How poor training is killing Russian pilots

It’s commonly said that Russian fighter pilots are not as well trained as their Western counterparts, particularly those from the United States. But after conspiracy theories began to surface on social media about the Russian pilot colliding with the MQ-9 on purpose so Russian vessels in the Black Sea could recover it, the question of pilot competency within the Russian armed forces became more important.
Last week, we dove into the shortcomings of Russian pilot training. This week, we'll explore how those shortcomings are manifesting in combat.
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Further Reading:
MQ-9/Su-27 interaction: www.sandboxx.us/blog/russian-...
Citations:
Su-27: aerocorner.com/aircraft/sukho...
Russian spending: www.statista.com/statistics/1...
US fleet size: worldpopulationreview.com/cou....
RUS fleet size: www.globalfirepower.com/aircr...
PPP: knoema.com/atlas/Russian-Fede....
PPP Conversion: www.chrislross.com/PPPConverter/
Rand analysis: www.rand.org/content/dam/rand...
Air Force pilot training: sandboxx.us/blog/how-much-does...
AF pilot trng: sofrep.com/fightersweep/how-t...
AF Pilot trng: www.airforce.com/careers/avia...
IFF Course: www.airandspaceforces.com/PDF...
International Review: international-review.org/dwar...
US pilot hours: www.heritage.org/military-str...
US Pilot hours counterpoint: www.airandspaceforces.com/air...
Vietnam: www.sandboxx.us/blog/more-tha...
Red Flag: www.nellis.af.mil/About/Fact-...
Red Flag costs: migflug.com/jetflights/red-fl...
Plopski quote: hushkit.net/2021/03/23/everyt...
UKR vs RUS aircraft downing: www.sandboxx.us/wp-content/up...
Russian doctrine www.sandboxx.us/blog/how-russ...
Justin Bronk: rusi.org/explore-our-research...
RUSI 1: static.rusi.org/359-SR-Ukrain...
Rybar quote: www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/...
Russian mil culture: www.businessinsider.com/fight...
RUSI II: static.rusi.org/SR-Russian-Ai...

[@craig4867]

Bottom Line! As an Air Force fighter pilot, we never underestimate anybody, because that could be a deadly mistake!

[@richroylance4630]

Exactly...North Vietnamese air force proved that.

[@johnchase7096]

That’s a good action to take in life. Much easier to accept they are weaker, than to wonder what you can do defeat a stronger enemy.

[@firebald2915]

Underestimate at your own peril. I'd never show my strength...I'd show I'm weak and then go for the kill.

[@fredgarvin4252]

I heard Russian pilots are afraid to fly because they’ve been shot down by their own air defenses. Yep just heard that while typing this message.

[@simonrobins4316]

Could not have said it any better - even if an incredibly poor air-force, say the Russian Air-Force, will at some point hit something, even by accident or by total surprise - its like the comparison made in 'Black hawk Down' about 1 NATO solider being worth 100 naughties - the SEAL said it only takes one bullet to kill, never under-estimate your enemy my worry is that morons in our governments controlling spending will look to cut-funding due to no credible enemy - we may see some advanced projects taking longer to come out as funding to spread into other areas - then we get a big shock when an exisiting enemy starts playing with toys in advance of ours in the late 80's an advanced AI project in **** was put on hold due to waiting tech advances and no enemy had anything to worry us - move ahead 7 years, research individuals had moved on, mil advisors had changed and we started the entire research programme again from the start - a massive cost - i remember looking at looking at tech reports from tech providers either i had written or had seen before and we where being asked to pay again for them - with all the same old research questions being asked and then money being spent to re-answer them - it was a very frustrating time as they did the same put it off to later again

[@radjalomas8854]

let's just take a second to appreciate the fact that this video is illustrated with footage of the actual subject being discussed. What a refreshing change from all the videos I see with just random, vaguely related images.

[@Davethreshold]

Good point!

[@charlie7mason]

Too fucking right mate. I absolutely despise all those kinds of videos with just unrelated footage running in the background of a talking session. There's quite a few of them that are massively popular for whatever reason.

[@_Epsilon_]

It's just random videos that have nothing to do with the subject.

[@radjalomas8854]

@@_Epsilon_ I must disagree. At least to some extent. All the images are of Russian forces. Some good footage too.

[@drgonzo305]

Or narrated by a text to speech by someone with a 1st grade understanding of the English language

[@Curmudgeon2]

Early on, in the first days of the war, there was an interview with a Ukrainian fighter pilot. He said that they were lucky as they had gone to a Red Flag exercise and gotten to fly with the USAF and study tactics with them He and his wingmen took to the sky early on with four of them intercepting a dozen inbound Russian aircraft. His comment was, "they taught us YOU MUST BE BRAVE" and they turned into the Russian formation and scattered them.

[@Lonewolfmike]

This is what happens when you are trained competently by seasoned instructors. You get good information that can make the difference between life and death.

[@SI-cd7xs]

@@Lonewolfmike

[@srijanme]

Yeah and as the result Ukraine's airforce has been reduced to a few aircrafts and their clown president is begging for F-16s bahahaha.

[@RC-fp1tl]

@@srijanme 🤓

[@nightraver56]

​@@srijanme bahahaha you Ukraine started off with barely 5% of the fighters Russia had & they were ALL older generations of Russian versions. Russia has lost a whole lot more, of more advanced fighters, than Ukraine has

[@ronjon7942]

- You’re previous flying experience? - Da, I flew paper airplane - Da, good. Dat is good, you’re assigned to Su-34. You’re expected to be ready for first mission next week, da?

[@phantomechelon3628]

Or a Russian Russell Casse who flies crop-dusters for a living.

[@Chuck_Hooks]

But Russian Su-34 pilots are good at flying into Russian apartment buildings.

[@Yuki_Ika7]

Heyo! Gottem

[@notaspy1227]

That's “A Landing” in Russia.

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

I have to be the Canadian here: there are a LOT of apartment blocks, and buildings in Russia...and, on paper, quite a few jets. So they actually suck at flying into buildings too, though arguments can be made about training for crashing has increased...by quite a bit...but generally it ends up a single class, and very much on a pass/fail side of training. 🤣 😂

[@-Hesco]

@@Jedi.Toby.M that video of the pilot who ejected on the street was crazy

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

@DC C sometimes I feel like the Russian military is like my first car back in Highschool...like sometimes its just fine, and then when you have a date, you get surprised when the only thing that works is the ejection seat, and even that was 50/50 gamble.

[@nemesisproject399]

Astronaut Mark Kelly, as a Navy pilot, was involved in pilot exchanges with the Soviets way back when. He said he was shocked by how inept the Soviets were, regardless of the air frame they were flying.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

I've never talked to a pilot but I have talked to several tankers over the years that had hands on experience with supposed front line and top of the line tanks. Most were just blown away at how bad they were. At how bad the conditions were. The Russians were just soooo proud of their armored shit boxes. And honestly they felt sorry for the conditions more than anything.

[@nemesisproject399]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 Absolutely. They saw what happened in Desert Storm with the tanks they sold to Iraq. We rolled over them as if they were nothing. Granted, training is a big issue as well, but to be so absolutely "proud" and confident in what they have and what they do with it is astounding.

[@cavlizzy]

Mark Kelly has an identical twin astronaut brother, Scott Kelly! Scott spent a year on the ISS so they could compare & do scientific tests on the differences in the brothers on his return. The Kelly brothers are excellent pilots!

[@khiem1939]

@@cavlizzy Considering their Left leaning Politics, it's astounding they haven't publicly claimed to be Communists!

[@markeaston4942]

​@@khiem1939 Try to focus on the content magat.

[@shadowiz8511]

As someone who is just learning more about aircraft, the amount of context that you provide is much appreciated :)

[@callogic5341]

Hi Alex, I really enjoy and appreciate your detailed analysis of the subject you present. It's not biased or weighted in any respect. You look at both sides of subject matter and report accordingly. I have learnt a lot from your presentations. Thank you.

[@randyeduo]

THE AMERICANS ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO UNDERMINE THE RUSSIANS--NOTICED THAT THE RUSSIANS PLACE NO SUCH EMPHASIS ON CRITICIZING ANYTHING ABOUT THE AMERICANS-- SO, that should tell you all you need to know about the Americans' concerns with the capabilities and the strength of the Russians-Thats because the Americans grew up hearing that they are the best at everything because they are the greatest country on earth, so you can't be surprised by they always finding faults with others

[@subitman]

I was trained as a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) in the US Navy. The first step is primary which includes both classroom and on hands flying with an instructor as well as grounds training to learn each part of the airplane. I trained with a T-34 turboprop. I learned maneuvers. Sometimes I almost threw up doing banking at 90 degrees or going upside down like an Immelman. If I didn't right, the instructor would tell me to do it again. I would almost throw up. That training took almost six months. Sometimes the training would be delayed because we were in the pan handle of Florida where storms are frequent. I would sit hours in the ready room waiting for my flight to commence only to find out it would have to be cancelled until the next open spot. Then secondary is all about navigation. I would have to make charts ahead of time noting turn points to which direction, calculating amount of fuel needed. The instructor picks the destination. While in flight, I needed to calculate distance traveled based on land marks that I used on my map. I would have a helmet fire keeping up looking at the ground and my map. I would need to give updates and then announce the turn. I failed out of secondary because of three failed flights. It wasn't all bad. I got transferred to submarines which was I really wanted in the first place. Needs of the Navy as they said so they assigned me to NFO because it was what was needed. I didn't even put in selection of three choices. I had just barely learned to drive a car when I was enlisted as my family couldn't afford one after finishing going to drivers ed in high school. That was four year before I joined the Navy.

[@solutions2exist556]

Thank you for your service.

[@subitman]

@Steve It wasn't all bad. One of my instructors would pick an airport I needed to navigate to. This was the deep south. After landing, we would get lunch at a local bbq restaurant (slow cooked pork ribs with the meat falling off the bones, corn cooked on the grill, homemade mash potatoes from real potatoes and the skin still there instead of powder,) before flyiyng back to base.

[@subitman]

@Steve Here's a more detailed explanation about US submarine officer training. It's years long. First one has to go to six months of nuclear power school, three months working at a nuclear plant. In the plant, one would have a qual book with signatures needs for each watch station once you completed a six hour watch and the watchstander observed me doing the tasks in the qual book. After graduation, I had to stand watch again with the watchstander to sign off on all the tasks in the qualification book. There would also be drills both when docked and at sea. This is so the officer would know exactly what each watchstander do. There was also be drills in maneuvering with an electrical operator monitoring a huge panel, a reactor operator who watches all the readouts for the nuclear plant, and a throtteman controlling the steam going to the large propeller. When there was a training drill, the engineering officer while in maneuvering, would recite the calls necessary based on the procedure book. The enlisted engineering watch supervisor would come to maneuvering with recommendations. As EOOW (engineering officer of the watch), I had to tour the spaces every two hours for the six hour watch. I was relieved by the EWS every two hours so I could tour the engineroom. There's no bathrooms in the engineroom, so we would use funnels that would feed directly to the septic tank. If I can get an officer for number two, I would call forward for another officer to relieve me from forward. We do a turn over. Since we regular keep logs of what happened on watch, he would review those as well. These logs are handwritten with date and time for any event that might be significant. I would rush forward and come back after doing a break down of what happened if anything happened on watch when I left.

[@subitman]

@Steve There are fire or flooding drills which cause the captain to order an emergency blow. There tanks with water/air up in the forward part of the ship apart from the living quarters. If an incident occur then the CO would call for an emergency blow. This takes up the submarine (called boat because it has one propeller. Submariners are proud of that and do not want their sub be called a ship). I remember running back aft for a fire drill and I was running. I saw this old master chief carefully holding on to the railing as he walked. The next thing I knew I slipped and fell on my butt; sliding down.

[@subitman]

@Steve For pipes, US submarines would cladding which are solft insulation about an inch thick to prevent loss of heat and also minimize noise that can be detected. A fun thing submarines would submariner's family on tour of the forward part of the sub. The Engineroom is off limits to anyone but the crew. Another fun thing the sub would do is take the families out for a cruise beneat the surface. Since this was in Hawaii, depth would go down to below 1k feet just a mile off the coast. The CO would then order angles and dangles. The sub would dive at around 20-30 downs and back up slowly. Parents would let their children slide down on the long floor and the submarines would perform the procedure. This was also training for the crew. One final thing was the emergency blow. Submarines are stabilized by large air tanks in the front end. If somehow the submarine lose propulsion or sinking, all the air would be let out simultanously. Suddenly the sub would rock up out of the water partially and land back down.

[@John_Hemingway]

"I'm Alex Hollings, and this is airpower!" absolutely love this line, never gets old.

[@iwantyourcookiesnow]

Kinda like “Space, the final frontier…”

[@boxtrollsix.8700]

Good analysis and well explained. Look forward to your next episode

[@thedeathwobblechannel6539]

Alex Hollings one of the best voices on KZbin and writing and research is dead right on thank you for going the extra mile

[@linmal2242]

Second that motion! Alex does a class job with the authority of an expert ! And a voice to match !

[@rontonkin7751]

This should remind us how much culture and individual values play into the effectiveness of any military. The attitudes and the culture of the people who operate them really does matter, a lesson both Russia and Ukraine are demonstrating right before our eyes, and one America can't afford to neglect - no matter how advanced our weapons or systems become.

[@norman_z]

I'm quite surprised that he did not mention that Russia has been fighting against an opponent which operates the same equipment (or, equipment with identical sources) as it does (e.g. Mig-29, S-300). Imagine the US Airforce combating US Marine Aviation, both sides operating the same SAM and AAM, not sure how well that will turn out. Also, of the claimed ~350 aircraft losses, up to ~200 were UAVs, and ~80 are helicopters. Of the ~70 combat aircraft losses, deducting those destroyed on ground as well as non-combat losses, the number of fixed-wing combat aircrafts KIA was a tiny portion.

[@ridethecurve55]

But hey, the Russians are Very good at showing off their jets (akin to the Blue Angels in the US) at Red Square propaganda events! That's gotta count for Something, right? lol

[@darugdawg2453]

idk bout that. without US weapons Ukraine war would be very different

[@norman_z]

18:14 There is nothing to be surprised here, Russia has been flying sorties at an extremely low rate, given the scale of the war. This mitigated Russian losses in combat aircrafts. The Russo-Ukrainian war is an example of the two sides' air defense suppressing the other side's airforce, this forces Russia to keep the majority of its aircrafts out of Ukrainian airspace.

[@nemesisproject399]

Our military is one of the best because of the camaraderie, unity, and pride we have. The technology is just an added bonus. SEALs have been shot out of the sky by RPGs in Afghanistan, "Black Hawk Down" is still very fresh in our minds, it's not like we don't know.

[@tombeers3489]

"...it probably still had that new plane smell." I laughed out loud at that one.

[@Andy-kl1ry]

It doesn't take much for a fool to start laughing.

[@tombeers3489]

@@Andy-kl1ry You can kiss my azz. I would find that hilarious.

[@Slim_Ch4rles]

​@@Andy-kl1rydid your Dad impart that mind blowing wisdom on you before or after he beat you for looking so stupid

[@kymmoulds]

Very interesting and thanks for the for and time that you took to make it. And a BIG thumbs up.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Good work, Sandboxx!

[@scottcooper4391]

Alex - never be afraid of providing context - those who have western military training understand the usefulness of said context. The two episodes provide a stark look at Russian capabilities, and just how outclassed they are when compared with western military forces. IMO, it would be even worse of a bloodbath if NATO forces were fighting their Russian military counterparts.

[@Andy-kl1ry]

NATO and so fighting with Russia. NATO supplies mercenaries and weapons.

[@burddog0792]

Russia would have lost all their aircraft by the end of Feb. '22

[@PalleRasmussen]

In about a month, as we pulled our stuff together and hastily deployed, there would not be much Russian military hardware left west of Moscow.

[@yfelwulf]

Collided ??? the prop is fully covered by the tail fins impossible to strike without ramming the entire drone there was something we were not shown perhaps a second fuel dump that caught the prop full force the fighter definitely didn't collide with it the usual US propaganda as for poorly trained Pilots the US holds the record for that often killing friendly troops or civilians just ask the Brits or Canadians how many US pilots have killed.

[@yfelwulf]

Hey numb nuts UKR 150 to 200,000 dead 400,000 wounded 35,000 MIA 8300 Mercs not to mention those executed by the UKR SBU for fleeing plenty of UKR video of them grabbing boys off the street to fight Russia is playing with them like a cat with a mouse. As for the mighty west too frightened to get involved even Israelistan cant believe the carnage Russia is inflicting its beyond anything all of NATO is capable of and they're shit scared they're bleeding them out. A few hasty attacks by Russia pushed back they don't hold ground for the sake of holding it they let Ukrainian troops die doing that.

[@Stinger522]

I wasn't bored with the first episode talking about the Russian Aerospace Force. I found it to be just as informative and important as this one. If they wish to get better, as a warfare branch period, they need to rewrite their playbook.

[@cv990a4]

I wonder how much of the resources are diverted by corruption. It's said that in Russia, many see stealing from the state as not a crime.

[@Franky46Boy]

Very balanced view and insights. Thanks!

[@orbnitsky]

Great episode!

[@drmarkintexas-400]

Thank you for sharing 🏆😎💪🙏🇺🇲

[@SJReid82]

You shouldn't need to apologize for the previous video; context is king, and provides your audience with some solid empirical fact before getting into what might otherwise be editorial (not necessarily editorial, but at least more subjective areas of discussion). More people that discuss these kinds of topics should be so inclined.

[@norman_z]

I'm quite surprised that he did not mention that Russia has been fighting against an opponent which operates the same equipment (or, equipment with identical sources) as it does (e.g. Mig-29, S-300). Imagine the US Airforce combating US Marine Aviation, both sides operating the same SAM and AAM, not sure how well that will turn out. Also, of the claimed ~350 aircraft losses, up to ~200 were UAVs, and ~80 are helicopters. Of the ~70 combat aircraft losses, deducting those destroyed on ground as well as non-combat losses, the number of fixed-wing combat aircrafts KIA was a tiny portion.

[@norman_z]

18:14 There is nothing to be surprised here, Russia has been flying sorties at an extremely low rate, given the scale of the war. This mitigated Russian losses in combat aircrafts. The Russo-Ukrainian war is an example of the two sides' air defense suppressing the other side's airforce, this forces Russia to keep the majority of its aircrafts out of Ukrainian airspace.

[@Andy-kl1ry]

he needs to apologize for the previous video because, like this video, it contains a lot of lies.

[@olerindalrstad1317]

@@Andy-kl1ry What lies?

[@vic5015]

Context is important. Always.

[@whoprofits2661]

Another excellent analysis Alex!

[@ccar1332]

Great vid. Thank you.

[@sauron9759]

Man I'm so happy I found this channel a bit ago, I love how you paint the full picture and go into details about all the context. I really feel like you strive to be as unbias as possible, and I love that. Thank you

[@Andy-kl1ry]

he misleads you and that misconception is dangerous.

[@yfelwulf]

How competent is the Russian Air Force SYRIA in 2 months they destroyed Americas ISIS they flew more combat missions with 30 aircraft rotating pilots than Israelistan and its allies did in 2 years the west literally shit its pants because they know their aircraft cant rack up those sort of combat hours.

[@iamscoutstfu]

Andy-kl1ry is a shill. His opinions aren't valid

[@Johnny_Kanuk]

Hearing the state of the electronics in the Russian aircraft makes me wonder what state are their nukes in? As I've learned, if it's happening in one area, it's probably happening in others. Great reporting on this and thanks for doing it.

[@nighthawk2174]

Their probably doing the best out of all of the branches as they didn't get as badly damaged during the 90's say like the Russian navy... but still that's a relatively low bar.

[@Davethreshold]

I would think they have brains enough to keep their nukes in reliable condition.

[@Registered_Simp]

@@Davethreshold Knowing the Russians, they'll still probably find a way to have half of them not work as advertised

[@bluemarlin8138]

@@Davethreshold Well that’s the rub. Many of the higher-ups thought the rest of their military was in reliable condition too. The people stealing parts and not doing maintenance aren’t telling anyone about it. They just assume that they’re entitled to their piece of the action, and that it won’t make a difference if they just do this one little thing. But when the whole military thinks that, it’s a huge issue. I seriously doubt the missile branch is immune from the Russian military culture of theft and deceit. And even if everyone working on and around those nukes were 100% honest and hardworking, Russia just doesn’t have the budget to maintain a nuclear stockpile that large. Think of it this way. The US and Russia have similarly-sized nuclear arsenals. The US spends more on maintaining its nuclear arsenal each year than Russia spends on its entire military (and that’s before you consider that half of Russia’s military budget is stolen). That tells you all you need to know.

[@Davethreshold]

@@bluemarlin8138 Great answer!

[@mrvic92154]

The material you present is very well explain especially having you read what needs to be read, I commute so I listen to your program I can't be reading all that material while driving, thank you

[@stephenmorgan3425]

I think another thing to consider when talking about the failure of ground crews to properly prepare a particular aircraft for combat operations, is the fact that these maintainers arent even in deployed conditions. A large swath of these aircraft are operating from home bases.

[@louisquatorze9280]

Russian concept of aircraft as extended artillery is a key chunk of information. Russians are having trouble with paradigm shift across the board, not just aircraft, and the really troubling thing is that these problems seem to have systemic roots.

[@davidsmith8997]

Also add that against aerial targets they are extended SAM systems. A-A combat isn't taught beyond simple intercepts and offensive BFM (i.e., they don't practice defense). That's based on a legacy of Soviet control and preventing pilot initiative and/or defections.

[@bastadimasta]

Even if Russia had the best aircraft and missiles, they would still lose for their backwards mentality.

[@jameson1239]

@Aqua Fyre the A-10 didn’t go in until air supremacy was established which requires SEAD, bombing runways hangars and ammo dumps, those missions were carried out by F-111s, Tornados, Strike eagles, Hornets, Intruders,Tomcats, and F-15s. Using aircraft as extended range artillery only works if your enemy doesn’t have air defences

[@Cyrribrae]

Considering how this war has made Perun a star on KZbin, I'm going to say that hearing you lay out all your research in detail - with the same clear and concise presentation and just a little humor - is fantastic. Feel free to dive into the weeds more, been loving it!

[@HSS_labs]

Agreed, love this channel as well as Perun-incredibly well done despite the expected brouhaha in the comments from trolls and bruised egos. Love it.

[@Dysputant]

I loved Perun thinking that noone will watch 1.30 h slideshows on youtube :)

[@misterjones7929]

Great Analysis thanks!

[@iansaliba-curtis1041]

Fascinating, Alex! Thank you! Definitely NOT boring!

[@FANIWILLISGA]

Russia tank get more air time then there airforce

[@TheHomelessDreamer]

I'm starting to believe that way too many people don't even know that the word "than'" exists.

[@rustyshaklford9557]

@@TheHomelessDreamer He fucked up there/their too; it's honestly an impressive number of errors for a single sentence.

[@jaws666]

I get more air time with my R/C models than these guys do

[@noregrets1855]

Damn, I thought this was a clickbait channel when I read the title of the video, but damn was I wrong. From start to finish was straight up on topic and informative. Instant sub. 💪💪💪

[@advancetotabletop5328]

Just watched Perun’s video on Ukrainian vs. Russian air fighting, and it shows how little content there is on it on YT. So, thanks for your insight and videos!

[@DANHjAM]

Very Informative video, thanks!

[@cboy132]

I am a auto mechanic. At time 17:21 there is a wheel bearing that has the hardening flaking off. How do you wear out a aircraft wheel bearing. On a car it takes at least 100,000 miles to do that.

[@outinthesticks1035]

I can think of a few reasons . 1 - the plane is flying high where the air is cold , grease is congealed , the tire goes from stationary to 200 mph almost instantaneously 2 - weight . A plane is many times the weight of a car , but they want to save weight on all things such as wheel bearings 3-shock load , the shock weight on a hard landing could be many times the static weight

[@jonathangarciavalle506]

Great video!

[@dillonford7479]

Fantastic as usual. The myriad problems facing the RU Air Force have still not been broadly discussed, thank you for making a two part breakdown of the issues!

[@yfelwulf]

How competent is the Russian Air Force SYRIA in 2 months they destroyed Americas ISIS they flew more combat missions with 30 aircraft rotating pilots than Israelistan and its allies did in 2 years the west literally shit its pants because they know their aircraft cant rack up those sort of combat hours.

[@Lonewolfmike]

The kaleidoscope of problems in the Russian military is now out there for all the world to see and military leaders and think tanks are going over all of the information that is being gathered extremely thoroughly. I bet there is a group in every single NATO country just dedicated to anything and everything coming out of Ukraine and that is all their job is. And I bet every single NATO country wants to get their hands on that radar jamming equipment Ukraine captured some time ago so they can crawl all over and in it to see how it works and how to counter it.

[@duanephillips2343]

Really good analysis! I am thinking of how effective our pilot training program was in WWII vs. the Imperial Japanese method of concentrating on producing a small force of elite expert pilots who ultimately were mostly lost by mid-war.

[@bryanjackson8917]

Remember, the Japanese made the classic mistake of thinking the war would be over relatively quickly, and decided in their favor as soon as they cowed America into submission through their snake, err, sorry I mean sneak, attack on Pearl Harbor. And for such a mission, only a small force of elite expert pilots were all that would be needed.

[@johnwilliams5549]

​@@user-ng5vt7he6d What in the hell was that? Dude just typed a whole bunch of idiocy in a single comment without providing any facts at all about how "we" would not be prepared for "what's coming". Using "Top Gun" as an example as why we wouldn't be ready? Likely zero military experience whatsoever and his only logic is from Hollywood movies. Silly normally I wouldn't comment but give me a break man. 🤣👎

[@arthurmoore9488]

@Aqua Fyre > with an adversary of equal strength Even if any of that were true, the US Military abhors a fair fight. We have the capabilities to make sure those don't happen, so a 1v1 dogfight means something has gone wrong.

[@khiem1939]

@Aqua Fyre From what I understand most U.S. fighter training is to destroy the enemy aircraft from "over the horizon", before they even know you are there!

[@DTex.45ACP]

@@johnwilliams5549 that was a bot comment. Likely written by ChatGPT, come to think of it..

[@shanehayes6048]

Another great episode.😊

[@chrisoverbey5937]

Superb analysis

[@basedaf5580]

love your vids man keep it up.

[@quicksesh]

Thanks for such an insightful series of videos.

[@markmcelheney7513]

If An Enemy Is In The Middle Of Making A Mistake, DON'T INTERRUPT HIM!

[@davidmarkmann6098]

Alex is always top notch. 👊👍

[@davidflitcroft7101]

A brilliant piece of work; one of the best I have seen on the Net this past year. The conclusion ~ 19:30 is especially good, as it considers Cultural effects on combat readiness [thus; my own rhetoric]. This one I will have to view again and again, much like Artur Rehi's updates. Thx for the research.

[@thejac0b1te36]

"Russia didn't expect this to become a protracted war." Absolutely spot on. This simple line answers just about every question joe public has about this pointless war. It rings just as true for the ground forces also. Add in Ukrainian resilience and commitment and you have your answer as to why Russia is still a stones throw from Donetsk airport airfield boundary.

[@Lonewolfmike]

From what I have heard and seen the Ukrainian military gave the Russians who went there a huge ass-kicking. They sent some of their best troops there and they had heavy casualties.

[@classifiedlonerider590]

Being the war criminals we are Putin expected it

[@classifiedlonerider590]

​@@Lonewolfmike you are getting bad information

[@Lonewolfmike]

@@classifiedlonerider590 No I'm not. The Russians tried to capture and airfield early on and they were repelled twice and took heavy casualties both times. The soldiers they sent in were supposed to be their best and the got their asses kicked twice. You're the one who is getting bad information if anything.

[@doubleaught7540]

The Biggest lesson learned from this conflict... "NEVER GIVE UP YOUR NUKES"

[@doelbaughman1924]

Superb video!

[@paulshearer9140]

Thanks Alex, You made a really good point here that doesn't get enough consideration when people compare the military strength of various nations. The US, and their western allies, and not just in relation to air force capabilities, are professional to the point that they make their potential opponents look pedestrian. I think the US military and their allies must be looking at the performance of the Russians in Ukraine and be feeling pretty good about themselves. Slava Ukraini.

[@yfelwulf]

Hey numb nuts UKR 150 to 200,000 dead 400,000 wounded 35,000 MIA 8300 Mercs not to mention those executed by the UKR SBU for fleeing plenty of UKR video of them grabbing boys off the street to fight Russia is playing with them like a cat with a mouse. As for the mighty west too frightened to get involved even Israelistan cant believe the carnage Russia is inflicting its beyond anything all of NATO is capable of and they're shit scared they're bleeding them out. A few hasty attacks by Russia pushed back they don't hold ground for the sake of holding it they let Ukrainian troops die doing that.

[@yfelwulf]

How competent is the Russian Air Force SYRIA in 2 months they destroyed Americas ISIS they flew more combat missions with 30 aircraft rotating pilots than Israelistan and its allies did in 2 years the west literally shit its pants because they know their aircraft cant rack up those sort of combat hours.

[@fabribeijing]

Yes, they compare Russia winning over Ukraine, despite the tens of billion USD worth or armaments, and US army performances in Afghanistan where they were kicked out by a bunch of guys with Kalashnikovs and slippers. Pride, indeed. They must feel so good about themselves.

[@williamdavidson4702]

Very cool that the novel Red Storm Rising predicted Russia having problems with friendly fire in the air even when it was written over three decades ago.

[@fragdude]

Interesting stuff in here - surprising to hear that com equipment wouldn’t have encryption codes keyed in/IFF & etc hardware wouldn’t be plugged in. Would be interesting to know if this was due to poor ground crew/operator training/procedures, faults with the equipment itself, issues discovered when being used in concert with the wider combat forces, etc etc. I was intrigued when I saw that many pilots were bringing their own nav (often GPS) devices. Makes you wonder what the benefit of spending so much money on a satellite constellation if the much cheaper end user hardware isn’t even there… As is said often: there are a lot lot lot lot of different moving parts in a nations military that are very difficult to keep in sync.

[@cenccenc946]

I have always wondered how much the civilian aviation culture in the United States contributes to the military aviation culture. In the U.S. it is super common / possible for some teenager to have at least flown, if not gotten their private pilots license, prior to applying to the military. A lot of military pilots likly own their own planes, or at least fly when off-duty. I find it hard to believe the "best and the brightest" of russia are being selected by much more than "the richest and well connected" standards. Supposedly, even in the infantry, bribes are how promotions are done. So, how much does it really cost to become a pilot in Russia?

[@andersgrassman6583]

I do not know, but I would not bet on Russian aviator culture beeing that much diffrent than in the USA or many other countries. The Russian helicopter pilot that defected to Ukraine, and turned over the Russian atack helicopter, in the end of summer, described that one of the things he had to leave behind in Russia, was his own small civilian airplane. A plane he in turn had inherited from his father or uncle or something.

[@gerryshinners7258]

Thanks Alex, very informative and to the point.

[@arnoldsherrill2585]

The Russian Air Force, has never really fully understood the concept" of train like you fight, fight like you train"the Air Force runs red-flag three to four times a year, depending on availability of aircraft and funding, as well as green flag exercises, to train the support elements for squadrons under combat conditions You are seeing pilots from multiple squadrons, multiple Nations, with dissimilar aircraft all learning how to train and fight, and survive as a team, and when they finish, take the lessons learned back to their original squadrons, and teach the same., By applying the methods learned, on a much smaller scale.

[@triage2962]

The keyword is Funding... If comrade Stealinsky has all the funding in a already small fundingpool then you cannot train properly.

[@DrawnInk1]

Good analysis.

[@peterkotara]

Quality content. Subbed.

[@dallasmckim4370]

Somewhat related: My friend Igor has been in the Russian Air Force as a Mi-24 pilot since 1992. He has been deployed to Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine. He has also somehow managed to get shot down in Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine. For some reason, they keep letting him in helicopters

[@MrJdsenior]

The reason are obvious: 1. It costs money to train a replacement 2. Russians are stupid 3. He may very well BE the sharpest knife in the drawer 4. Russians are stupid 5. They love a good dead hero more than just about everything else 6. Russians are stupid 7. Did I mention that Russians are stupid? That is practically an infinitely truncated list. I could EASILY come up with 50 occurrences from this war, that are available on video, to back that up. Here are a few. A Russian tank cruising down the road with its gun trained to port, that sweeps the ENTIRE contingent of Russians clean off of the tank going in the other direction. Russian tanks, many, many Russian tanks, bending guns against pretty much any road hazard obstacle you can name, buildings, trees, other vehicles, etc. How about two Russian tanks demolished by mines, with barely enough room to squeeze another tank through, which some tank commander attempts, and you guessed it, now THREE Russian tanks, demolished by mines, within 8 feet of one another. That was just tanks, and only a few examples, getting the picture yet? If not, sticking with vehicles, how about the Russian BMP that is flying down the road, looking much like an Indian train, with guys COVERING the top, that runs off the road, then back on, then flips, with now screaming (at the top of their lungs, the ones that are still alive) Russians pinned underneath. Or how about Vulhdehar, where Russians have tried to cross a mined field hundreds of times now, on foot and with vehicles, with EVERY one of them dead and destroyed on the field, at which point they send out a mine sweeper. Wait for it ... which is now sitting destroyed in that mine field. They did this over MONTHS, literally gaining not ONE INCH of ground, and the guy driving all this, Putin personally gives him a promotion. You CANNOT make this crap up. Russians are stupid. Oh yeah, and this is true. If you'd started a snail, traveling 0.03 mph (which is basically a snail in turbo mode) at the Eastern line at the start of this war, he would now be 200 miles ahead of the Russians, and gaining ground at, yupper, 0.03 mph. The Russians have now been working on Bakhmut for about 8 months. They have gained half of that small city, so far, that works out to about a block a month. It is NOT a large city. And when the Wagnerites tried to plant the flag on the govt building, which they FINALLY got to, guess what, it exploded, killing all of them. This was after TENS of buildings coming into that city had already done exactly that.

[@bananian]

Wow lucky guy to survive all that

[@eddiebruv]

Is that “Lucky” Igor? 😅

[@khiem1939]

Why NOT? He's still alive isn't he?

[@RobertReg1]

'I'm addicted to context'. Love Carlin, love the channel. Great job

[@geoffreyfoster6355]

Go back to WWII and read/listen to the media talking about how poor Soviet equipment was, how badly trained their soldiers were, how low their morale was.

[@johnadubato7247]

Great video .

[@michaelhopf3249]

Hi Alex, both parts - good in-depth stuff! Please more!!✨️👍

[@farmer82c.52]

I always appreciate your expertise, thank you

[@kre4ture218]

In Russia, SEAD is called SFAA, Suppression of Friendly Air Assets

[@ReDFootY]

Russia doesn't have AA they have AFA... Anti friendly air.

[@kre4ture218]

@@ReDFootY that‘s just the communist ideal in action, AA fire not only for the enemy, but for everyone

[@user-ij6mf2hp3r]

Great job Alex. I believe you have got it right.

[@georgehopkins2069]

Excellent and well researched report, free of rhetoric and propaganda. Thank you.

[@fredm1988]

I always thought Russian pilots would be as well trained as ours. I knew they wouldn't have large scale flying experience as ours but thought they would be experts at their own planes. Can you do same analysis of Chinese with exceptions they aren't in conflicts as of yet but would come in first contact against Taiwan then our pilots

[@randybutternub031]

Chinas probably just as bad considering they do all those joint drills together 😂

[@bastadimasta]

How good they can be? Drunk pilots fly fighter jets.

[@bastadimasta]

​@@randybutternub031 China was as bad as Russia but trying to change it for the last two decades. They changed their training program. China also rips all the Russian avionics from their aircraft to replace them with modern Chinese avionics.

[@thorwaldjohanson2526]

​@@bastadimastaChina has a similar issue to Russia, but it's even more engrained in their culture. That is the culture of "saving face", which means never admitting failures or problems. When it comes to training and testing you want to fail, but cause that means you pushed the limit and learn from it.

[@bluemarlin8138]

It has been well-reported for a long time that Russian pilots don’t get sufficient training hours to be competent. Not even close. China does get its pilots sufficient hours, but lacks the training infrastructure and experience of Western air forces. It also doesn’t have any allies with competent and experienced air forces which it can use for exercises, such as Red Flag, etc. It has been reported in some circles that China has been getting their pilots even more hours than Western countries, but even if that is true, it might not be that beneficial. There is a point of diminishing returns with flight hours, and even adverse consequences from too many flight hours. Pilots have to stay proficient at a lot of other things besides just flying, and if you fly too much, you can’t stay proficient at those things, and you still have to have a little down time to maintain sanity. You also have to be careful not to put too many hours on your aircraft, which can drastically reduce their service lives. The US has tried to strike a balance that allows pilots to stay sharp, but not to wear out themselves or their aircraft.

[@markonw6661]

Great job, Alex. Enjoyed part 1, but this was even better.

[@rexsmith9577]

Lots of high quality video of great RF aircraft!

[@josephsimon268]

Just want to say how much I enjoy and appreciate the analysis presented in this program!

[@Elthenar]

I'm not sure if it should count as friendly fire but.....in the first Gulf War, a B-52 was hit by a HARM missle fired from a friendly Wild Weasel. It's believed that the B-52 gunner lit up the radar on his tail gun right as the missile came off the rail. So, in true military fashion, that B-52 was renamed "In Harm's Way".

[@ohwell2790]

B-52's got rid of the tail gunner a long time before the Gulf war, they where not even on the B-52 during the Vietnam War.

[@Elthenar]

@@ohwell2790 The last tail guns weren't removed from the B-52 until 1992.

[@fredm1988]

I love the context and your methods please don't change ! Knowledge is power

[@Andy-kl1ry]

especially if knowledge is all false 😂

[@KevinJLenard]

Alex, your voice is a weapon! Don't listen to the dullards, the people who can grasp complex ideas need your more deep dive analyses.

[@ariassergio5066]

GREAT INFO

[@WDGFE]

Extra points for the Dan Carlin reference. Love his Hardcore History podcast!

[@ponz-]

Alex I love your videos. Last weeks maybe some might find it slow but the amount of REAL information and insight is incredible. So wanted to thank you. I think obviously not getting the proper training or experience isn’t doing them any favors but when thinking of conflicts like desert storm or maybe Serbia most likely those pilots are not flying anymore. Yes I’m sure there are some still training the new generation but there probably isn’t to many left. The thing is WE learned from these conflicts not only the pilots but our Air Force has learned and we’ve had these experiences. Looking back at Russia they really don’t have any recent (to my knowledge) conflicts dealing with real air to air or surface to air fights. We’ve learned so much from Vietnam, raids on Libya desert storm, Serbia, Iraq again that over time if we’ve suffered the same losses in let’s say as we did in Vietnam then obviously we’d be doing something wrong. I think the lack of knowledge or experience then being trained by pilots who might be great aviators but ends up not meaning much when someone is shooting at you. I’m sure it’s a pilot to pilot case but I can’t help but think not having these experiences doesn’t help.

[@davidoltmans2725]

My former Air Cav commander talked a lot about friendly fire. When addressing ADA, he said it didn’t matter if an air defense missile hit a friendly aircraft or an enemy aircraft. The missile had done its job and the ADA crews wold get more proficient and target specific as the conflict continued.

[@joeveytia7223]

Thanks!

[@brandonknight6575]

That su57 sure is aesthetically pleasing to the eye airframe.

[@sylvestrematouchka]

Certainly would be pleasing to have one locked on in the reticle of a starstreak .

[@bluemarlin8138]

The 6 that have crashed are even more aesthetically pleasing.

[@sorryociffer]

Would love to hear your analysis of the Chinese AF.

[@arizona_anime_fan]

The Chinese use Soviet doctrine, and allow far less thinking then even the soviets allowed.

[@wuodanstrasse5631]

PLEASE do a comprehensive review of the Chinese Communist pilots and aircraft. Then get someone to do a comprehensive review of the Chinese Communist army.

[@southernsmoke8391]

I’ve requested the same information. I’m of the mind that China’s AF is more important today than Russia’s.

[@newbichote7178]

@@wuodanstrasse5631 you mean the PLA

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

Probably better than Russia's, but like Russia they prefer large numbers over advanced training.

[@lightbox617]

During WWII and in Korea Russian pilots were the product of "survival of the fittest." The two guidelines of Russian military are "Quantity has a quality all it's own" and "Engineer things to be good enough." That worked until they robbed their own resources to build personal wealth and decided that thier pilots could get along with the old French WWI maxim "Eclat and Elan" would make up for spending It didn't then either

[@mattdowning7281]

BTW, Alex, another fine program.

[@genebaket]

I have always enjoyed your podcast very authoritative and efficient. However I do know that you’re sitting on the information on the TR3. When will you give us the lowdown on it thanks

[@hifinsword]

The funding is even worse that you stated Alex. After the oligarchs get their cut, it's much less.

[@jan22150]

Corruption is so prevalent , that is a shame and the pilots are the ones suffering.!

[@neuropilot7310]

perun did a video on the effects of Russian corruption on the war.

[@trevorcrook5753]

The F16 has been involved in nearly 500 class A mishaps and 88 pilots have died flying them

[@Andy-kl1ry]

Silence! Why tell the truth?

[@robhaythorne4464]

This was excellent. Watched it twice.

[@pauljs75]

It's crazy that it sounds like none of the mission planning for sorties is making its way to the command for ground forces. Knowing who is likely to show up where and when would help reduce some aspects of fratricide in terms of air defense operations.

[@codychild2665]

Alex, keep doing what you're doing. Context is everything when forming an opinion. Great insight and informative as well as entertaining.

[@defenestrated23]

Can you do a video on exactly what a "radar signature" is? I've heard experienced operators can determine the type of aircraft from radar returns (w/o IFF) and EC systems can "fake" the signature of other aircraft. How does that work, in-depth?

[@msytdc1577]

Think of it like a "laugh signature" for a person, some are rapid, some slow, some high pitched, some belly laughs, some with snorts, others wheezy, some loud, others nearly silent. With good 'ears' you can make out even minor differences and easily tell who's laugh you're hearing and identify them. Sonar works the same way to classify ships/subs by unique signature of the sound profile they emit, and are able to tell one submarine from another even when they are in the same class simply by unique aspects of that particular individual boat. Both of those are passive identification methods. You said 'radar returns' as in if you were blasting out radar and listening to the returns, in which case they can identify craft by such things as detecting how many blades are at the front of the the other plane's jet engine, and how many engines are on the aircraft, combine that with the size of the radar return, the distance to the craft, and the craft's heading (so you know what aspect of the plane you're getting a return from) and you have an idea of how large the plane is by how strong of a return you get. Basically they listen to and blast aircraft with radar from every angle and turn the unique aspects into a 'profile' and that's in the software of the radar and when it detects something that matches an onboard known profile with some confidence level it will indicate on the display what type of aircraft the radar believes is being detected.

[@jameson1239]

@@msytdc1577 that’s actually a fantastic analogy

[@kurtbjorn3841]

NCTR... Non Cooperative Target Recognition has been around since the 1980's. msytdc painted a perfect picture. Radars are so good now, with high speed digital processing, they can detect very specific "fuzz" or noise within a return (that was perhaps previously filtered out) to be able to ID distant aircraft.

[@MrDhandley]

What a bloody mess! Incompetence on an epic scale. Great going Vlad! 😂😂😂

[@ThomasLee123]

The best source on military tech!

[@Whatisright]

How do you start a war against someone and then win it for them.

[@RoadHead62]

Warms my heart.

[@ivankaleoniefuchs333]

"It probably still had that [new airplane] smell"...hahaha

[@nationalsniper5413]

To be fair,. As for friendly fire, Ukraine and Russia use the same types of aircraft, which makes ID much more difficult. Both use Su-27, MiG-29 and Su-25 variants for instance. In the Gulf war apart from a few exceptions the coalition and Iraq used different types of aircraft.

[@colinhobbs7265]

There were a lot of Mirages on both sides, and it's not like Ukraine flies any SU-34s

[@Stealth86651]

Have you considered releasing these in a podcast form as well? Other channels do that, and it seems to work well. Also gives people like me who like listening to audio while at work and such another avenue without having to directly download the audio every time.

[@zacnewman7140]

Love the name-drop on Dan Carlin, I'm too old to consider him a formative influence, but I still count Common Sense and Hardcore History as a turning point in my middle-age perspective.

[@jademonolith]

Really? The most combat experience the USAF has had recently was shooting down a balloon 😂

[@Kevan808]

Nothing says happy Aloha Friday than a video by Sandboxx News! 🤙🏽

[@BobJones-pq4th]

Do you live in Hawaii?

[@Kevan808]

@@BobJones-pq4th yup