The US can best support Ukraine by providing it with weapons, aircraft and other equipment to help protect its airspace, instead of establishing a no-fly zone – John (JV) Venable, US Air Force expert told Fox News Digital.
“Basically, the Ukrainian army is fighting with two fulcrums: one is the ammunition that we are providing them, and the other is the fighting spirit that they can sustain themselves” – Mr. Venable, former commander of the US Air Force, and senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation – commented.
“By providing them with the right weapons, we strengthen their morale, bring them victories, help them defeat Russia, and make this war a hugely costly endeavor for the Russians.” – Mr. Venable expressed his opinion.
Ukraine’s solid air defense capabilities have surprised experts. For a month, Russia has not established clear control over Ukrainian airspace. Kiev seems to have pulled Russia into a deadlock.
“Ukrainian forces have been operating effectively in the sky, because we are operating on our own soil,” Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, told the New York Times. If you fly into our airspace, you will also enter the range of air defense systems.”
Fighter planes of the Ukrainian Air Force (Image: Forbes)
Ihnat describes the country’s strategy as luring Russian planes into an “air defense trap”. According to Venable, that could be a strategy in which Ukrainian planes pretend to retreat, luring Russian planes into “trap” areas. There, ground forces will open fire from both sides and destroy enemy fighters.
According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the damage of the Russian side as of March 27 has reached 121 aircraft and 127 helicopters.
The latest statistics on the damage of the Russian Army as of March 27, 2022. Source: Kyiv Independent quoted the announcement of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s airspace remains the subject of fierce debate as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly calls for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone. Some experts estimate that Ukraine has only about 55 active fighters left, and that number is continuing to decrease.
However, US politicians are still divided on support for a no-fly zone. President Biden said that action would essentially drag the US and its NATO allies into direct conflict with Russia.
That hesitation also prevented the US from supplying planes to Ukraine. Some reports suggest that the Pentagon has rejected the Polish plan to supply MiG-29 fighters to Kiev.
Talking to Fox News Digital, Mr. Venable said that the US needs to increase the supply of Ukraine with the necessary means to repel Russia, especially in the air.
The expert emphasized that the Javelin and Stinger missiles that NATO supplies to Ukraine have proven to be the most effective weapons, however, it is the aircraft that can bring more than combat effectiveness.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a Javelin missile during a military exercise.
Ukraine used three types of fighters in the conflict with Russia: MiG-29, Su-27 and Su-24. The limited number of aircraft that Ukraine currently has [khoảng 30 chiếc Su-24] will be harmed even in the most successful action campaigns. Therefore, the provision of more aircraft will allow Ukraine to no longer have to “dissect” other aircraft for spare parts.
Most importantly, according to Mr. Venable, the planes will provide significant morale boost to ground forces.
“Whenever in a firefight, soldiers hear the sound of their planes or see one of them flying overhead, it makes them feel a surge of energy. movement,” concluded Mr. Venable.
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