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Is Russian airpower being underestimated?
A little bit..
“The Mysterious Case of the Missing Russian Air Force”, declared the Royal United Services Institute four days after Putin invaded Ukraine. The Curious case of Russia’s Missing Air Force, chimed in The Economist a week later. “Russian air force goes missing at the worst possible time,” a curious Forbes asked in September 2022, when Ukraine started hammering the flanks of the Russian army last year.
‘Mutual denial’ is the term that is frequently used when assessing the Russian and Ukrainian air forces’ efforts to gain control of the Ukrainian skies. Neither faction enjoys air supremacy, yet both have effectively prevented the other from entering their airspace.
Russia still has of hundreds of fixed-wing aircraft, but there’s a notable absence of them making their way into Ukrainian skies to cause chaos. Ukrainian armed forces have effectively denied access to Russian airpower, leaving them with no choice but to remain quiet.
Quiet is not exactly equal to silence.
Russia increased its deployment of Ka-52 helicopters in response to Ukraine’s southern advances. In the past two months alone, four Ka-52 helicopters were downed. At the outset of the conflict, Russia possessed an estimated 100 units, but this number may have dwindled to as few as 25…
