WHY AIR POWER IS KEY in the Ukraine War

There is evidence that with 'borrowed' F-16s and the recent arrival of French Mirage 2000s, improved Ukrainian air superiority may be the deciding factor that brings the Russians to the peace talks table.

- GUY LEITCH

T. GEN. David A. Deptula, USAF (ret), writing in Air&Space Forces magazine, posits that the war in Ukraine provides two airpower lessons:

The first lesson is what not to do: The Russian air force's failure to establish air superiority at the outset cost Putin's forces the ability to achieve a decisive victory at the start of the conflict.

The second lesson is about the difficulty of establishing air superiority with insufficient resources and capabilities. This is what has forced Ukraine to endure costly attacks on its territory throughout the war.

Both sides possess lethal air defences that deny opposing air forces the ability to penetrate their battlespace. The result is an attrition-based conflict that benefits Russia as it has the greater number of aircraft and underlines the importance of additional aircraft for Ukraine defence.

Deptula argues that "Ukraine has the potential to turn things around. Properly equipped, Ukraine could conduct an integrated air-ground campaign to secure air superiority, in the times and places of its choosing, to reverse the territorial gains the Russian army has achieved up to this point. To do so, Ukraine must plan and execute operations that integrate their long-range surface-to-surface weapons with combat aircraft, drones, cyber operations, electronic arfare (EW), and special operations to achieve air superiority. If successful, Ukraine could gain an advantage over the Russians, break through their front lines, and change the course of the war.”