The Russian potential in the air is much greater than the Ukrainian one. At the start of the war, the Russians had about 350 fighter planes, compared to the Ukraine’s 120. “The offensive capability of the Russian Air Force appears to be quite limited, because it cannot develop that ‘symphonic concert’ that is needed,” Mertens explains. “I’m not able to make a large number of different aircraft work together efficiently.”
Despite all the mistakes made, it’s important not to underestimate the Russians, according to Batenburg. “Not even in the future. They have technically high-quality equipment and even the Russian will learn from all the mistakes he made in Ukraine.’
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
