Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff/Handout via REUTERS
- Russia's limited use of its air force in Ukraine has surprised US Air Force leaders.
- Those leaders are surprised in large part because Ukraine is using air defenses that Russians designed.
- Those defenses are vital to fending off Russian jets, and Western countries are focused on supplying them.
One of the most surprising aspects of Russia's war in Ukraine has been Moscow's limited use of its larger and more advanced air force over Ukrainian territory. For senior US Air Force leaders, Russia's decision to hold its airpower back is all the more surprising because many of the air-defense systems that Ukraine is using were originally designed by the Russians.