Russians are using a lot of PGM but maybe they don't have as many PGM as they ought to or would need to pull off as alternative to unguided bombing of massive swathes of land. This is both due to unwillingness to totally level entire cities via unguided bombing runs and because there is no need. They are doing exactly what you said, using PGMs on specific targets.
A lot of PGM? I doubt it. There are several issues regarding your comment.
For starter, how do you know when the enemy is finally defeated? You do not. It does not matter if it is 'dumb' or 'smart' bombs that you dropped on him. You will find some sources on the interweb that says something like 90 days worth of munition and that is fine, but most people misunderstood that 90 days figure. It means you bring the maximum amount of bombs your airplanes can deliver at their maximum capabilities in terms of sortie rates.
Example...If you deploy 10 bombers with each capable of 10 bombs and can generate 2 sorties per day, you calculate 90 days worth of bombs from that capability. Ten bombers with 10 bombs each equals to 100 bombs, now x2 sorties per day equals to 200 bombs, then 90 days worth of bombs. But if you deploy with 20 or 30 bombers, that 90 days worth of munition will increase because you have more bombers dropping bombs on any given day. Then at the same time, you have to constantly replenish that store as you fly and drop bombs. Whether you chose to deploy with 90, or 60, or just 10 days worth of munition is up to you. That 90 days is just a reasonable unofficial standard created to allow for unexpected events that may require you to drop more bombs.
So when you said 'a lot of PGM' it is meaningless. We do not know how many VKS jets are capable of delivering PGM. Back in Desert Storm, our F-16s have LANTIRN nav pods but not targeting pods, so our F-16 pilots were not qual-ed to drop PGM, even though there were plenty of laser guided munitions for the F-111s and F-15Es. So what does 'a lot of PGM' mean? If not enough VKS jets can deliver PGM at the right places, the PGM are not credible contributors to the war.
What if the VKS did not deployed with sufficient munition in the first place, regardless of dumb/smart bombs? Why not? Maybe because of bad intelligence and analyses? So now, because of tough Ukrainian resistance, the VKS have to husband its deployed munition stores. So even if we grant you 'a lot of PGM' argument, it looks like there is not enough of that 'a lot' to make the Ukrainians submit.
Now comes more serious issues/problems for the VKS...
Here is the standard progression of USAF/USN flight training...
Am willing to bet that most of the world's air forces, including your China, have the same. Not similar, but the same for those fortunate enough to be assigned to the 'fighter' class. That is also where you get to know what 9g feels like. Believe me on this one, 9g ain't pleasant. When I was on the F-111, it was capable of 5-6g. If you ever been on a rollercoaster, that is 3g. Now imagine x3.
Anyway...According to ground testimonies, the VKS day presence is tolerable, which by Desert Storm standard mean shiddy, meaning Ukrainian ground forces can handle it,
and that the VKS night presence is essentially non-existent. You may not like my use of Desert Storm to apply to the VKS but unfortunately the most successful combat air force get to set the standards for the rest, including your China, to follow.
Even if we grant that the VKS have air superiority over Ukraine, what next? Apparently, nothing. The Ukrainian Air Force does not engage air-air but instead flew to attack Russian ground forces, leaving the VKS to attack Ukrainian ground forces who reported that they can handle it. In other words, Ukrainians soldiers told Ukrainian airmen that they can take on Russian airmen. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is for any air force? It made the air superiority gained by the VKS meaningless. After Desert Storm, the Iraqi Army was bitter towards the Iraqi Air Force. But here in Ukraine, the Ukrainian soldiers told the Ukrainian Air Force that they will be fine, so go and attack the Russians.
For the USAF, low altitude is 0-10k ft, medium altitude is 10-30k, and high altitude is 30k plus. The higher the pickle altitude the less precise and accurate where the bomb will be. That mean the best altitude for precise and accurate bomb delivery is at low altitude, even with PGM. But since the VKS retreated up to medium altitude, clearly do not have much experience with PGM, and delivering dumb bombs at medium altitude, the survivability for Ukrainian ground forces increases. So why not tell the Ukrainian Air Force to attack Russian ground forces?
I didn't know Ukraine Airforce is still operating.
First six days of invasion have confounded expectations Russia would try to immediately destroy Ukraine’s air force.
www.aljazeera.com
Instead, Ukrainian air force fighter jets are still carrying out low-level, defensive counter-air and ground-attack sorties. Russia is still flying through contested airspace.
Is there any wonder why the Ukrainian ground resistance have been so tough and so long? Because they do not have to worry about the VKS. Maybe 'do not' is exaggerated, but not much.
For Russian ground forces, every time they hear jets overhead, does anyone tell them it is a 'friendly'? If not, what do you think goes thru their minds and what they have to do next to try to survive?
So while in appearance that the VKS dominate Ukrainian airspace, the reality is that at best, the VKS have partial air superiority.
You missed my point here with your reply. It has nothing to do with China.
But it does.
Now that we, meaning US and China, know that the VKS is essentially a third rate air force, that elevated the PLAAF/PLAN to the next level. How much night flying does the PLAAF/PLAN have?
Go back to the training progression chart above. Just because air-air is the top, it does not mean it is the last, it means that skill is the most difficult to train. For the USAF/USN, night and air-air training intermix whenever time permit. But the reality is that US airpower with jets have been flying night combat missions since the Korean War, with Desert Storm the most visually spectacular, so we are looking at 70 yrs of night experience. The PLA is no doubt analyzing the differences between with and without night combat missions in Ukraine. Does the PLAAF/PLAN have the same type of PGM like US, laser and radar? How often does the PLAAF/PLAN train with PGM and how realistic? Day and night? Remember, the standard is 70 yrs high. The next time anyone mocks US for not daring enough to take on a peer, I will remember Ukraine and laughs. One peer down, one to go.
The fact that the VKS does not conduct sufficient daytime sorties to suppress Ukrainian ground forces and is absent at night means China could supplement Russia in this regard. But why not? Sure, it could be for %100 political reasons and that would be legitimate. But what if it is because the PLAAF/PLAN do not have sufficient experience at both day and night to make a difference? That would surely be a bad sign.
What I'm saying is when US went on adventurism, no one supplied US enemy.
Why not? But remember that China supplied North Viet Nam. So why not supplement Russia? You already promised you will save Russia economically. Why not militarily? What are you afraid of?
Here Russia is fighting a nation several times larger, much more sophisticated than Vietnam (of the Vietnam war era), and constantly supplied by others. If US was doing the war on Ukraine here instead of Russia, the USA would have lost similar numbers. Of course US would plan things differently and not endanger their equipment quite as willingly and impatiently perhaps but that's because it would have the ability to sustain this war much more than Russia has. Russia's overall GDP and productivity is less than California's.
No, we would not. The Ukrainian Air Force would have been grounded on the first day. From the second day forward? See Desert Storm.
