Russia was expecting to dominate the skies over Ukraine early into the conflict but it didn't happen as former fighter pilot turned aviation researcher, Sqn Ldr (Ret'd) Fahad Masood (MRAeS) explains. Airpower has been a deciding factor in conflicts for more than a century. Starting in World War One with the first utility of reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft against the Turks by the Italians, to the use of bombing runs aimed at coercing enemy ground forces by Bulgarian duo Prodan Tarakchiev and Radul Milkov and the dogfights flown by fighter aces - such as Germany's Lt Kurt Wintgens and his Fokker E.I - this third dimension of warfare has brought many adversaries to a grinding halt. A subsequent win for the side that employs it in the most effective manner inevitably follows. In recent years, we have seen many combat aircraft being used to project airpower effectively and successfully over theaters in the Middle East, as well as other parts of the world in a variety of roles. However, since the beginning of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, there has been no decisive role of airpower. Even with the quantum of assets held by the Russian Aerospace Forces (RuASF), the Ukrainian Air Force (UkrAF) still remains active and continues to strike Russian military targets across Ukraine.
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