A Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 with AGM-88 rockets (anti-radiation) was used to conduct attacks. Still, the Russian aerial defense battery unit engaged them and drew blood on the Kyiv side.
The anti-missile defense engaged the American-supplied homing missile, blunting the attack and shooting down the marauding enemy jets.
Ukraine Air Force Su-27 UAF
The Flankers are Ukraine's best fighter units against modernized versions of the Su-35 Flanker. These museum pieces were from 1991 when it was top tier, but age and obsolete avionics have sealed their fate if it meets enhanced 4.5 generation fighters, reported Military Watch Magazine.
Though for dogfights, it can stand a chance new radar and missile technology are present on the old airframe.
Modern air combat has rendered the outcome of dogfights with modern Russian fighters unpredictable. More shots are down despite media claims. It cannot cope with the Russian aerial defense battery when matched against the heavyweight Su-35 with modern avionics and better targeting sensors for weapons.
For these planes to use the older airframe more effectively, they are armed with HARM anti-radiation missiles to attack radar and ground targets. Capable of hauling loads over long distances as missile trucks.
The aircraft is still potentially viable for ground attack missions with AGM-88 rockets, but their high endurance allows them to carry vast amounts of ordinance over long ranges.
The ability of Ukraine to sustain the fleet's proper operation is openly challenged because the Su-27 Flankers, a heavyweight fighter, does have significantly higher maintenance needs than its lighter counterpart, the MiG-29, and is not as well-suited to operating from short or makeshift runways.
Russian Anti-Air Missile Defense
A recent strike of Su-27 units invading Russian territory after an attempt to terrorize Russian civilians close to Ukraine's borders
This UAF plane was going at a low altitude to avoid gun and missile defenses but was surprised when an S-300V4 system detected and tracked it. It ended with the UAF plane being knocked out of the sky.
Another UAF unit, a Su-24MR strike fighter, was shot down with the Flanker at 217 kilometers. It is the longest missile shot from any air defense battery recorded.
The S-300 has two long-range missiles with a 200-kilometer range, like the 48N6DM with a 250km engagement range or the farther-ranged 40N6 with a 400km engagement range.
Furthermore, they travel at Mach 10 or hypersonic speeds and can defend against non-existent superfast missiles that the West claims to have developed.
The Russian feat was impressive compared to the Belarus S-400 that killed another Su-27 that was destroyed in Kyiv last March. But it shows a lack of efforts on the Russian side to stamp out the UAF effectively. Russian aerospace forces have destroyed many UAF jets.
The Ukrainian Su-27 Flankers equipped with AGM-88 rocket are short-handed after the Russian aerial defense battery S-300 lobbed a missile at 217 kilometers; the older plane is doomed in a modern battlefield.
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