Ukrainian aviation joins the fighting in Kursk region, - Forbes
Date: 2024-08-14 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
A week after the invasion of Kursk region, the Russian air force redirected most of its firepower to this part of the front and began dropping 50 glide bombs daily on Sumy region.
However, as Forbes writes, the Ukrainian Armed Forces also have aviation and already on Tuesday the first videos appeared of our military dropping American JDAM bombs on targets in Kursk.
In particular, our troops hit the Russian command post in Tetkino, several kilometers north of the front line. It is noteworthy that the raid was apparently carried out by an outdated Su-27, and not one of the F-16s recently delivered to Ukraine.
While the F-16s are JDAM-compatible, there is evidence that the Ukrainian Air Force plans to deploy the nimble fighters primarily for air defense patrols rather than riskier ground attacks.
"The risk to aviation in the Kursk salient is significant. The Ukrainian military has deployed what one Russian blogger described as a 'significant number' of air defense batteries, as well as electronic jammers that can block radio signals and, in some cases, even drop satellite-guided bombs," the publication writes.
Ukraine's UAVs have even shot down several Russian helicopters, while enemy artillery has damaged one Ukrainian Buk missile system. The Russians have also amassed a significant number of air defenses in Kursk. As a result, aircraft from both sides are trying to fly as low as possible to avoid radar.
While both sides have deployed warplanes over the border area, the Russians are likely deploying more warplanes. There is evidence of their bombings targeting both Ukrainian troops in Kursk and their bases in Sumy. At the same time, the only confirmed target of a Ukrainian bomb is the command post in Tetkino. So it is not yet clear whether the Ukrainians have extended their air force directly over the front line.
"It would make sense. Despite the escalation of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Russian air bases in and around Kursk, the Russians still have more jets and bombs. The 85 F-16s that Ukraine's European allies promised are coming slowly and in small numbers. It is quite possible that the Ukrainian air force only has 100 combat aircraft after losing several during Russian attacks on Ukrainian airfields this summer," the journalists speculate.
Center for Defense Strategies researcher Hans Petter Midthun notes that this invasion challenges the already stretched Ukrainian armed forces.
For the war against Ukraine, Russia has deployed about 3,000 aircraft capable of dropping up to 100 glide bombs a day. The smaller Ukrainian Air Force is cutting back on that number.
At the same time as the Su-27s were bombing Russian positions in Kursk, other Ukrainian aircraft were bombing three Russian-controlled towns in the Kharkiv region, about 160 km east of the Kursk salient. However, despite all the shortcomings, the Ukrainian advance shows no signs of slowing down.
"We are going on the offensive," an unnamed Ukrainian official told Midtun. "The goal is to stretch the enemy's positions, inflict maximum losses on them and destabilize the situation in Russia, since they are unable to defend their own border."
