Latest Russia Update

Big story for this week I think is both sides settling in and preparing for the next stage of the war. On the Ukrainian side this includes transfer of some forces from the Kyiv region to the Donbas and the integration of newly acquired weapons into the force, including T-72s from the Czech Republic and an S-300 air defense system from Slovakia. With respect to aircraft Bulgaria just bought eight F-16s from the US which may well be an indicator that their small squadrons of MiG-29s (11) and Su-25s (8) will be headed in a direction in the near future. More on this next week. For their part, the Russians are licking their wounds and reorganizing their forces around three principle axes of advance; two in the Donbas and one along the Black Sea coast. Russians have also called up 60000 reservists so does NOT look like this thing is finished anytime soon. Finally, Russians are finally starting to honor the principle of unity of command:

Some links:

• Finland gonna join NATO.
• First answer as to “why did Russian air forces suck?” is that they didn’t do Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) which is something that the USAF and USN have been doing since Vietnam. But we need to do better.
• Germany is still being regarded as a bit twitchy.
• Nice rundown on what Ukrainian forces have done well.

I have a 1945 piece on the Su-25 Frogfoot, although I am saddened that I somehow failed to work in a “Frogfeet” joke.

In the Russia-Ukraine War both sides are using so much Soviet-era equipment that the Russians have had visually distinguished their own vehicles with the now-famous “Z.” Among the best known aircraft to operate on both sides of the fight has been the Su-25 “Frogfoot” jet attack aircraft. The Frogfoot is a rough contemporary of the storied American A-10 “Warthog,” and as such we can begin to draw some tentative conclusions about the future of the Warthog from the experience of the Frogfoot.