jhungary
MILITARY PROFESSIONAL
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Air Force had failed.Their operations in the north was not a total failure. Within the opening hours of the war, the Russian air force managed to destroy and force the Ukrainian air force into a position where they could hardly fight back (which is what their doctrine tells them to do), which then allowed them to launch air strike after air strike on various UKR positions. They did a number on the UKR military in the north. The failure comes from the army, not the air force.
When they redeployed and focused on the east and south, they pretty much controlled the skies, and still do today. 200 sorties a day against UKR 5 sorties a day. That seems like superiority to me, considering the amount of land they took. If NATO truly wants to help UKR, them give them F16 and F15. Not more su25.
Set aside whether or not they have been able to gain Air Superiority or even Air Dominance. The sole reason for Air Force to exist is to give the force the range they need to overcome any artillery and ground force, none of that have been done by the Russian Air Force.
In a war, you will need to contest your sky to gain air superiority so you can extend your ground range to beyond artillery range. Whether or not Russia up the tempo with the Air Force (200 sortie a day is probably a myth) or whether or not Russian limited Ukrainian Air Force capability. The ground range had not extended beyond artillery range, which mean whatever outside Russian artillery range they can't touch (except for a limited case using Ballistic/Cruise missile). If you look at what Russia captured from Ukraine, you can see at any point of their front line, they can draw a line 50km away from any of their starting position.
That in itself is a failure of the Air Force.