Hope on air defense: Western experts doubt the success of the Armed Forces after supply F-16

However, there is another opinion that is based on the fact that the Ukrainian forces should rely more on the efficiency of air defense, since in this war the advantage in aviation is not a key condition for victory. This is stated in Defense News dated July 12. US Air Force Colonel Maximilian Bremer and Senior Researcher at Reimagering U. S.

Grand Strategy Kelly Greco commented on the words of the Commander -in -Chief of the Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny, who stated that Ukraine did not need 120 aircraft, but sufficiently limited to them. However, this statement is as bold as doubtful, experts believe. "Despite the fact that the F-16 is modern multi-purpose fighters, a small number of them cannot provide Ukraine with either the air or breakthrough of the heavily fortified defense borders of Russia," Bremer and Greco said.

According to experts, the Ukrainian side should not complicate the principles of war, and the integration of Western aviation is difficult for them, so the transition to the Western way of conducting the Air War will in its essence be a difficult measure and will increase the likelihood of failure of the Armed Forces.

What is the way out of experts? Instead of trying to compete with the Russians in the air, seeking preference, Kiev should adhere to their simple but effective anti -air counteraction strategy, the authors of the material are convinced. They explain their position by the fact that although Russia's offensive aircraft did not impress in this war, the Russian air defense forces cannot be written off.

In order to succeed Ukraine, it is necessary to suppress these means, the same SCR C-400, but for this purpose, with the F-16 disposal with HARM missiles, Ukrainian pilots will have to go far into the area of ​​enemy SPR. It will be difficult to hit the C-400 air because the C-400 lesion is almost 380 km, which is almost four times more than in AGM-88 Harm (HARM range from 100 to 300 km depending on modification and conditions of application-ed. Red. . ).

Therefore, such a strategy will be unprofitable. "Simply put, the symmetrical duel between the limited amount of Ukrainian F-16 and the large amount of Moscow's SCR is losing to Kiev," experts emphasized. Therefore, in order to succeed in the counter -offensive, the Armed Forces must fill the gap in small and medium -range air defense systems.

In particular, Ukraine needs mobile and autonomous Shorad systems, such as American An/Twq-1 Avenger and German Gepard, capable of moving alongside Ukraine's attacking forces and protecting them. Finally, experts noted that in discussions about the Russian-Ukrainian war they are too often attached to certain armed platforms and opportunities, and not on the thoughtfulness of the strategy of using these means.

"Ukrainian David should remain with its simple but effective anti -aircraft weapons and continue to impress the Russian Goliath in the sky," the authors of the publication summed up. We will remind, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is actively used on the advanced shock helicopters KA-52. However, Ukrainian air defense means cover their troops from air attacks. In particular, the SHORAD systems, such as 9k330 Thor, and Twq-1 Avenger and Gepard, are in service with the Ukrainian Army.