Ukraine Russia Conflict
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine involves the build-up and deployment of NATO air forces - including the US Air Force - across Eastern Europe. The combined experts of AirForces Monthly, Combat Aircraft Journal and Key.Aero offer analysis on NATO and Ukrainian aircraft movements; Russian and Ukrainian air defences and ongoing operations in the region.
Claims indicate that Russia is using MiG-35s against Ukraine
Sergei Korotkov, Designer General at the United Aircraft Corporation – a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Rostec State Corporation – has claimed that the MiG-35 Fulcrum-F has been deployed to support Russia’s so-called ‘Special Military Operation’ against Ukraine
Ukrainian Su-24s destroy Russian corvette in Crimean shipyard strike
Late in the afternoon of November 4, the Ukrainian Air Force-operated Su-24M Fencer-Ds equipped with UK/French-supplied Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missiles struck yet another blow against a high-value target in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula
First Dutch ‘Vipers’ arrive in Romania for Ukrainian F-16 pilot training
As preparations continue to be made for the training of Ukrainian Air Force air/ground crews on the Fighting Falcon, the Royal Netherlands Air Force delivered the first batch of its F-16AM/BM (MLU) fighters to the newly established European F-16 Training Centre (EFTC) at the Romanian Air Force’s 86th Air Base in Borcea, Romania, on November 7
Sweden open to sending Gripens to Ukraine after joining NATO
On October 6, Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson announced that a transfer of JAS 39C/D Gripen multi-role fighters to Ukraine could be on the cards, although “domestic security reasons” mean that any such transfer “would be conditional on Sweden first becoming a member of NATO,” and thus covered by NATO’s collective defence commitments
Belgium agrees to send outgoing F-16s to Ukraine from 2025
Brussels has pledged that Belgium will in fact join Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands in transferring some of its outgoing F-16AM/BM (MLU) Fighting Falcon fighters to Ukraine, though the first of an undisclosed number of jets will not be handed over to Kyiv until 2025
How the Ukraine War has exposed vulnerabilities within Russia's Su-25 fleet
The protracted war in Ukraine has exposed key vulnerabilities of the ageing Su-25 fleet, leading to significant combat attrition while the type’s operational effectiveness has been unimpressive. This leads to a conclusion that the end of the Frogfoot’s career in Russia is in sight. Alexander Mladenov explains why
All eyes on Ramstein as NATO nations gathered for fifth Ukraine summit
As defence ministers and military officials flew in for a NATO meeting on Ukraine, Babak Taghvaee was at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to witness the comings and goings
CONFIRMED: Ural Airlines to attempt A320 take-off from field
Ural Airlines has confirmed that it will attempt to fly its Airbus A320 out of the field it became stranded in following an emergency off-airport landing on September 12.
Ukraine's SkyUp Airlines eyes US and Canadian operations
Approval has been granted for SkyUp Airlines to operate services in the United States and Canada.
Ukraine steps up Storm Shadow attacks
As was expected, the series of Ukrainian special operations against Russian high-value targets based in Russian-occupied Crimea that began in August continued in September.