Aircraft losses are significant: why Russia was unable to protect Belbek airfield

The Russians were unable to protect their aviation/Collage 24 Channel

Belbek airfield in temporarily occupied Crimea was attacked on the night of May 15. It is known that two MiG-31 and one Su-27 aircraft were destroyed, as well as damage to the MiG-29. In fact, this number may be higher.

The Russians were unable to defend Belbek, because a few days before this the S- complex was destroyed there 400, so the airfield and its facilities were without any cover. This 24 Channel was noted by aviation expert Bogdan Dolintse.

Russians failed to protect their aircraft

Bogdan Dolintse noted that the number of damaged aircraft may be greater, but today it is difficult to estimate this. Perhaps some planes can be restored quickly, while others were not damaged. Other aircraft could be on the ground, appear normal, but be significantly damaged, in particular their engines, control systems, and their restoration may be impractical.

Why the Russians were unable to protect their aviation? Literally a few days before, the S-400 complex that was there was destroyed. In fact, this airfield and its facilities were without any cover,” he explained.

Airlift is a process they have used before in the event of a threat. But it has certain preparation procedures, because it is quite difficult to remove all the planes at one time and transport them. They must undergo maintenance and be refueled.

In addition, these aircraft are also one of the elements of the Russian air defense system. They are on patrol. They cannot take all the planes from Belbek.

Effectiveness of Russian air defense

The aviation expert emphasized that the effectiveness of Russian air defense is not as high as they would like. After all, the basis of this system is the so-called Soviet base. In fact, it is about detecting and countering large objects. In particular, combat aircraft and fighters. Also about detecting high-speed objects such as cruise and ballistic missiles.

If we are talking about countering drones, then the situation is different. Because these old Soviet complexes are not very effective against such targets. On the one hand, they are simply not even capable of detecting some of these targets. On the other hand, the cost of defeating such a drone is not commensurately more expensive than the cost of the ammunition itself that this drone can hit. Therefore, targets are selected by priority,” Dolince said.

In some cases, enemy air defense systems, even when they see a drone, may simply not fire at it. Because a drone costs 10 thousand dollars, and a missile to destroy it costs 200, 300 or more thousand dollars.

In addition, if we talk specifically about countering drones, then Russia has Pantsir-S complexes. They can counter UAVs, but they don’t have very many of these systems. In total it is said about 100 units. Their capabilities are also limited by both range and detection capabilities of certain types of targets.

Attack on Belbek on May 15: the main thing

• On the night of May 15, at the Belbek military airfield in Sevastopol, the occupying equipment was hit. As a result of a missile strike at the airfield, two MiG-31 interceptor fighters were destroyed, and a warehouse of fuel and lubricants was also burned down.
• Eleven Russian servicemen were also injured. In total, 13 occupiers were injured in Crimea during the night of the attack, and 2 more could have died. Sevastopol air rescue center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. 12 Su-27 aircraft, 12 Su-27SM aircraft, three Su-27UB combat trainers and 5 two-seat Su-30M2 aircraft are based at this airfield.