The Air & Space Brief: Ukraine’s 56 fighter jets; Russia won’t leave American ISS astronaut behind; A ‘No Fly Zone’ test
TARA COPP | MARCH 15, 2022
THE AIR & SPACE BRIEF AIR FORCE SPACE FORCE SPACE
Welcome to the Defense One Air and Space newsletter. Here are our top stories this week:
Ukraine’s 56 fighter jets are largely staying put and only flying 5-10 sorties per day, a senior defense official told Pentagon reporters last week. And while Russia is flying 200 sorties a day, it is flying and launching long-range missiles from inside its own airspace. That includes the recent airstrike on Lviv’s international military training center, where Florida National Guard forces had served until the U.S. pulled them out just before the start of the war. Russia conducted that strike by launching several long range missiles from a bomber within Russian airspace, the defense official said. The airstrikes from inside Russia highlight how a no-fly zone would not prevent missile attacks on Ukraine, the Pentagon said.
Russia was apparently just kidding when Russian media outlet RIA Novosti published a fake video suggesting American astronaut Mark Vande Hei would be left behind on the International Space Station when his Russian cosmonaut counterparts fly home March 30 aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft. On Monday, another Russian state outlet, TASS, reported that “Roscosmos has never let anybody doubt its reliability as a partner," and Vande Hei will fly back with the others.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/03/air-space-brief-ukraines-56-fighter-jets-russia-wont-leave-american-iss-astronaut-behind-no-fly-zone-test/363180/
