Russia's airpower continues to 'significantly underperform' despite increased number of sorties

Russian air power is significantly underperforming, despite a rise in the number of sorties jets have flown in the last week, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has said.

In the latest defence intelligence update on Twitter, the MOD said the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) has continued to deploy "a similar number of aircraft" in Ukraine as they have "for many months".

"Air activity is now roughly in line with the average daily rate seen since summer 2022," the MOD said.

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But "overall, Russian air power continues to significantly underperform in the war", with MOD putting the poor performance down to Russian jets being constrained by dispersed Ukrainian air defences.

"Russian combat jets operate almost exclusively over Russian-held territory, preventing them from carrying out their key strike role effectively," the MOD said.

The update added Russia "likely maintains a largely intact fleet of approximately 1,500 crewed military aircraft, despite losing over 130" since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"However, it is unlikely that the VKS is currently preparing for a dramatically expanded air campaign as under the current battlefield circumstances, it would likely suffer unsustainable aircraft losses."

It is not just military aircraft posing a problem for Russian forces in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, the UK’s Defence Secretary said 97% of Russia's army was involved in the war in Ukraine and suffering "almost First World War levels of attrition”.

It comes following weeks of appeals from Ukraine for fighter jets, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky using his visit to London to urge the UK and Western allies to provide "wings for freedom" by supplying his air force with advanced jets.

More recently, Ukraine's defence minister used a handkerchief to appeal for Western jets at a meeting of Nato defence ministers.

In another update this week, the MOD said the Russian state's weapon production is becoming "a critical weakness" for Moscow.