Two Su-34 fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Army were shot down by Ukraine, which also gave the PLA three major inspirations. The Russian army launched a retaliatory counterattack, shooting down 16 Ukrainian fighter jets in a day to avenge comrades. Faced with the "ultimatum" issued by Russia, the attitude of the United States and European countries softened.
In the early stages of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the performance of the Russian Aerospace Force can be described as excellent. After all, the comprehensive suppression of the Ukrainian Air Force was completed in a short period of time, and successfully obtained the air supremacy of the entire Ukrainian territory , ensuring the smooth progress of the Russian ground armored forces. What is most noteworthy is that while Russian Air Force fighter jets destroyed a large number of ground targets, they suffered almost no losses, which also allowed the outside world to re-evaluate and analyze the Russian army. But the good times did not last long. After March, the losses of Russian fighter jets began to expand. Among them, the Su-34, known as the "air tank", was shot down twice in just a few days, which directly refreshed the outside world's understanding of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The "image" that he finally established collapsed instantly.
According to domestic media, on March 5 and March 6, the Russian military Su-34 fighter bomber was shot down one after another, and the pilot who jumped was also captured by the Ukrainian government forces, causing the Russian army to lose face. The reason why the Su-34 fighter bomber is called an "air tank" is that on the one hand, the aircraft has a large bomb load and combat radius, and can undertake high-intensity ground attack tasks. The overall tactical performance is comparable to the US F-15E "Attack Eagle" fighter. On the other hand, it is because its cockpit has titanium alloy armor weighing up to 1.5 tons, which can maximize the battlefield survivability of fighter pilots. There are many different opinions on the weapons and equipment of the two Su-34 fighter-bombers. Some people think it is a "Sthorn" individual air defense missile, and some people think it is a "Beech" medium-range air defense missile, but no matter which model of missile is used, the Russian army finally paid a heavy price for its own reasons.
In fact, the shot down of the Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber this time also exposed some problems of the Russian army, and also gave three major inspirations to the People's Liberation Army.
The first revelation: Ensure sufficient precision guided ammunition. On the first day of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, media discovered that Russia lacked precise guided munitions. According to the latest statistics from the US military, the Russian army has used more than 600 missiles of various types until now, but the number of air strikes is only dozens. Most of the time, Su-30SM fighter jets and Su-34 fighter bombers can only carry non-guided aviation bombs and risk being shot down to carry out ultra-low-altitude bombing. The lack of precise guided weapon is undoubtedly taking risks with the safety of pilots and fighter jets. On the one hand, this situation is caused by the Russian army underestimating the enemy, and on the other hand, it has a lot to do with its battlefield reserves.
Second: Ensure the number and overall proportion of advanced weapons and equipment. Although the Russian army dispatched various types of weapons and equipment during this military strike operation, it should be noted that the modernization of Russian weapons and equipment is still insufficient. Whether it is Su-30SM fighter jets or Su-34 fighter bombers, the overall number is still only more than 100, which accounts for far lower than that of Su-24 fighter bombers and Su-25 attack aircraft. In many cases, the Russian army's high-intensity combat mission still requires these two old fighter jets that have been in service for decades to perform combat missions. Due to the problem of military expenditure, the Russian army's weapons and equipment did not form a significant generation difference with the Ukrainian government forces' weapons and equipment, and ultimately directly affected the Russian army's battlefield offensive efficiency to a large extent.
Third: Ensure the tactical goals are clear and focus on targetedness and effectiveness. Indeed, in recent years, the Russian army has completed the modernization of weapons and equipment, but it is more about threatening the United States and NATO . Its new stealth fighter , hypersonic missile and strategic nuclear submarine have little impact on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Although the Russian army carried out two Chechen Wars at the beginning of independence, it still lacked targeted and effective weapons when dealing with urban combat, which also led to different degrees of damage in the battles of siege of cities such as Kharkov and Kiev . Most of the weapons and equipment currently in service in the Russian army were not developed for urban warfare, so using a bunch of large corps combat equipment to fight street battles will inevitably lead to heavy losses.
Originally, the Russian army's special military operations in Ukraine were very "restrained". If Ukraine was willing to cooperate with the Russian army to "demilitarize", then everyone would be at peace. However, if Ukraine "does not know the tact" and angered the Russian army, then Russia will inevitably be too tit for tooth and eye for eye. According to Russian media, after the Su-34 fighter-bomber was shot down, the Russian army immediately stepped up its encirclement and suppression of Ukrainian air force. In the battle on March 5, the Russian army shot down a total of 16 various fighter jets of the Ukrainian government army. In addition to fighter jets, the Russian army also destroyed a number of air defense missile units of the Ukrainian government army. achieved a dazzling record in a short period of time. Obviously, the Russian army's revenge was also very successful. After seeing Ukrainian fighter jets landed at the air base in Romania, Russia immediately issued an "ultimatum" to the United States and NATO.
If they dare to continue to let Ukrainian pilots land at their own airports, it is equivalent to declaring war directly on Russia, and the Russian army will also have the right to launch military strikes on these countries. After receiving the "war warning" issued by Russia, the attitudes of the United States and Europe gradually began to soften. Recently, Ukraine has frequently called on NATO to establish the so-called no-fly zone to assist Ukraine in fighting Russia. However, it was directly rejected by the United States and NATO. US Secretary of State Blinken said that if a no-fly zone is set up in Ukraine, the US military may directly have a military conflict with the Russian army, and there will be a world war that swept the world. Therefore, Ukrainian President Zelensky wanted the United States and NATO to intervene, which was completely a daydream.
