I’ve seen various stories/reports the UKR forces have very effective counters to Russian helicopters from portable rockets.
Fighter jets/bombers seem like much harder targets but seem to be underutilized. Does Ukraine have highly effective anti-aircraft systems or does Russia just not have a very strong Air Force? Or is there a different reason for this?
Well first meta thing is that before the war we overestimated their air capability by a lot. Second is that their air power was not built for close air support or CAS. Third is that Ukraine still has their air defense in tact, Russia doesn't seem to have the capability to locate & destroy them. Risk to gain ratio is high and getting your planes shot down is very expensive.
I’ve seen various stories/reports the UKR forces have very effective counters to Russian helicopters from portable rockets.
Fighter jets/bombers seem like much harder targets but seem to be underutilized. Does Ukraine have highly effective anti-aircraft systems or does Russia just not have a very strong Air Force? Or is there a different reason for this?
Well first meta thing is that before the war we overestimated their air capability by a lot. Second is that their air power was not built for close air support or CAS. Third is that Ukraine still has their air defense in tact, Russia doesn't seem to have the capability to locate & destroy them. Risk to gain ratio is high and getting your planes shot down is very expensive.
Makes perfect sense, thanks!