[Leftcoast]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraines-f-16...56296.html

Ukraine is starting out conservative and using their F-16s to target cruise missiles and drones. This is exactly what they should do, at least until they are close to having at least a functioning squadron of aircraft operating. Then they can go offensive occasionally with well-planned missions that will do maximum damage to the Russians.

One baffling thing (to me at least :-) is that Russia has not established a drone-cruise missile barrier around Ukraine. They could fly one or more Mainstays safely well inside Russian airspace. This aircraft could detect and track anything that is moving at say 100 knots and entering Russian airspace. This capability all by itself would give "early warning" of hostile targets and where they are going. This capability would at a minimum improve the effectiveness of Russian SAMs. Russia is not doing it. Russia could also maintain "many" fighter aircraft both already in the air and alert on the ground. These aircraft would be steered by the A-50s towards the targets until the fighters could lock them up. Russian fighters do have "look down shoot down" capability and are quite capable of doing this mission. Yet they aren't. Why not? Ukraine is already starting to get there with their pitifully small stock of F-16s.

Granted the PVO is no more and the VKS hasn't demonstrated such a defense in its history. However, it isn't rocket science. You can bet your last nickle the US would establish a barrier defense in depth  immediately in a similar situation. The destruction of the Iranian drone/cruise missile element by "coalition" aircraft showed how to do it. This was done with a competent yet improvised air element that had never done exactly that mission before and certainly not with each other. Russia absolutely could do it.

What I do not understand at all is how effective Mainstay, or AWACS aircrafts are at picking up incoming missles, aircraft, or whatever, flying low in the weeds so to speak. BI recently had an article how we are now giving Ukraine a long range cruise missle that  has a range of 200 miles.  I am not sure how the Tomahawk missles feels about that.  200 miles is hardly a long range weapon. I have seen articles that indicated that the S400 can find things flying down in the weeds, say  100 to 200 ft above mean ground level about 45 km out.  Can it then intercept that incoming missles in the time left if the incoming weapon is say moving at 500 mph?  Seems to me there is a very good chance that the incoming weapon would hit you before you hit it.  Can an AWACS type aircraft pick up those low flying weapons easily?  Even if they do, how do they facilitate the destruction of those weapons.  Can an AWACS system overide the control of the ground based air defense systems and launch the air defense systems long before the Air defense system radar even finds it? 
This conflict has created a really new issue the worlds militaries need to deal with.  We are no longer talking about expensive Reaper drones firing a few weapons at a target, but more about flying hundreds of cheap drones carrying from 5 to say 50 kilos of explosives. I think it would be very hard for a single country to be able to stop this kind of attack outside of the largest countries on the planetl

Or a high value asset at sea ... say an aircraft carrier to close to shore.  Mass attacks by cheap weapons are a going to be a challenge in many areas.

[Leftcoast]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraines-f-16...56296.html

Ukraine is starting out conservative and using their F-16s to target cruise missiles and drones. This is exactly what they should do, at least until they are close to having at least a functioning squadron of aircraft operating. Then they can go offensive occasionally with well-planned missions that will do maximum damage to the Russians.

One baffling thing (to me at least :-) is that Russia has not established a drone-cruise missile barrier around Ukraine. They could fly one or more Mainstays safely well inside Russian airspace. This aircraft could detect and track anything that is moving at say 100 knots and entering Russian airspace. This capability all by itself would give "early warning" of hostile targets and where they are going. This capability would at a minimum improve the effectiveness of Russian SAMs. Russia is not doing it. Russia could also maintain "many" fighter aircraft both already in the air and alert on the ground. These aircraft would be steered by the A-50s towards the targets until the fighters could lock them up. Russian fighters do have "look down shoot down" capability and are quite capable of doing this mission. Yet they aren't. Why not? Ukraine is already starting to get there with their pitifully small stock of F-16s.

Granted the PVO is no more and the VKS hasn't demonstrated such a defense in its history. However, it isn't rocket science. You can bet your last nickle the US would establish a barrier defense in depth  immediately in a similar situation. The destruction of the Iranian drone/cruise missile element by "coalition" aircraft showed how to do it. This was done with a competent yet improvised air element that had never done exactly that mission before and certainly not with each other. Russia absolutely could do it.

What I do not understand at all is how effective Mainstay, or AWACS aircrafts are at picking up incoming missles, aircraft, or whatever, flying low in the weeds so to speak. BI recently had an article how we are now giving Ukraine a long range cruise missle that  has a range of 200 miles.  I am not sure how the Tomahawk missles feels about that.  200 miles is hardly a long range weapon. I have seen articles that indicated that the S400 can find things flying down in the weeds, say  100 to 200 ft above mean ground level about 45 km out.  Can it then intercept that incoming missles in the time left if the incoming weapon is say moving at 500 mph?  Seems to me there is a very good chance that the incoming weapon would hit you before you hit it.  Can an AWACS type aircraft pick up those low flying weapons easily?  Even if they do, how do they facilitate the destruction of those weapons.  Can an AWACS system overide the control of the ground based air defense systems and launch the air defense systems long before the Air defense system radar even finds it? 
This conflict has created a really new issue the worlds militaries need to deal with.  We are no longer talking about expensive Reaper drones firing a few weapons at a target, but more about flying hundreds of cheap drones carrying from 5 to say 50 kilos of explosives. I think it would be very hard for a single country to be able to stop this kind of attack outside of the largest countries on the planetl

Or a high value asset at sea ... say an aircraft carrier to close to shore.  Mass attacks by cheap weapons are a going to be a challenge in many areas.