Forgive me for perhaps conflating your numbers with others like kazan who have reported 4000 tanks lost, I stand corrected
As to needing F-16s or other western aircraft, yes they need the numbers to compete with Russian air fleet, but more importantly is the weapons and radar capability these aircraft will bring with them
But you already know this
Stand by my understanding of Russian air doctrine
Russia always knew it could not stand toe to toe with western airpower, that is why they invest heavily in ground based air defense abs artillery with aircraft namely being used for ground attack support and limited (temporary) air dominance in the area ground attack is happening
Western doctrine is air supremacy with airpower, B bombers and ground attack aircraft doing the major infantry support , not artillery
Yup limited knowledge
Here comes the problem: how do you expect to deal with ground based air defenses, and what are you going to do once your air support is wiped out? Question to a friend.