Supersonic Su-35s are air-superiority fighters: they take on Su-34s.
The Ukrainians shot down the first three Su-35s on Saturday, February 17, while the jets were 100 km east of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, preparing to bomb Ukrainian troops retreating from the devastated city.
The Ukrainian military says it shot down a fourth Sukhoi on Sunday, February 18, and two more on Monday, February 19. The last victory is said to have occurred in the Sea of Azov.
Ukrainian Patriot PAC-2 missile batteries — three sets of which Ukraine received from the United States and Germany — may have been responsible for all six killings.
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The Ukrainian Air Force has deployed one Patriot battery in Kiev and one each in the south and east of the country. The truck-mounted battery launchers, when linked to the battery's radars, can move and change position relative to each other.
The Russian Air Force will have no shortage of Sukhoi. According to Data provided by the Oryx Group, during two years of intense fighting, the Russians lost 25 of 150 Su-34s and six of 120 Su-35s. However, the recent rate of losses – six jets in three days – is too high for the Russians to maintain. Since February 2022, the Russian Air Force has lost 95 aircraft. That too in month four. However, if the rate of loss from last week is maintained, this indicator will increase to 60 per month.
Russian losses over Ukraine. Teams are more valuable than equipment
For an Air Force with around a thousand fighters, losing 60 men in a month would be devastating. In turn – as follows A recent report by the Royal United Services Institute in London – The loss of an experienced crew may be even more painful.
Russian aviation operations are “limited by the availability of pilots with sufficient experience to perform critical missions,” wrote RUSI analysts Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds.
However, it is unlikely that the Ukrainian Air Force can shoot down Russian planes twice a day. Four months after Russia-aligned Republicans began blocking U.S. aid to Ukraine, Ukraine's stockpile of Patriot missiles “is declining to critical levels.” Anton Zerashchenko, a former adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, says this.
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It's not like Ukrainians shoot down all their patriots in Sukhoi. They also need PAC-2 missiles, which cost millions of dollars to intercept Russian ballistic missiles aimed at Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa.
So, we shouldn't expect the latest “Sukhoi Massacre” to happen more often in the coming days. A shortage of missiles affects Ukraine's ability to shoot down the best Russian fighter jet.
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