Posted on 03/01/2022 5:54:02 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
…The first six days have confounded those expectations and instead seen Moscow act far more delicately with its air power, so much so that U.S. officials can't exactly explain what's driving Russia's apparent risk-adverse behavior.
… David Deptula, a retired U.S. Air Force three-star general who once commanded the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, said he was surprised that Russia didn't work harder to establish air dominance from the start.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Thoughts?
fear of stingers
video clips of Russian aircraft in the last couple of days showed them flying very low and fast
I think U.S. officials get stumped by everything .
“Stingers”
That’s exactly what a career AF neighbor said today.
Too true, the U.S. is currently led by idiots.
Russians have air dominance, that is why their columns can just sit there.
Russians have been avoiding civilian casualties so far. They have been moving slowly and deliberately.
LOL. Yep, “Officials” and “Experts” and “Unnamed Sources” and “Intelligence Analysts” are always stumped and amazed by the unexpected.
“ stingers”<————-what he said. Why take the chance?
There are a bunch of beautiful churches and monasteries in the Kiev area. Any accidental strike on them would turn Russian Orthodox believers against the Putin regime.
They hit significant historical sites and infrastructure on the first day, mostly with missiles. They also seem to have lost a lot of helicopters and landing troops to shoulder launched missiles. Those can fire and move and are most likely what aggravates Putin the most.
“LOL. Yep, “Officials” and “Experts” and “Unnamed Sources” and “Intelligence Analysts” are always stumped and amazed by the unexpected.”
Pretty much sums it up.
Manpads have a very limited ceiling—typically 12000-15000 ft from published info I have seen. Easily could conduct bombing runs from above that in a Cessna twin. Must be something else. Aircrew headed to Switzerland for ruble replenishment.
[Russians have air dominance, that is why their columns can just sit there.
Russians have been avoiding civilian casualties so far. They have been moving slowly and deliberately.]
GREAT FEAR OF STINGERS
The younger pilots have heard all the stories from Afghanistan.
Ret. Gen MacGregor addressed this tonight on Tucker Carlson. To reduce casualties. To give Ukraine a chance to renounce NATO alliance.
Russians have air dominance, that is why their columns can just sit there.
right!
can you imagine some A10s strafing that column?
HIGHWAY OF DEATH II
Not surprising if you’ve read the book Mig Pilot:
Stingers only work on low-level stuff. One presumes the Russians could drop in smart weapons from higher altitudes. This isn’t the Vietnam war, where you had close air support F-4s dropping in bombs and napalm from altitudes measured in hundreds of feet.
MANPAD.
This makes “air superiority” difficult.
And I’ve read that Ukraine is constantly moving their air defense around to keep them alive.
This is a war where airpower is not very useful.
Ukraine’s defense is scattered military in urban areas with javelins and civilians with small arms and molotov cocktails. How are jets useful in that fight?
Close support copters would be, but the stingers keep them away.
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