August 29, 2023. Balkan Periscope - Hellas
The
Ukrainian Air Force lost two Su-25 attack jets and an Mi-8 helicopter in
intensified clashes with Russian forces, according to a report from the Russian
Defence Ministry on August 27.
The ministry reported: “Russian fighter jets shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter near the settlement of Zalivnoye in the Zaporozhye Region. Air defence systems shot down two Su-25 planes of the Ukrainian air force near the settlements of Malaya Tokmachka and Novodanilovka in the Zaporozhye Region.”
Regarding
other notable victories gained by Russian air defences, the ministry further
elaborated:
“During the
day, nine HIMARS rockets were intercepted. Apart from that, 30 Ukrainian unmanned
aerial vehicles were destroyed near the settlements of Nikolayevk, Privolye,
and Topolevka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Lozovoye, Ivanovka, Semigorye,
and Podgornoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Novoye, Chapayevka, Tokmak,
and Skelevatoye in the Zaporozhye Region, and Vasilyevka in the Kherson
Region.”
The
ministry report claimed that 466 Ukrainian manned fixed wing aircraft, 247
helicopters, and 6,152 unmanned aircraft have been downed since the escalation
of hostilities in February 2022.
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Launch From HIMARS Rocket Artillery System |
The report
closely follows the loss of three of Ukraine’s top pilots on a combat mission
announced two days prior, as well as reports that the HIMARS system initially
relied on heavily for precision strikes on Russian and East Ukrainian positions
had become increasingly less effective as Russian forces developed more
advanced countermeasures.
The Su-25
is the last class of manned close air support jet produced anywhere in the
world, and was inherited by eight Soviet successor states including both Russia
and Ukraine, the latter which inherited close to 100 airframes.
The class
has seen widespread combat operations across three continents including
supporting Russian counterinsurgency efforts in Syria and flying for both sides
in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Known as
the ‘flying tank,’ it is broadly analogous in its role to the American A-10
Warthog and is heavily armoured to be able to withstand fire from both surface
to air missiles and anti air artillery in order to operate at low altitudes in
support of ground units.
The
aircraft have played a much more prominent role on the Ukrainian side due to
limited numbers of aircraft from other classes available, where the Russian Air
Force’s fleet remains far less depleted allowing it to rely on more survivable
assets to lay down fire. The Su-25, like most Russian combat jets from its
generation, was designed to be able to operate from makeshift airfields
allowing it to continue operations despite major Russian strikes on airbases
across Ukraine.
Unlike the
MiG-29 fighter, which is the only other combat jet Ukraine operates in
significant numbers, the Su-25 was not widely operated by Warsaw Pact states in
Eastern Europe meaning there are not significant surpluses of the aircraft in
the inventories of NATO member states available for donation to the Ukrainian
Air Force.
Military Watch Magazine
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