So, Donald Trump has recently said that the US military would be part of Ukrainian security in the event of a peace deal, offering “very good protection”. Then, shortly after, he said there would be no US “boots on the ground”. Is this just shilly-shallying?
No, actually. The fact is that the USA is perfectly capable of crippling the Russian military, on its own, without the use of nuclear weapons and without the need for a single US boot to touch Ukrainian soil – probably without any large number of US aviators needing to enter Ukrainian airspace, even.
There was some doubt about this reality before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Looking at lists of weapons and units, it seemed that Russia had everything that the US had. America had its iconic, devastating Tomahawk cruise missile, the weapon which took down the air defences of Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gadaffi, much improved since then – but Russia had its Kalibr, supposedly even more capable in some variants. The USA had AWACS radar aircraft that could scan hundreds of miles of sky and direct fifth-generation stealth fighters to dominate that airspace: but Russia seemingly had Beriev A-50 AWACS planes and stealth jets of its own. Putin even had his claimed six “super weapons”, unstoppable by any existing defences: the nominally hypersonic Zircon and Kinzhal missiles among them.
But it has turned out that the Kalibr is no Tomahawk. Then, Russia only had nine Berievs nominally left in service at the start of the invasion. It has lost at least three to enemy action and there is doubt as to whether even one Beriev can now be kept airborne around the clock. Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow and other Russian targets should not have been possible if there had been Berievs watching overhead. Perhaps it is just that the A-50, as with so much supposedly advanced Russian equipment, doesn’t really work.
So, Donald Trump has recently said that the US military would be part of Ukrainian security in the event of a peace deal, offering “very good protection”. Then, shortly after, he said there would be no US “boots on the ground”. Is this just shilly-shallying?
No, actually. The fact is that the USA is perfectly capable of crippling the Russian military, on its own, without the use of nuclear weapons and without the need for a single US boot to touch Ukrainian soil – probably without any large number of US aviators needing to enter Ukrainian airspace, even.
There was some doubt about this reality before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Looking at lists of weapons and units, it seemed that Russia had everything that the US had. America had its iconic, devastating Tomahawk cruise missile, the weapon which took down the air defences of Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gadaffi, much improved since then – but Russia had its Kalibr, supposedly even more capable in some variants. The USA had AWACS radar aircraft that could scan hundreds of miles of sky and direct fifth-generation stealth fighters to dominate that airspace: but Russia seemingly had Beriev A-50 AWACS planes and stealth jets of its own. Putin even had his claimed six “super weapons”, unstoppable by any existing defences: the nominally hypersonic Zircon and Kinzhal missiles among them.
But it has turned out that the Kalibr is no Tomahawk. Then, Russia only had nine Berievs nominally left in service at the start of the invasion. It has lost at least three to enemy action and there is doubt as to whether even one Beriev can now be kept airborne around the clock. Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow and other Russian targets should not have been possible if there had been Berievs watching overhead. Perhaps it is just that the A-50, as with so much supposedly advanced Russian equipment, doesn’t really work.