Russia cannot keep up with destroyed aircraft losses

Today, there is massive news from the Russian air fleet.

Russia is actively running out of jets for its air force, as production cannot keep up with the losses Ukraine has been dealing. Ukrainian strikes on Russian equipment manufacturing are paying off, as new satellite imagery reveals a destroyed Russian stealth fighter jet parked off the runway. Analysts are stating that the jet’s engines likely caught fire while starting up, veering off course before burning out, with the runway crew unable to salvage the craft.

This is an important loss as Russia has only managed to build an estimated forty-two of them since production began in two thousand nineteen. An average of six per year, as opposed to the one hundred ninety-one F-thirty-five aircraft produced by Lockheed Martin just last year. Additionally, the capabilities of Russia’s newest stealth fighter are heavily debated, with the aircraft having a radar cross-section of up to a full meter, as opposed to a mere centimeter for its western opponents, leading Russia to not deploy the jet over Ukraine’s skies.

Moving back to the destruction of Russia’s air fleet, this week Ukraine also attacked Russia’s military airfield at Marinovka in the Volgograd region. Using Long-Neptune missiles that reach over one thousand kilometers deep, several hangars where Russian jet fighters and bombers are stationed were struck and destroyed. Notably, even Nasa’s own satellites were able to pick up on the damage at the airfield. The Ukrainian navy claimed responsibility and said that two Russian Su-thirty-four fighter-bombers were destroyed in the attack.

Russia uses these big jets at scale to launch glide bomb strikes at Ukrainian forces on the frontlines, as well as against towns and cities within range. These glide bombs have become the biggest problem for Ukraine that it has no counter against, at least until the Swedish Gripen jets arrive with their far-reaching Meteor missiles being able to outshoot Russian jets’ launching range for these glide bombs.

And again, yet another Russian fighter jet crashed recently. This time, a Su-thirty jet fighter crashed in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad during a scheduled training flight. Local residents filmed the crash from nearby, with Russian officials covering up the causes of the crash and the survival of the two pilots inside.

Importantly, Russia has already lost an astonishing thirty-five of its jets due to crashes or accidents this year alone. On top of that, Ukraine has destroyed at least twenty-two military aircraft this year. As Ukraine is intensely striking the Russian manufacturing industry providing maintenance tools and equipment to these aircraft, the total number of jets destroyed reaches a whopping fifty-seven only in this year. Aerospace analysts report that Russia only produces between twenty and thirty jets per year in total, meaning that the number of operational military aircraft is decreasing rapidly for Russia. This is a massive problem for Russia, as while the Russian air force continues to be unable to establish aerial superiority over Ukraine, its previously stated glide-bomb launches outside of Ukrainian air defense range are a major problem for Ukraine. Ukraine however has found its way to deal with this as much as possible, striking major aircraft repair plants, components factories, and aircraft on the ground, creating a major dent that Russia cannot keep filling.

Overall, Russia is losing aircraft faster than it can produce them, with Ukraine striking at the biggest component that is causing them a headache on the frontlines. Frequently, Ukrainian military sources report that when Russians make rare advances against well-defended sections on the frontline, it is through sheer bombing with Fab and Kab glide bombs. While Ukrainians have been moving underground to avoid these strikes, cities close to the frontline are suffering a high cost as well. However, as Ukrainians are destroying Russian jets faster than they can replace them, they are making Russians pay for every bomb that they drop.