Ukrainian aviation joined the fighting in the Kursk region, – Forbes

Our troops hit the Russian command post in Tyotkino.

A week after the invasion of Kursk Oblast, the Russian Air Force redirected most of its firepower to this section of the front and began dropping 50 glide bombs on Sumy Oblast every day.

However, as Forbes writes , the Armed Forces also have aviation, and already on Tuesday the first videos appeared of our military dropping American JDAM bombs on targets in Kursk.

In particular, our troops hit the Russian command post in Tyotkino, a few kilometers north of the front line. It is noteworthy that the raid was apparently carried out by an outdated Su-27, and not one of the F-16s recently delivered to Ukraine.

Although the F-16s are JDAM compatible, there is evidence that the Ukrainian Air Force initially plans to deploy the agile fighters for air defense patrols rather than riskier ground attacks.

“The risk to aviation in the area of the Kursk salient is significant. The Ukrainian military has deployed what one Russian blogger described as a ‘significant number’ of anti-aircraft batteries, as well as radio-electronic jamming devices that can jam radio signals and, in some cases, even drop satellite bombs guidance,” the publication writes.

As noted, thanks to UAVs, Ukraine even shot down several Russian helicopters, while enemy artillery damaged one Ukrainian Buk air defense system. The Russians also withdrew a significant number of anti-aircraft missiles to Kursk. Therefore, the planes of both sides try to fly as low as possible to avoid radars.

Although both sides have deployed warplanes over the border area, the Russians are likely to deploy more warplanes. There is evidence of their bombing targeting both Ukrainian troops in Kursk and their bases in Sumy. At the same time, the only confirmed target of the Ukrainian bomb is the command post in Tetkino. Thus, it is still unclear whether the Ukrainians deployed their air force directly above the front line.

“That would make sense. Despite escalating Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Russian air bases in and around Kursk, the Russians still have more jets and bombs. Those 85 F-16s promised by Ukraine’s European allies are arriving slowly and in a small number. It is possible that the Ukrainian Air Force has only 100 combat aircraft after losing several during Russian attacks on Ukrainian airfields this summer,” the journalists speculate.

Hans Petter Midtun of the Center for Defense Strategies notes that this invasion challenges the already stretched Ukrainian armed forces.

For the war against Ukraine, Russia has deployed approximately 3,000 aircraft capable of dropping up to 100 cruise bombs per day. At the same time, the smaller Air Force of the Armed Forces reduces this number.

At the same time that the Su-27s bombed Russian positions in Kursk, other Ukrainian aircraft bombed three Russian-controlled towns in the Kharkiv region about 160 km east of the Kursk salient. However, the publication emphasizes that, despite all the shortcomings, the advance of Ukrainian forces shows no signs of slowing down.

“We are going on the offensive,” an unnamed Ukrainian official told Midtun. “The goal is to stretch the enemy’s positions, inflict maximum losses on him and destabilize the situation in Russia, since they are unable to protect their own border.”

(C)UNIAN 2024