Russia has consistently failed to dominate the air space.
Had an interesting conversation yesterday with an old Air Force vet.
Where are the Russian Bombers? Why haven’t they been used?
Or rather, can Russia get enough bombers into the air to do anything?
“Where are the Russian Bombers? Why haven’t they been used?”
This is a mystery. One piece of evidence is they are flying regular sorties, but over Russian territory or the Black Sea. They get to within 10 miles of Ukrainian soil, release ATG missiles, and turn back to base.
That pattern is only explained by being worried about losing aircraft if they do fly into theater.
That’s what I don’t understand either. Even if they unload on the peripheries of populated areas and don’t inflict major casualties, the psychological value of the sound and concussion of daily massive bombing is immense.