"These comments indicate that Western combat aircraft are the key capability that is missing" - CAS and artillery work best together. Substitute one for the other and combined arms warfare is much, much harder. See "Fire for Effect: Field Artillery and Close Air Support in the US Army" by John J. McGrath, USAR, ret'd, from Combat Studies Institute Press, 2010. You should be able to find it free online.
They'd be nice to have, but most wouldn't be able to operate close to the lines in standby loitering CAS mode like it's 1985. EW-resistant drones would be much better. Doesn't matter what the shooter is any more, just need a cue in on targets in real time with rapid corrections.
What they're really missing is more heavy armored vehicles, engineering gear, and counter-drone equipment. US has managed to keep Kyiv at about half the combat strength it should have going into this fight.
Fortunately the orcs keep fighting like a bad AI in a '90s strategy game. And static fortifications can slow an attack, but if you can't move mobile force in position to blunt a breakthrough with proper speed, you're still doomed.
"These comments indicate that Western combat aircraft are the key capability that is missing" - CAS and artillery work best together. Substitute one for the other and combined arms warfare is much, much harder. See "Fire for Effect: Field Artillery and Close Air Support in the US Army" by John J. McGrath, USAR, ret'd, from Combat Studies Institute Press, 2010. You should be able to find it free online.
They'd be nice to have, but most wouldn't be able to operate close to the lines in standby loitering CAS mode like it's 1985. EW-resistant drones would be much better. Doesn't matter what the shooter is any more, just need a cue in on targets in real time with rapid corrections.
What they're really missing is more heavy armored vehicles, engineering gear, and counter-drone equipment. US has managed to keep Kyiv at about half the combat strength it should have going into this fight.
Fortunately the orcs keep fighting like a bad AI in a '90s strategy game. And static fortifications can slow an attack, but if you can't move mobile force in position to blunt a breakthrough with proper speed, you're still doomed.