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The Russian Air Force changed tactics to deal with the “rain” of Ukrainian missiles

(Dan Tri) – The air war in Ukraine seems to have entered a new phase, as the Russian air force increases the number of flights by 50% per day and deploys more and more new equipment.

Russian Air Force changed tactics to deal with Ukrainian missile rain - 1

Russian Su-35 fighter jet (Photo: Reuters).

“It is very likely that the Russian air force has adjusted the way it conducts its operations. Ukraine’s air defenses may have suffered a major loss, or Russia has been more careful when conducting sorties,” said Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies at CNA, a think tank based in Virginia, USA.

According to US defense officials and military experts, the Russian air force has stepped up its activities after being shot down by Ukrainian forces in the early stages of the war. At the same time, the US and its allies delivered thousands of man-portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS) to Ukraine.

Analysts said that Western-aided missiles to Ukraine forced Russia to adjust its air campaign, but did not stop it. On March 21, a senior US defense official said Russia had sortied its planes about 300 times in the previous 24 hours, about 200 times a day higher than the average in the early stages of the war.

Analysts say the increase in the number of Russian sorties can be attributed to a number of factors.

According to Kofman, Ukraine seems to have concentrated its air defense systems in certain locations, including the capital Kiev and the second largest city, Kharkov. This gives Russia more freedom to deploy air strikes around the southern port city of Mariupol, where intense urban fighting is raging.

The large number of MANPADS in possession of Ukraine present a challenge to Russian helicopters and low-altitude aircraft, but Moscow seems to have responded by regularly staying out of their range.

US defense officials accuse Russia of repeatedly conducting air strikes on Ukraine from outside Ukrainian airspace, including a cruise missile attack from a long-range bomber on a training center military in Yavoriv, ​​Western Ukraine. Other Russian warplanes only briefly penetrated Ukrainian airspace.

According to Rob Lee, a former infantry officer in the US Marine Corps and now a senior fellow at the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies, Russia mainly deploys Su-25 aircraft and helicopters in southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia is operating more advanced Su-35s from Belarus, capable of shooting down both Ukrainian planes and drones.

The Su-25 usually attacks ground targets when flying at relatively low altitudes. Both Ukraine and Russia lost Su-25s in the war, in part because they had “outdated” technology that made the planes vulnerable to attack.

Kofman said that a number of other Russian weapons systems, which did not initially appear in the military operation in Ukraine, are appearing more and more, including the Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle used. used to spy on ground targets.

Over the weekend, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had deployed two Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles against Ukrainian military targets. US President Joe Biden said that Russia launched hypersonic missiles because it is “the only weapon that can definitely overcome (Ukraine’s) defenses”.

Biden conjectured that part of the reason why Russia decided to deploy Kinzhal missiles was because Moscow seemed to face damage in the past due to fierce resistance from Ukraine. Previously, US officials have repeatedly said that Ukraine, with the help of weapons from the West, has slowed the advance of Russian forces.

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