War in Ukraine Volume 6: Air War, February-December 2022 - Tom Cooper

On 24 February 2022, the armed forces of the Russian Federation initiated an invasion of Ukraine. Thus began the biggest and longest air war fought in Europe since 1945, and a conflict that saw the deployment of full spectrum of the Russian air power: strategic bombers deployed hundreds of cruise missiles combined with strikes by tactical ballistic missiles; the Russian Air-Space Force deployed its tactical and helicopter aviation into large-scale airborne and heliborne operations deep into Ukraine, while the Ukrainian Air Force fought back with its interceptors and attack helicopters.

Taking place after the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and illegal annexation of Crimea of 2014-2015, and eight years of low-scale warfare in Donbas, as well as countless incidents on the ground and at sea, cyberwarfare, and political tensions, the onslaught was expected by many Western and Russian intelligence services to quickly topple the democratically elected government in Kyiv, and overrun and disarm the Ukrainian armed forces - with help of collaborators - in just three to 14 days.

Despite the realisation of a full-scale Russian assault and invasion coming as a surprise to many, the Ukrainian Air Force (PSU) offered fierce resistance. The result was weeks of high-intensity air warfare, which ended only once the ground-based air defences of both sides were deployed in force to block the airspace for tactical aircraft of both sides.

Richly illustrated and providing a detailed study of the participating air forces, and the fighting in the air during the Russian invasion, War in Ukraine, Volume 6 is the first concise and inclusive military history of this drama.