Putin’s New Major Problem for Russian Military Revealed (Fighter Jets Edition)

Russian fighter jets like the Su-34 or the Su-57 should be dominating the skies over Ukraine, but instead they’re either seen fleeing the battlefield or ungracefully falling onto the ground in flames.

Why? Sure, there are reports of Russian aircrews being so incompetent they leave the covers on aircraft sensors before takeoff, but is that the only reason for Russian combat aviators failing to establish any kind of air superiority over the battlefield thus far?

Let’s find out.

#themilitaryshow

[jamesjacobs]

One item you did not mention was the corruption within the Russian system and the amount of infighting among the upper echelons of command.

[SiriusMined]

SU-57 can't dominate when there are only 14 of them, 10 of which are prototypes.

[majtom]

One of the reasons we won WW II was because of the resources recovering downed pilots was a high priority and returning them back to the cockpit. Pilots take a long time to train and the skill levels are hard to replace.

[maryhadda]

There's a reason that Russia has been unable to sell commercial airliners. They're just not very good.

[machdaddy]

This isn't the first time that Russian aircraft and hilocopters have had to deal with stingers.

[flfydragon]

"Ungracefully falling into the ground in flames"
Opposed to the graceful way of falling into the ground in flames.

[octaviovaladaoferreirinhad]

At 05:14 a clarification is needed. The aircraft depicted was a derelict Su-17M3 "Fitter", phased out in service in the early 2000's. Also it was by no means slow, in fact it used to fight by penetrating enemy territory at high speeds, a supersonic beast with swing wings and everything else. The aircraft you probably tried to describe is the Su-25 "Frogfoot", a tactical bomber often described as a Russian counterpart to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, used by the Americans.

[operaatio]

There isn't enough many SU-57s to really use them. Somewhere around 14ish.
And as the old joke goes;
"Russia's best stealth fighter! Never even seen on a airfield!"

[matsv]

There is one part missing in the video. While the Russian aircraft is in and out. Ukrainian Manpads are supported by commercial drones giving then an extended time of head up making it possible to target aircraft faster and shoot them down on a greater distance

[chrisneumann]

As an ex-US Navy avionics tech there are a number of items in this video that are true, however there are a number of baseline problems with the Ru Air Forces:
1. Their aircraft are junk - I saw a number of them up close just after the fall of the iron curtain when in the very early 1990's I had a look at a couple that were on my NAS. Very poorly built, crooked rivet lines, massive leaks (even more than any US aircraft, and they all leak), and avionics that looked like the leftovers from the late 60's/early 70's.
2. Their aircraft are poorly maintained - As evidence of several leaks that left fuel and hydraulic stains on our flight line, corrosion (under fresh paint), popped rivets, more than a couple of missing panel screws, and low tire pressure on tires we would have thrown out months ago.
3. Poorly trained pilots - I have no direct evidence of this but I get the impression that Post USSR pilots left the Ru Air Forces which left a glut in personnel for pilot training. I also suspect that they do not fly as many sorties as the US does due to ancient and poorly maintained aircraft for which you can get no parts. I'm also convinced that they are drunk or hung over when flying.
4. Rampant corruption - This is obvious. How can millions be spent on any military when they have such poorly built and designed aircraft, tanks, body armor, etc.? They are still eating meals out of a McDonalds bag! No MRE equivalents and mostly out of date. Someone was making money on the whole thing...well more like stole money. Very little effort was made to upgrade their military arsenal which brings me to:
5. Behind the curve by 40-years - Darned near everything that I've seen shows they decades behind the US, NATO, and many smaller and "poorer" countries. They have failed to develop any defenses to NATO's updated tech and are paying a heavy price.
6. No NCO's - Everyone with a successful military knows that the NCO's are the core component to any branch, air force, navy, army, all of them. NCO's don't always make the decisions but they know how to execute orders. As the Ukrainians. They used the Russian model until their independence, and at the US's suggestion, we encouraged them to form an NCO corps. <<THIS is one of the reasons for Ukraine success and why they have successfully been able to fend off the Russian invaders. Even if Putin were to enact an effort to have NCO's tomorrow it would take 25-30-years before it would be somewhat effective.

[peterhobson]

One major problem that all Russian military forces have is the lack of a senior, long service NCO corps. This is a hold-over from the Soviet era, where officers were reasonably well trained but enlisted conscripts would do their two or three year required service and then return to civilian life. The few people who remained were generally not high quality and were not technically trained. In Western militaries, senior NCOs are considered the backbone of the services. Enlisted people, whether enlisted or conscripted, are given initial technical training. If they reenlist, they're given more training plus they gain experience. One of the main functions of senior NCOs is to teach junior enlisted and junior officers how to do their jobs. In response to their 2014 debacle, the Ukrainians realized they needed to discard their Soviet-style military and adopt the Western style. They got the necessary instruction and indoctrination from various NATO militaries and are now a Western style military.
Disclosure: I am a retired US Navy Senior Chief (E8). I know first hand the duties and responsibilities of senior NCOs because I was one.

[geoffreywinfield]

The massive migration of young men since the War began, must have had a significant effect on the Russian Economy and Technology/Military sectors, and Putin's ability to wage modern war.

[Aust]

From what I recall, over the course of my adult life (30+ yrs) Russian machinery (aircraft, ships, motor vehicles) has always suffered from reliability issues, and I suspect the sanctions imposed on Russia by civilized countries after (ras)Putin inacted this genocidal campaign on Ukraine have very likely exacerbated the Russians apparent incompetence when it comes to maintaining their machinery. With any aircraft, if it's not maintained meticulously, with that awareness in-hand only morons or insane people would feel comfortable going up in the air in them; quite simply, poor maintenance equals aircraft falling out of the sky. 🤪🤬💅

[zollen]

Considering USSR learned a very tough lesson against portable missiles systems during the Afghan war, one would think they must have developed a solution before going into another major war.

[martijnklijn]

I wonder about how large the effect of corruption is here, given what we've seen on russian tanks, where reactive armor was actually replaced with of all things egg cartons. With the russian levels of corruption you see that what yuo actually have in stock never matches with what you're supposed to have. That was one of the main reasons their initial attack on Kiev failed. Tanks ran out of fuel, and soldiers out of food. It seems to me that similar problems should be hurting their combat fighters.

[williamelliott]

The planes are not being serviced regularly by trained fitters and other mechanical staff . The Americans are fanatical about having their aircraft serviced correctly. This shows that the pilots can fly their plane with confidence. Australia is similarly fanatic of serving their planes with trained serviceman and regular service. The proof shows how many crashes a country has. We think Russian equipment was first class their tanks are old and not been serviced so it shows with the results poor servicing and old equipment cannot be depended upon.

[bobgreene]

Oustanding analysis of a complex and fluid situation. The heroic effort of Ukraine to defend itself electrifies the world, inspiring an outpouring of support.
In this war of attrition, Western sanctions play a critical and increasing role, depriving Putin of flexibility and endurance. The great irony is Putin's attempted resurrection of Soviet power simply will replay the demise of the former Soviet Union.

[daskritterhaus]

l salute the extremely motivated Ukraines quickly matching the learning curve.

[mightymoto]

I wouldn’t be surprised at all of the capabilities of Ukrainian pilots to very efficiently and effectively any aircraft given to them. Too many people forget the effect and efficiency the Poles provided England in WW2 because of their hatred of the Germans. Ukraine pilots are just the other glove on a pair, why do you think Poland was/is so ready to give their aircraft to the Ukrainian’s ???

[jamesbowen]

They have always had s logistics challenge. Their maintenance program involves swapping engines for factory remanufactured engines every 50-200 hours of operation, depending on use type.
They have a bottle neck in remanufacturing ability and transportation ability.
The result is planes falling out of sky when operating beyond safe limits, and commanders conserving flight time for the most important tasks only.