It Is More Than That...

Larry wrote a good size and good piece on Daniel Davis interviewing Ben Hodges. Enough to read that Ben Hodges calls Russians "animals" to understand that this general suffers with debilitating case of both exceptionalism having a cognitive fight with a severe complex of inferiority, because Hodges wouldn't be able to pass exams into Russian Academy of General Staff, where his combat record would be laughed at. Not openly, of course. But here is one point (correct one) Larry makes:   

Scott Ritter, Doug MacGregor, Ray McGovern and I (along with a few others), wrote and spoke widely at the time that the counter offensive would fail because, as Hodges conceded, Ukraine had no air power to provide close air support. Here is Hodge’s failure — he refused to incorporate the fact of Ukraine’s deficit in air power into his analysis at the time. He knew it then. That is why I maintain he is incompetent as a military analyst. He chose hope over facts. A pattern he repeats throughout the interview with Danny. Danny then presses Hodges to recount if there were any conversations at the time about what Ukraine needed to succeed in its counter offensive. 

But there is more to it than just that. I wrote about it before, but it becomes clear that most US top brass has no understanding of the modern air defense. It is not surprising for the military force which is being shaped by largely confabulated US military history and never conducting SEAD operations against REAL modern air defense. Here is Yuri Selivanov noting a few days ago, what I wrote four books about:

Надо только быть немножко в курсе, из чего состоит так называемая «военно-воздушная слава США». А состоит она из таких специфических «подвигов», которые полностью  объясняют  все нынешние неурядицы с подготовкой украинских пилотов на Ф-16. Дело в том, что ВВС США, а заодно и всех остальных натовских стран все свои предыдущие войны, конца 20-го – начала 21-го веков, вели в настолько сказочно-комфортных условиях, что они могли там летать даже на метлах, причем с хорошими шансами выполнить боевую задачу.  Все те страны, которые они намечали в качестве объектов для своих бомбардировок в последние тридцать лет, были очень разными. Но в одном все как на одно лицо.У всех этих стран либо вообще не было никакой противовоздушной обороны, либо даже она была, но в таком количественном и качественном  состоянии, что её хватало очень  ненадолго.  А дальше, после подавления этой почти символической ПВО, начиналось форменное избиение младенцев. Так было дважды в Ираке, однажды в Югославии,  и, наконец, в  самом беззащитном Афганистане.В последнем случае ПВО отсутствовала от слова совсем, что, во-первых, позволило бомбить эту страну абсолютно безнаказанно. А во-вторых, отправить туда для проверки боевых качеств новейшие палубные ударные истребители Ф-35Б.

Translation: You just need to be a little bit aware of what the so-called "US air force glory" consists of. And it consists of such specific "feats" that completely explain all the current troubles with the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. The fact is that the US Air Force, as well as all other NATO countries, fought all their previous wars at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries in such fabulously comfortable conditions that they could even fly there on brooms, and with a good chance of completing a combat mission. All those countries that they designated as targets for their bombing in the last thirty years were very different. But in one thing they all look the same. All these countries either did not have any air defense at all, or even had it, but in such a quantitative and qualitative state that it was enough for a very short time. And then, after the suppression of this almost symbolic air defense, a real massacre of the innocents began. This happened twice in Iraq, once in Yugoslavia, and finally in the most defenseless Afghanistan. In the latter case, there was absolutely no air defense, which, firstly, allowed bombing this country with absolute impunity. And secondly, sending the newest F-35B carrier-based strike fighters there to test their combat capabilities.

The problem with the US CAS (Close Air Support) on the modern battlefield of the 21st century is that it is not survivable against immediate frontline distributed AD based on a staggering plethora of advanced and networked hardware such as S1 Pantsir, Tor M2, Buk-M2-3 and AD artillery systems such as Tunguska et al. It will also be severely jammed and denied accurate approach in the absence of GPS. The whole idea that the USAF will be defeated even before it even takes off and then defeated before completion of the mission doesn't sit well with US generals whose combat record even against supremely inferior enemy is dismal. This is not an exaggeration, it is  hard cold reality and that is what drives these sore losers like Hodges into the arms of sheer delusion. Then, let it be no surprise in observing Ben Hodges and his "colleagues" such as Keane, Petraeus and others resorting to the name calling and offering military "advice" which no responsible competent military leader would ever give, especially when having no clue about Russia and her historic warfare experience which dwarfs that of the United States. USMA at West Point used to be a decent engineering school. Not anymore...