text/Fatty eggplant
Most drones are regarded as "cheap consumables" in war, but in order to fight these drones, the precious Su-27 fighter used by the Ukrainian ? Is this "small use of talents" a measure of meaning to the Ukrainian army?
According to Global Network , citing Russian News Agency on October 23, days ago, multiple videos shot from different angles appeared on social media software, showing a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter using the close-range missile to attack the Russian "Geranium-2" suicide drone. Some netizens even commented that the Ukrainian fighter jets should be using R-73 fighting bombs, but the missiles were suspected to have not been detonated normally, so it is impossible to determine whether the Russian drone was destroyed. Up to now, neither Russia nor Ukraine has made any further explanation or comment on the matter, nor has the media able to unilaterally confirm the matter.
dispatched the few remaining heavy fighter strike drone? The Ukrainian army's behavior has caused some controversy, and some netizens believe that the Ukrainian army should not "waste resources" so much, especially when it lost its fighter jets not long ago. According to the Eurasian Times, days ago, a Ukrainian Su-27 was shot down by a "mysterious fighter" while performing a mission to intercept Russian drones. The Ukrainian fighter jet was destroyed on the spot before he even had time to climb to the drone's cruise altitude. The local government hinted that the Russian army may have dispatched the Su-57 fighter and launched the R-37M ultra-long-range air-to-air missile to achieve this killing, because the air defense system in the surrounding countries did not find any Russian fighter jets near the airspace where the incident occurred. If the news is true, then this will become Su-57's "first kill" in Ukraine.
This is not the first time that the Ukrainian army has lost its precious fixed-wing fighter in the mission of "intercepting drones". Not long ago, there was another Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet performing an interception mission in the Vinnesia area. was destroyed by a self-destructed drone, causing the aircraft to lose control and crash, and the pilot to escape with no help from ejection.
For Ukraine, without the West's direct assistance to fighter , every loss of a fighter means that the Ukrainian Air Force's control is reduced by one point. According to statistics, as of now, the Ukrainian army has lost 22 MiG-29 and at least 6 Su-27s in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, accounting for nearly half of the total number of Ukrainian air force fighters. But even so, why did the Ukrainian army still insist on "using air to control air" and use fighter jets to intercept Russian drones?
It is reported that the Russian army is currently using a large number of people in Ukraine. It is suspected that the "Geranium-2" suicide drone (or cruise missile) provided by Iran . Don’t underestimate this thing: it can carry a warhead of up to 50 kilograms, fly hundreds or even thousands of kilometers at an ultra-low altitude of about 180 kilometers, and can effectively avoid the only remaining "regional air defense systems" of the Ukrainian army and directly attack the rear facilities. The series of blows suffered by Ukrainian energy facilities some time ago are the best examples.
In the face of lack of radar , lack of air defense systems, etc., the Ukrainians obviously have no better choice - either dispatch fighter jets to intercept these drones and ensure the safety of some important facilities to a certain extent, or they can only use rifles or traditional anti-aircraft machine guns / cannon and shoulder-mounted air defense missiles to fight back, and the latter is obviously more passive and lack flexibility. In this case, it was obviously a helpless move for the Ukrainians to use fighters to intercept drones.
Although many Western countries are still working hard to provide Ukraine with the parts needed to maintain fighter jets, no one dares to directly provide fighter jets to Ukraine, even the United States. Under this situation, no matter how strong the Ukrainian army's logistics and maintenance capabilities are, its fighter jet inventory will only be gradually exhausted in the long tug-of-war. The frontline of the Russian Air Force air supremacy will be further consolidated, which may have a significant impact on the future direction of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Perhaps, it is time for Biden to start thinking about whether it is a "bet with Russia" or to stop when it comes to good results and seek a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
