Ukraine’s military intelligence has revealed the use of highly sophisticated, decentralized drone operations to eliminate Russian air defenses during deep-strike missions.
Everytime the AA goes active, the “decoys” start hunting them.
This is why losing the air battle is such a snowballing process, the cost of a long range aerial munition is inherently more than a shorter range interceptor so it is economically difficult to flood enemy air defenses on a cost basis under normal conditions.
However, once you have done enough SEAD the battle changes into a new state and paradigm.
Under suppressed enemy air defense conditions with constant waves of probing attacks continually putting pressure on the enemy, every actually effective functional air defense system paradoxically feels to the enemy like a liability because it takes so much focus and planning to keep it alive as it is swarmed from all directions. The enemy can barely establish any initiative because they are constantly “firefighting” problems being created from failing air defenses.
From the perspective of a strike asset, when air defenses are abundant there isn’t much that can be done to avoid contact or focus power on a specific air defense position and destroy it, but when a crucial threshold of overwhelm is reached airborne strike assets can begin hunting and surrounding pockets of enemy air defenses… which quickly accelerates into a losing process since war never favors the side that continually draws further and further in.
This is why losing the air battle is such a snowballing process, the cost of a long range aerial munition is inherently more than a shorter range interceptor so it is economically difficult to flood enemy air defenses on a cost basis under normal conditions.
However, once you have done enough SEAD the battle changes into a new state and paradigm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppression_of_enemy_air_defenses
Under suppressed enemy air defense conditions with constant waves of probing attacks continually putting pressure on the enemy, every actually effective functional air defense system paradoxically feels to the enemy like a liability because it takes so much focus and planning to keep it alive as it is swarmed from all directions. The enemy can barely establish any initiative because they are constantly “firefighting” problems being created from failing air defenses.
From the perspective of a strike asset, when air defenses are abundant there isn’t much that can be done to avoid contact or focus power on a specific air defense position and destroy it, but when a crucial threshold of overwhelm is reached airborne strike assets can begin hunting and surrounding pockets of enemy air defenses… which quickly accelerates into a losing process since war never favors the side that continually draws further and further in.