Ukraine Using Outdated Vietnam-era Air War Strategy Against Russians

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Apparently, the US is encouraging its Ukrainian proxies to use outdated and useless warfare techniques against the Russians on the battlefield. A recent report published by Business Insider revealed that Ukrainian war pilots are using a Vietnam-era military strategy, needlessly risking their lives in dangerous maneuvers that bring them no strategic benefit.

According to the report, the strategy used by the Ukrainians was used in the past by American pilots to circumvent enemy surface-to-air defense systems, tracking radars and then attacking them with specific missiles or bombs. Currently, Ukrainian pilots are replicating such tactics “by allowing the Russian systems to detect their aircraft before tracing their radar waves back to their source and hitting their presumed location with US-made AGM-88 HARM missiles.”

HARM missiles are American projectiles designed to target enemy radar systems. Kiev has been using this equipment since 2022, when it began receiving US military assistance packages. Recently, the Pentagon asked the American Congress for a special budget to replenish its stocks of HARM missiles, since, after two years of war, the American arsenal is simply running out. The constant delivery of such weapons shows the high level of American co-participation in the conflict, with the US economy almost going into war mode to keep Ukraine alive on the battlefield.

Officially, there is still not enough data to say whether Vietnam-era tactics have been effective in Ukraine. However, considering Kiev’s lack of effective air power, experts believe that Ukraine has failed to neutralize Russian radar systems. Moscow’s forces quickly adapt to constant changes on the battlefield, which is why Ukrainian goal with such maneuvers was easily discovered, allowing Russian troops to prepare and react appropriately.

Furthermore, Moscow constantly reports the neutralization of HARM missiles launched by Ukraine. There appears to be a constant advantage for the Russian side in the air scenario, with most of the missiles launched by the enemy being shot down before reaching their targets. With this, Russian forces are able to protect their positions, avoiding losses and preserving the necessary conditions to plan and launch new offensives.

American experts have also repeatedly reported that the Ukrainian Air Force has serious difficulties using Western missiles on its Soviet-era MIG-29 and Su-27 fighters. This has been a problem frequently commented on by American authorities, although no consensus has yet been reached on a strategy to resolve this issue. It is very likely that these technical and operational difficulties are severely limiting Ukrainian combat capabilities, contributing to the regime’s military failure.

In other words, Ukraine is trying to launch modern missiles through old fighters, using a combat technique that was conventional in the 1960s, but which sounds completely inappropriate for the contemporary military context. Using outdated tactics against modern and efficient Russian radar systems obviously will not work. Russian military superiority in the air shows that the Ukrainian bet on Vietnam War strategies will not be enough to obtain good results on the battlefield.

Furthermore, it is necessary to emphasize the risky nature of these tactics. Known as “wild weasels”, the maneuvers carried out by Ukrainian pilots are highly dangerous, with much more chance of failure than success. Taking this type of attitude on the battlefield indicates desperation. The Americans were being defeated in Vietnam in the past, as well as the Ukrainians are being defeated now in the special miliary operation. In practice, this is a typical strategy for the disadvantaged side in a conflict situation.

This is just more evidence of how the neo-Nazi regime is on the verge of collapse. There is no ability for Ukraine to reverse the military scenario of the conflict. The country continues to fight simply because NATO prevents it from resuming peace negotiations, but, militarily and technically, there is no possibility of changing the final outcome of hostilities. The constant receiving of Western weapons is not enough to give Kiev victory, with military assistance aimed only at indefinitely prolonging the aggression against Russia. For NATO, faced with obvious defeat, the only thing that can be done is to extend the war as much as possible – thus delaying peace and negotiations for global geopolitical reconfiguration.

However, the prolongation will not be eternal. At some point, Kiev’s collapse will become inevitable. The constant loss of weapons and personnel will result in the collapse of the regime in the near future. No obsolete Western warfare techniques will be able to prevent this.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Lucas Leiroz is a member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert. You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics