Top Ukraine War Lessons From USAF’s Commander In Europe
The 542-day-old war in Ukraine offers some stark lessons for how the U.S. and NATO might have to fight a war in Europe in the future.
BY
HOWARD ALTMAN
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PUBLISHED AUG 18, 2023 7:35 PM EDT
With neither side in the now 542-day-old war in Ukraine able to achieve air superiority, the U.S. and NATO are gathering valuable lessons for how they may have to fight on the continent in the future, the general in charge of U.S. and NATO air operations in Europe said Friday.
The U.S. and NATO will have to improve methods to counter integrated air defenses, defend against incoming threats, communicate and move assets around the continent under the U.S. doctrine of Agile Combat Employment (ACE). Those were the conclusions delivered by U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker - head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), as well as NATO's Allied Air Command and U.S. Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA) - Friday during a Defense Writers Group virtual briefing.
Chief among those lessons is for the U.S. and its NATO allies to find ways to defeat robust air defenses, Hecker said. Russia possesses air defense systems like the Buk-M3, Pantsir, S-300, S-400, and Tor-M1. The plethora of surface-to-air missile systems on both sides “is what has prevented people from getting air superiority,” said Hecker.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/top-ukraine-war-lessons-from-usafs-commander-in-europe
