A big mystery of the war in Ukraine is Russia's failure to gain control of the sky

A big mystery of the war in Ukraine is Russia's failure to gain control of the sky

Transcript¹

Russia has an air force more than 10 times larger than Ukraine's. But Ukraine's fighter pilots and air defense² crews still control the air space over most of the country.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We're almost three months into the war in Ukraine, and Russia's giant air force has done no better than its giant army. In fact, the failure in the skies has added to Russian failure on the ground. Russia does not control the skies, which is one reason it's still possible for Ukrainian forces to keep fighting. NPR's Brian Mann has been hearing from some of those Ukrainian fighter pilots and air defense crews.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE³: I've been talking to Ukrainian fighter pilots, including a guy who goes by the call sign Juice (ph). For security reasons, we can't use his real name. And he told me they expected Russia's bombers⁴ and jets to hit really hard and fast.

JUICE: We were waiting for much more effective threat from the Russian air force side.

MANN: And it's easy to see why. An industry trade journal called "FlightGlobal" estimates the Russian air force has roughly 1,500 military aircraft. The Ukrainians, by contrast, have around a hundred. Russian planes are also far more modern and lethal⁵ than the antique MiG-29 jets that Juice flies.

JUICE: It's great problem to fight with their fighters for us because they have an advantage in this technology. Unfortunately, our jets are not capable to be effective against them.

MANN: I also spoke⁶ with Mark Cancian with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he says most military experts expected the start of this war to look something like the opening of the U.S. war in Iraq in 2003.

MARK CANCIAN: Hammer them for 48 hours until their air defenses and their air forces were defeated, and then get air superiority, if not actually air monopoly.

MANN: But, Steve, Russia didn't do that. Its air campaign has essentially⁷ been a bust⁸.

INSKEEP: Well, you've just listed the reasons they should have done that, or so it seemed. Why did it go wrong for Russia?

MANN: Some experts think Russia's big fleet of aircraft just hasn't been well maintained. And they also don't appear to have the logistical support, the fuel and the spare parts to keep their jets flying. But another factor is the Ukrainians. In the years after Russia first annexed⁹ Crimea and invaded Donbas in 2014, Ukraine developed a pretty sophisticated air defense system using that fleet of fighter planes working in tandem¹⁰ with surface-to-air missile systems. The Ukrainians I spoke to believe Russian pilots just don't have the training and experience to deal with that kind of threat. Here's a Ukrainian MiG pilot who goes by the call sign MoonFish (ph).

MOONFISH: Sometimes we are able to hear their communications. When you hear those, they actually are really scared. And if anything goes wrong, they just turn away.

MANN: A senior U.S. defense official also told NPR the Ukrainian air force is being helped by real-time intelligence from the U.S. And experts think the Ukrainians are going to get better and better at defending their airspace, in part because of better weapons that are coming in from the U.S. and Germany.

INSKEEP: OK. But with all that said, the Russians still have this enormous weight of numbers. Are they enjoying any success?

MANN: They are. Russian long-range bombers are launching cruise missiles, hitting civilian¹¹ and military targets. It's not a game-changer, experts say, but that is a factor. Ukrainian officials also acknowledged the Russians have established air dominance over parts of the Donbas region in the east, where some of the heaviest fighting is underway. But again, Steve, that's a tiny fraction of the country. Much of Ukraine remains¹² effectively a no-fly zone for Russian planes and pilots.

INSKEEP: Can you just describe why that matters so much to the war on the ground?

MANN: Yeah, everyone I talked to says this is huge. You know, Ukraine is a vast country. And because the danger of Russian air attack is so limited, Ukrainians can operate their trains. Their roads are busy with supply trucks. That means the military can bring supplies, ammunition¹³ and weapons all the way to the front lines. Supplies are also flowing to critical cities like Kyiv and Odesa. Experts say if Russian aircraft were patrolling overhead, able to drop bombs at will, the way they were able to do over Syria, this war would look entirely¹⁴ different.

INSKEEP: NPR's Brian Mann is just out of Ukraine. He's today in Zurich, Switzerland. Brian, safe travels.

MANN: Thank you, Steve.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

9 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

10 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

14 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。