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Su-27 Flanker Ukrainian Air Force Papercraft
The Ukrainian Air Force is one of very few in Europe to have seen extensive combat operations on its own soil since the end of the Second World War, with the service continuing to fly combat sorties longer than most analysts expected but still suffering extreme losses to its airfields and fleet under Russian bombardment. While Ukraine fielded well over 1000 fighter jets in the early 1990s, sharp economic decline over the following three decades collapsed the size if its fleet to just 84 by 2022 all of which were 1980s designs inherited from the Soviet Union. Alongside 14 Su-24M dedicated strike fighters, this included approximately 35 each of the MiG-29 and Su-27 which both entered service in the 1980s and were intended as complementary medium and heavyweight aircraft to serve in the Soviet fleet. The Su-27 saw significant action in the first two weeks of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that began in February 24, and having been considered the most capable fighter fielded by any air force during the Cold War it represented Ukraine’s most outstanding aerial warfare asset. Ukraine fielded the world’s second largest Su-27 fleet after the Soviet Union collapsed, inheriting a large portion of the Soviet inventory with the remainder going to Russia, Belarus and Uzbekistan, although Ukraine's fleet is today much smaller due to a high number of accidents and high operational costs.
The Ukrainian Air Force is one of very few in Europe to have seen extensive combat operations on its own soil since the end of the Second World War, with the service continuing to fly combat sorties longer than most analysts expected but still suffering extreme losses to its airfields and fleet under Russian bombardment. While Ukraine fielded well over 1000 fighter jets in the early 1990s, sharp economic decline over the following three decades collapsed the size if its fleet to just 84 by 2022 all of which were 1980s designs inherited from the Soviet Union. Alongside 14 Su-24M dedicated strike fighters, this included approximately 35 each of the MiG-29 and Su-27 which both entered service in the 1980s and were intended as complementary medium and heavyweight aircraft to serve in the Soviet fleet. The Su-27 saw significant action in the first two weeks of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that began in February 24, and having been considered the most capable fighter fielded by any air force during the Cold War it represented Ukraine’s most outstanding aerial warfare asset. Ukraine fielded the world’s second largest Su-27 fleet after the Soviet Union collapsed, inheriting a large portion of the Soviet inventory with the remainder going to Russia, Belarus and Uzbekistan, although Ukraine's fleet is today much smaller due to a high number of accidents and high operational costs.
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