Photo by GETTY IMAGES
photo caption According to Forbes, the Ukrainian Air Force deployed six Su-27 fighter jets in the open air, and a Russian missile apparently destroyed two of them. The photo is illustrative.
July 2, 2024
The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that five Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jets were apparently destroyed at the Myrhorod airfield in the Poltava region as a result of an Iskander-M missile strike on July 1.
At the same time Forbes wrotethat Ukraine deployed six Su-27 fighter jets in the open air, and a Russian missile destroyed two of them.
There is still no official information regarding the strike and its possible consequences from the Ukrainian military command.
The Ukrainian Air Force turned to the spokesman of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Ilya Yevlash. However, he stated that “there will be no comments on this situation at all.”
At the same time, the strike on the airfield was confirmed by the former Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat, who went resigned in March, but remained in the PS.
“There was a blow. There are certain losses, but not at all such as the enemy attributes to himself,” – wrote Ignat on Facebook.
According to his version, the Ukrainian forces are doing everything to oppose the enemy, to mislead him, including with the help of models and other means.
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Edition Forbes wrotethat according to their data, there were six Ukrainian Su-27 supersonic fighters at the airport in Myrhorod, which were standing in an open area in broad daylight.
As a result of the strike, as the publication claims, two Su-27 aircraft were destroyed and four more were damaged.
“This strike was probably one of the most expensive losses for the Ukrainian aviation since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia,” the authors of the article point out. And they add that the raid on Myrhorod is only the latest in a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian air bases.
In recent months, the Russians have struck at least four Ukrainian planes at the Dovgintseve air base near Kryvyi Rih, which is 72 kilometers from the front line, Forbes writes.
According to him, the first two strikes were last fall. They caught the Ukrainian Air Force by surprise and blew up several MiG-29 fighters. A third strike in November appears to have hit a defunct Su-25 decoy attack aircraft. But the fourth drone raid damaged the working Su-25.
“The two Su-27s that Iskander blew up in Myrhorod increase the number of destroyed Ukrainian military aircraft over the past nine months to at least five. Ukrainians cannot afford such losses,” Forbes believes.
The author of the photo is the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Photo caption: Tu-95MS bombers, from which Russia regularly fires at Ukraine
The publication writes that the Armed Forces entered the war in February 2022, armed with regarding 125 Su-27, Su-25, MiG-29 and other aircraft. In 28 months of fighting, the Ukrainians are likely to lose regarding 90 aircraft, Oryx analysts confirm.
The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not publicly advertise information regarding possible aviation losses.
Subsequently, the Ukrainians purchased dozens of spare MiGs and “dryers” from the allies or restored them from long-term storage. These aircraft keep the Air Force in a combat-ready state until the old European fighters – F-16 and Mirage 2000 – arrive in Ukraine.
At the same time, the European planes that Ukraine is waiting for will also be vulnerable to Russian drones and missile strikes if they are standing in the open sky, Forbes notes.
How Ukraine can protect its planes
The publication writes that there are obvious steps that Ukrainian commanders might take to protect their planes.
First, withdraw operational aircraft from the bases located closest to Russia.
“Ukrainian forces have access to approximately 20 large airbases, dozens of small airfields and even airstrips scattered throughout the country. Each Ukrainian aircraft at least covers hundreds of kilometers. There is no reason to keep the Su-27 at an airfield 150 km from the front line.” , – writes the publication.
However, according to Forbes, this is not enough, since Russia has ballistic and cruise missiles that can hit all over Ukraine. Therefore, the Ukrainian command must constantly move its planes and crews.
Author of the photo, DSNS
image captionRussia is persistently trying to destroy the airbase in Starokostiantyniv
Russian strikes on parked planes should force Ukrainians to be unpredictable, the authors of the article believe. They also advise building reinforced shelters to protect aircraft and placing more false targets.
However, whatever the Ukrainians decide to do to protect their planes, they need to do it quickly, the publication notes.
Air Force commentator Ilya Abishev – regarding the attack on Ukrainian fighter jets at the airfield in Myrhorod
The air base in Myrhorod is called the jump airfield. Located at a relatively short distance from the contact line (200-350 km depending on the direction), this airfield is often used for refueling and short stops of combat aircraft heading for missions towards the front line. But its proximity to the Russian border between the Sumy and Kursk regions – regarding 150 km – makes it vulnerable to Russian attacks.
Myrhorod suffered massive rocket attacks on the first day of the Russian invasion, and since then there have been constant attempts to destroy the airfield’s infrastructure and the equipment based there.
The Russian army strikes with both ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as kamikaze drones.
So far, the results of airfield strikes have been modest, but this time, considering everything, the losses of the Armed Forces turned out to be significant. And this is not the only bad news for the Ukrainian command.
First of all, it is worth noting the unimpeded stay of reconnaissance drones in the area of the attacked object – presumably “Orlaniv”. This is evidenced both by eyewitnesses and by the video of the drone made by the Russian Ministry of Defense, which makes adjustments and records the results of the strike.
This means that Russian reconnaissance UAVs can go to a great depth and work not in an autonomous mode, but maintaining communication with a ground station through two channels.
According to data from open sources, the maximum radius of action of “Orlan-10” in the mode of two-way communication with the control point is 120 km. But in this case it is at least 150 km.
This testifies to the weak anti-aircraft cover of such an important military object as the airfield. And the matter is not only the lack of modern air defense systems in the Armed Forces, such as Patriot and SAMP-T, capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, but also the elementary inability to close the airspace from much lighter targets – slow-moving UAVs. If this problem is not solved, no Patriot will help, even it can become a target for an attack drone.
Attention is also drawn to the fact that several warplanes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were outside the shelters at once. The lack of protected and underground hangars for airplanes was often complained regarding by Russian “military personnel” – but, as it turns out, things are no better in the Ukrainian army.
The problem of the security of Ukrainian airfields is becoming increasingly urgent, as the arrival of Western F-16 fighter jets is expected, and Russia is also preparing for this.
