LVIV:Each night, Ukrainian pilots such as Andriy loiter in an undisclosed aircraft hanger, waiting, waiting, until the tension is broken with a shouted, one-word command: “Air!” Andriy hustles into his Su-27 supersonic jet and hastily taxis toward the runway, getting airborne as quickly as possible. He takes off so fast that he doesn’t yet know his mission for the night, although the big picture is always the same — to bring the fight to a Russian air force that is vastly superior in numbers but has failed to win control of the skies above Ukraine. “I don’t do any checks,” said Andriy, a Ukrainian air force pilot. “I just take off. ”
Nearly a month into the fighting, one of the biggest surprises of the war in Ukraine is Russia’s failure to defeat the Ukrainian air force. Military analysts had expected Russian forces to quickly destroy or paralyse Ukraine’s air defences and military aircraft, yet neither has happened. Instead, “Top Gun”-style aerial dogfights, rare in modern warfare, are now raging above the country. “Every time when I fly, it’s for a real fight,” said Andriy, who is 25 and has flown 10 missions in the war. “In every fight with Russian jets, there is no equality. They always have five times more”.
Russians have been flying an array of modern Sukhoi jets, such as the Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35. The success of Ukrainian pilots has helped protect Ukrainian soldiers on the ground and prevented wider bombing in cities, since pilots have intercepted some Russian cruise missiles. Ukrainian officials also say the country’s military has shot down 97 fixed-wing Russian aircraft. That number could not be verified, but the crumpled remnants of Russian fighter jets have crashed into rivers, fields and houses.
The Ukrainian air force is operating in near total secrecy. Its fighter jets can fly from air strips in western Ukraine, airports that have been bombed yet retain enough runway for takeoffs or landings — or even from highways, analysts say. They are vastly outnumbered: Russia is believed to fly about 200 sorties per day while Ukraine flies five to 10.
Ukrainian pilots do have one advantage. In most of the country, Russian planes fly over territory cont- rolled by the Ukrainian military, which can move anti-aircraft missiles to harass — and shoot down — planes.
“The enemy flying into our airspace is flying into the zone of our air defence systems,” said a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force. He described the strategy as luring Russian planes into air defence traps. Dave Deptula, a scholar at the US Air Force Academy and principal attack planner for the Desert Storm air campaign in Iraq, said the impressive performance of the Ukrainian pilots had helped counter their disadvantages in numbers. He said Ukraine now has roughly 55 operational fighter jets, a number that is dwindling from shoot-downs and mechanical failures, as Ukrainian pilots are “stressing them to max performance. ” President Zelensky has appealed repeatedly to the West to replenish the Ukrainian air force.
Pilotless drones are also a tool in the Ukrainian military’s arsenal. Ukraine flies a Turkish-made armed drone, the Bayraktar TB-2, a propeller aircraft that is lethally effective in destroying tanks or artillery pieces on the ground but cannot hit targets in the air. Volunteers too play a role in the air battles. A volunteer network watches and listens for Russian jets, calling in coordinates and estimated speed and altitude.
Nearly a month into the fighting, one of the biggest surprises of the war in Ukraine is Russia’s failure to defeat the Ukrainian air force. Military analysts had expected Russian forces to quickly destroy or paralyse Ukraine’s air defences and military aircraft, yet neither has happened. Instead, “Top Gun”-style aerial dogfights, rare in modern warfare, are now raging above the country. “Every time when I fly, it’s for a real fight,” said Andriy, who is 25 and has flown 10 missions in the war. “In every fight with Russian jets, there is no equality. They always have five times more”.
Russians have been flying an array of modern Sukhoi jets, such as the Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35. The success of Ukrainian pilots has helped protect Ukrainian soldiers on the ground and prevented wider bombing in cities, since pilots have intercepted some Russian cruise missiles. Ukrainian officials also say the country’s military has shot down 97 fixed-wing Russian aircraft. That number could not be verified, but the crumpled remnants of Russian fighter jets have crashed into rivers, fields and houses.
The Ukrainian air force is operating in near total secrecy. Its fighter jets can fly from air strips in western Ukraine, airports that have been bombed yet retain enough runway for takeoffs or landings — or even from highways, analysts say. They are vastly outnumbered: Russia is believed to fly about 200 sorties per day while Ukraine flies five to 10.
Ukrainian pilots do have one advantage. In most of the country, Russian planes fly over territory cont- rolled by the Ukrainian military, which can move anti-aircraft missiles to harass — and shoot down — planes.
“The enemy flying into our airspace is flying into the zone of our air defence systems,” said a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force. He described the strategy as luring Russian planes into air defence traps. Dave Deptula, a scholar at the US Air Force Academy and principal attack planner for the Desert Storm air campaign in Iraq, said the impressive performance of the Ukrainian pilots had helped counter their disadvantages in numbers. He said Ukraine now has roughly 55 operational fighter jets, a number that is dwindling from shoot-downs and mechanical failures, as Ukrainian pilots are “stressing them to max performance. ” President Zelensky has appealed repeatedly to the West to replenish the Ukrainian air force.
Pilotless drones are also a tool in the Ukrainian military’s arsenal. Ukraine flies a Turkish-made armed drone, the Bayraktar TB-2, a propeller aircraft that is lethally effective in destroying tanks or artillery pieces on the ground but cannot hit targets in the air. Volunteers too play a role in the air battles. A volunteer network watches and listens for Russian jets, calling in coordinates and estimated speed and altitude.
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