How many long-range missiles Ukraine lacks to defend its skies: Aviation expert’s response

We have an insufficient number of air-to-air missiles capable of operating at 140–160 km from the launch point to drive enemy aviation away from our borders.

This was stated by Hennadiy Khazan, President of the Ukrainian Pilots and Aircraft Owners Association, during an interview on «Espreso.»

«We could push enemy aircraft with guided aerial bombs away from our borders as early as the day after tomorrow if our allies provided us with long-range air-to-air missiles capable of operating at 140–160 km from the launch point. This would allow us to strike and destroy Russian aviation, preventing them from reaching their launch range. The reason they started using jet-powered guided bombs is that it was one of their attempts—if Ukraine uses long-range missiles to keep striking the front line, the Russians will launch them from a greater distance to avoid being hit. Since we don’t have a large number of long-range air-to-air missiles, the Russians are currently able to use these guided bombs at a greater distance deeper into Ukrainian territory, ” the expert says.

Khazan notes that a sufficient number of new aircraft and long-range air-to-air missiles would either force the Russians to completely stop using guided bombs, or significantly limit their ability to deploy them. Consequently, this would substantially reduce the number of bombs the enemy could use against Ukraine.