Can the Ukrainian Air Force defend itself in a conflict with Russia?

Feature

Does the Ukrainian Air Force have the assets to defend itself against Russia? Vladimir Trendafilovski crunches the numbers.

Ukrainian Su-27 [Chris Lofting]
Su-27UP s/n ‘73 Blue’ (c/n 96310425068) of the 39 brTA from Ozerne deploys its braking parachute after relocating at Starokostyantyniv Air Base. This is the dedicated AD variant of the two-seat Su-27UB which has no air-to-ground capability and is armed with the identical air-to-air loadout as the Su-27P ’37 Blue’ on the previous photo (see above). Unlike the two-seat MiG-29UB, two-seat Su-27s have radars and fully identical combat capabilities as the single-seat versions. Chris Lofting

Following yet another large-scale mobilisation and deployment of substantial military assets of the Russian Armed Forces (VS RF) on the border with Ukraine, the situation in this region is critical again. This latest build-up of troops commenced in October 2021 and was essentially a follow-up to the events that took place the previous spring, when the bulk of the heavy military equipment arrived in the area (see 'At Ukraine’s door', AFM July 2021, p42-45).

The c

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Originally published in AirForces Monthly Magazine

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